814: Parents Are People
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A quick warning, there are curse words that are unbeeped in today's episode of the show. If you prefer a beeped version, you can find that at our website, thisamericanlife.org. From WBEZChicago, it's This American Life. I'm Hannah Joffe-Walt, sitting in fry or glass. I was little, maybe six or seven, bedtime. I was deploying my best delay tactics and needed water than a band-aid. I think I had a lot of other demands too that I don't remember. And then, this part is vivid. I remember I asked my mom, "How do you have the answers for everything?" She was on her way out the door. She said, "Oh, I don't have the answers to everything." I stayed up for hours. It was a deeply unsettling thought. I hadn't remembered that moment in a long time, but working on the stories in today's episode, I kept being reminded of it. All kids eventually learned that the adults in their lives don't have the answers to everything, right? I think so. I ran this by the ones I have on hand at home. Do you remember a time where I did something or said something where you were like, "Oh, you're just a person. You don't know everything?" No, I never had that epiphany because I never believed that you guys knew everything or were perfect. Like ever. And I straight out the womb, I was like, "These are flawed people right here." This is Jacob. He's 12. Can you tell? I just... He was not going to bite. Yeah. I mean, I guess it was really surprising to me when I found out that you used to smoke. I was like, "That doesn't really sound like you." Like even though, as a baby, I knew you were a flawed person, I just didn't expect that from you. You did not know I was a flawed person as a baby. You depended on me for everything. Even as I was like being formed in your belly, I was like, "This is a flawed belly." Get out of here. You're excused. Go get your brother. Jacob's brother is still little enough that he hasn't started trolling me yet. Micah, he's 10. I told him about the moment I first understood. My mom didn't know everything. And I'm wondering, are there any moments like that that you can remember? Definitely. No hesitation there. Micah can remember when it happened.
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