Who here was or is rebellious?

[JenniferB]

I'm curious to know how many WTMers have or have had a rebellious streak. I hope I can figure out how to make this into a poll.

[Lolly]

I was an extremely compliant child. I am an extremely rebellious adult.:D

 

Wait, I change my mind. I am stubborn and a contrarian...I like the sound of that better.

Edited September 9, 2010 by Lolly

[jenL]

I was as a teen, but in such a way that I appeared to be still the "good girl" although I was out doing some bad stuff - drinking, stealing street signs & other construction paraphenelia, driving my friends' cars before I had my license, sneaking out of my house. I wonder how much my mom actually *knew*. Ironically, once I went to college, I calmed down. I stopped drinking by sophomore year and focused on my studies, working, and volunteering. I've become pretty straight & narrow in my adult years since I came to Christ about 5 years ago.

 

However, if you were to talk to my family, they would think I've become rebellious as an adult because I moved 1,000 miles away from my entire family and I homeschool my kids!

[Daisy]

I'm not sure how you are defining rebellious streak. I was a very duty-driven good kid but I'm stubborn as a mule and not easily swayed. And no, I never did the rebellious teen thing.

[Mrs Mungo]

I'm not rebellious and never have been, but I *am* a contrarian and always have been.

[Daisy]

I'm not rebellious and never have been, but I *am* a contrarian and always have been.

 

Ahhh, now see, this is more me. :D

[JenniferB]

There are many forms of rebellion, so I guess it can be a bit subjective. What I'm wondering is if you have been pegged rebellious by others, or if you have considered yourself rebellious.

[Ester Maria]

Not really. There were things I was quite fervent and vocal about, just like today, but rebellion for the sake of rebellion, not really.

I also understood "business" quite well at a quite young age: the whole "if you can't fight them, join them" principle as well as the old "idealists fight the system and fail, the cunning ones work the system out for their own benefit" rule. I generally managed to make things work out for me and to my best interests, rather than rebel for the sake of rebelling.

[Mrs Mungo]

There are many forms of rebellion, so I guess it can be a bit subjective. What I'm wondering is if you have been pegged rebellious by others, or if you have considered yourself rebellious.

 

My aunt insists that I was born an adult. My mom says I had one bad year, when I was 15.

 

At the same time, when the wife of my dh's superior raved to my visiting mom about how wonderful I was and what a great "team player" I was, my mom thought the woman easily deceived. ;) I can generally use my powers of persuasion to get people to see things my way, rather than staging a mutiny.

 

I would never describe myself as rebellious. However, I'm not a go-with-the-crowd-type either. Not the regular crowd, not the rebellious crowd.

 

Does that help?

[Annie]

I was an extremely compliant child. I am an extremely rebellious adult.:D

 

Wait, I change my mind. I am stubborn and a contrarian...I like the sound of that better.

 

:iagree: Pretty much this. Especially the stubborn and contrarian part. I'm not sure I would call myself rebellious.

 

My family really took the homebirth thing pretty well, but I'm planning on getting my nose pierced after I'm done nursing, and my mom is going to be soooooooo mad. :001_smile:

Edited September 9, 2010 by Annie

[radiobrain]

Let's see... um.... where do I start? :D

 

Homeschooling is just another outlet, or example, of my natural and never ending contrarian/rebellious nature..

[scmama]

I was rebellious and I am still rebellious! I aways have to go on my own, do things my way, sometimes hard, sometimes easy...either way we still learn life's lessons! This is funny because my tag usually on websites and on my blog...I'm RebelMama!! Does that tell you anything!?! :)

[Guest Katia]

I voted 'always rebellious' but I don't see myself as rebellious, just as unconventional. Somehow, I always seem to disagree with and then buck the 'system', whatever that system may be.

 

I hope I'm always a free-thinker. So, if 'free-thinker' equals 'rebellious', then that would be me. :001_smile:

[ColoradoMom]

I was every mother's nightmare. :tongue_smilie:

[simka2]

I think I need an "other"....or does that alone make me rebellious? ;)

 

I was raised to think for myself...this backfired on my parents as a teenager. Long story, I was labeled very rebellious...I ran away, lived and supported myself at 16. Married, to my pastor dh at 19. Recieved an apology from my mother at 26 for my adolescent years and an aknowledge meant that my "rebellion" was really survival.

 

Became very compliant from 20 to 27...that ended badly :tongue_smilie:!!!!

Now, I'm back to being a free-thinker/non-compliant/rebellious. Thankfully, I finally feel like me again :)

[ChristusG]

Hmm....I guess it depends on how rebellious is described. As a kid I was always the quite one, never got into trouble, pretty much did as I was told, etc.

 

Now, as an adult, I feel more rebellious, but not in ways you would think. I am an attachment parenting kind of parent, I homeschool, eat organically, we don't vaccinate, I shelter my kids a lot, etc.....most people do not do this sort of stuff so I do feel a little rebellious in a subtle sort of way.

[Tabrett]

I choose no. I was never rebellious or had a problem with authority, but conventional? hummmmm. Have I ever been conventional? Nope! I wouldn't be a stay at home mom who homeschools if I were conventional. I have some pretty non-conventional view on life in general. But, I do follow the rules.

[Gooblink]

My website tagline is "Obstreperous Heart." :)

 

As I mature I've learned to rein in my rebellious nature but, sadly, my high school year book records for posterity that I was voted both Class Instigator and Class Radical.

 

Of course I'd choose to homeschool. What else?

[Carrie12345]

I have always done what I've wanted to do, and what I've felt was right. 99% of the time, that was contrary to what my parents/teachers/peers/others thought I should be doing.

[Gooblink]

I was every mother's nightmare. :tongue_smilie:

 

You know that Mother's Curse, "When you grow up I hope you have kids just like you!"

 

I tease my mom that she must feel so robbed. )

[Garga]

Looked online for a definition. Got this:

 

 

• resisting control or authority; "temperamentally rebellious"; "a rebellious crew"
  
• disaffected: discontented as toward authority
  
• participating in organized resistance to a constituted government; "the rebelling confederacy"
  

 

No, I'm not rebellious and never have been, but I do my own thing without being rebellious about it

 

Actually, I found it harder not to rebel than to rebel. For example, as a kid it was a lot harder standing up against my peers than it would have been to stand up against my parents or teachers. So, in a way, I felt like I was "rebelling" against the peer culture around me (as a kid.)

 

I'm "rebellious" today in that I'll breastfeed where I want to, I'll homeschool the kids, and I'll save my money instead of going into debt...

 

But I'm not rebellious against some sort of authority. I stay within legal and (my) moral limits.

Edited September 9, 2010 by Garga

[Pamela H in Texas]

Goodness, I don't think I can answer that.

 

Generally, I'm a compliant spirit but that didn't keep me from making dire mistakes as a teenager (and younger). None of my poor choices were "in the face" of my parents, the law, school, etc. That never crossed my mind. But none of my decisions (from religion, to education, to parenting, etc) could be considered mainstream. I stand up for what I believe and I don't follow the crowd on those things either. I'm very willing to look into options and have regularly gone a different direction because of it. And yet those beliefs are pretty much built on compliance with God. It is He who helped me find what I needed spiritually. It is He who made choosing to homeschool all the way through possible. It is He who gave the principles in the scriptures so I could parent better. And the list, of course, goes on and on and on.

[jkwynn]

I broke a few laws back in the day, but wasn't dumb enough to get caught. ;)

 

Now, I'm a fairly strict rule-follower (unless the rules are just ridiculous :lol:) and like to set a good example for my kids, but I also homeschool and dye my hair blue, so I wouldn't exactly say I'm Sandra Dee. :)

[manylilblessings]

I was rebellious in spirit, but rarely got in trouble; as I was excellent at not being caught. Now, I consider myself to have well informed opinions, and not usually swayed by other people without a strong argument.

 

Maybe I'm just argumentative... LOL

 

I have 5 of 6 children just like me. It's fun times around here.

[Wildiris]

Rebellious compared to what?

 

My father was the black sheep of his family. As a teen, my dad was the dad everyone wanted. There was nothing to rebel against. As a result I follow some rules, ignore others and seek the alternative when it suites my needs. I have live an "alternative " life style for so long, all of my adult life from 13 on, that I forget sometimes how different other may perceive the way I live, but I don't live as extreme as some of my neighbors. So if free thinking and freewheeling, but not disrespectful, are rebellious, then I guess that is what I must be.

[Ravin]

I certainly started going my own way in my teens, and my parents weren't always thrilled with my choices. But I generally operated within the boundaries set for me. Probably the most rebellious thing I did in high school was refuse to get out of bed to go to church on Sunday mornings (at this point I was no longer a Christian). I usually got away with it because I worked late Saturday night.

 

I didn't start chafing against authority until my 20's, and by then I was in the Navy, and married, and just generally an adult. Even then I didn't get in trouble, just had the sense not to re-enlist.

[farmwife]

I was a very rebellious, angry teen. Drinking, smoking, skipping school, parties. I was caught in the middle of a nasty divorce and suffered the consequences.

 

Fast forward a few years(more than a few!;)) and now I have a very grace-filled relationship with my heavenly Father who gives me freedom and forgives me when I mess up. Praise God for His mercy and grace! Most outsiders would think of me as compliant. However, they really don't know my heart, which is often rebellious...but forgiven!!! :)

[Tutor]

I was very compliant as a child, but as I have gotten older I'm not sure I have become rebellious as much as I have become confident in myself and who I am as a person and have become more enthusiastic about going after what my heart desires (now that I know what it really is). I have also become much better about really listening to others' points of view but have also grown in confidence to sift it thoroughly and keep what I feel is valuable and discard what I don't being true to my own value system and less concerned with someone else's.

[Retired]

I was totally rebellious in my youth. I came from a very legalistic, authoritative, huge belt hung in each room household.

 

I stayed out really late like 2-3 in the morning, drank heavily in high school, drunk driving, etc. etc. I am alive by the grace of God.

 

I still get my back up when people tell me what to do but I don't act out anymore. I am a law biding citizen, a Christian mom with a gentle spirit. thanks to my faith I have control of the rebel in me but still get the thoughts.

 

I have to say at this point "home school mom" is a pretty rebellious kind of thing to do in lots of peoples views.;)

[Hillary in KS]

I was more of a brat than rebellious.

 

HOWEVER, I grew up in an atheistic family. How else do I rebel against parents with whom anything is permissible? (Not *permissive* parents, but parents who believe any choice/action/belief system can be a legitimate one - except Christianity, of course.)

 

Why, to rebel one goes to church! :D

 

So I did.

 

I attended regularly through high school, but it wasn't until college that God opened my heart to an understanding of the gospel. I became a Christian my sophomore year and have been walking with Him ever since. :)

[Peela]

Outwardly compliant. But always following my own star and not interested in fitting in, particularly, to the mainstream. Quite happy to do whatever is necessary to do my own thing and not yours, thankyou very much :)

 

Its not really rebellious though, if you design your life so that you dont have to do what you don't want and you dont have to deal with people you would rebel against if you had to deal with them, though, is it? I am quite easy going until you try to control and manipulate me into your way of thinking or behaving.

 

I left home at 16, rebelling against a mother who decided to get strict way too late.

[yslek]

I'm not sure how you are defining rebellious streak. I was a very duty-driven good kid but I'm stubborn as a mule and not easily swayed. And no, I never did the rebellious teen thing.

 

I could have written this about myself. :)

[Pretty in Pink]

I was an attention-seeking teen, but I wouldn't say rebellious necessarily. My mom would probably disagree. I did my share of drinking, sneaking out, and driving without a license. I got pregnant during my senior year. So, yeah, maybe I was sort of rebellious. I don't know. It didn't feel that way at the time.

[GWOB]

Umm... We're homeschool moms. Aren't we just a little rebellious by nature?

 

If by rebellious you mean dyes hair (sometimes unnatural), tattoo, and contrary-to-region political beliefs, than yes, I suppose I am rebellious. I prefer to call it stubborn.

[Joker]

My mom had a nicer way of defining me - I have always been her "free spirit". I've always known what she meant but I do think it sounds better.:tongue_smilie:

[Guest Alte Veste Academy]

I'm not sure how you are defining rebellious streak. I was a very duty-driven good kid but I'm stubborn as a mule and not easily swayed. And no, I never did the rebellious teen thing.

 

Me in a nutshell. I was a very good girl with a mind of my own.

 

If I could transfer one positive quality about myself to my kids, it would be my don't-give-a-whiz about peer pressure mentality.

[Gwenhwyfar]

I was a bit of a mess as a teenager - running away, drinking, drug use, cutting, shoplifting, etc etc... think "classic troubled teen" and fill in whatever you want. Rebellious? Yep. I had a serious attitude against anyone who tried to tell me what to do...

 

...and i still have that. minus those sorts of troubles, but it's still there. :laugh:

[MorganClassicalPrep]

I guess you could call me rebellious. I am definitely not conventional. I've lived an alternative lifestyle for a significant portion of my life. I've done drugs, drank way to much, stayed out way to late, and credit getting pregnant at 19 with saving my life. I have tattoos, dyed hair, piercings. I am not heterosexual.

 

On the flip side.... DD and I dress fairly modestly, attend Church, we homeschool (Is that rebellious? It is, but in another sense it is somewhat a conventional, traditional type of thing to do. Not what you would expect from a young single mother, that's for sure.) I work hard at school and get a 4.0- in the honors program.

 

I avoid labels like the plague. They never seem to fit quite right!

[StaceyinLA]

Yes. I pretty much go against the grain, and lots of times it's just to prove I can, so I'd say that is a pretty rebellious attitude.

[Melissa in Australia]

I am usually compliant, but I have had moments of rebellion. One of my most rebellious moments I planted a rose garden ( dh didn't want me to , but he went on a holiday to Canada, and when he returned, there was a large rose garden).

 

I guess it wasn't really rebellious, but I sure felt rebellious while I was making the garden.

[elegantlion]

Looked online for a definition. Got this:

 

 

• resisting control or authority; "temperamentally rebellious"; "a rebellious crew"

• disaffected: discontented as toward authority

• participating in organized resistance to a constituted government; "the rebelling confederacy"

 

 

 

I voted rebellious. I rebelled against my parents, my authority, as a teen. I'm 43 and they still have no idea some of the things I used to do with my friends.

 

I also rebelled against some of the ideas of norm in school and graduated early. I've also quit one job really because I didn't like the compromises I had to make. It was insurance underwriting and I hated putting people into neat little boxes, it so goes against everything I believe about people as individuals.

 

I think in my world as a child it was easy to rebel because the line of normality was so narrow any deviation could have been seen as rebellion.

[KidsHappen]

I have always been rebellious, still am. I will do it my way, the rules be d*mned and I have yet to meet a person who stood a chance of convincing me otherwise. I have one dd that is just like me and I can see where a conflict between us could leave distruction in its wake.

[Joyofsixreboot]

I have always felt an innate need to turn left if told to go right and vice versa. As an adult I've learned to temper that somewhat. But I still feel that pull in my gut. Of course I homeschool and make lots of other choices out of the mainstream so maybe I'm still rebelling? :confused:

[LostSurprise]

It depends on who's on the receiving end.

 

I was an exceptionally 'good' kid. Never got in trouble. Never broke any rules/laws/requests.

 

Not that it had anything to do with whether I agreed with my parents and teachers. I empathized with them. I was mature enough to see that they had a difficult job and that my time within their influence was short. They never made difficult rules (and my parents were very strict). I saw it as something to learn from before moving on. It was a good time to read, and learn, and dream.

 

But I suppose you could say I rebelled against teen culture, with the idea that my peers should determine who I listened to, what I looked like, what I drank, who I slept with and when. I found my peers remarkably short-sighted.

 

I'm not sure how to describe myself now. I often find myself on the 'hippie,' 'alternative,' 'weirdo,' 'intellectual' end of the scale. That could be seen as a rebellion against the popular culture. Of course I like to think of it as thinking before acting. :tongue_smilie:Questioning and analyzing.

 

Its always amusing to see how many people enjoy the idea of being rebellious. As if anything else makes us less special or independent.

[Perry]

I was a very rebellious teen, but I don't consider myself rebellious now. Unconventional and nonconformist, definitely.

[Parrothead]

I don't think I've ever been very compliant about many things in my life. I remember being little, like 4 or 5 and struggling to get my hand out of my mom's while we were walking in a parking lot - every single time. I am me going my own way and sometimes consequences be d@mned.

[HeathenMom]

i've been rebellious since the day i was born. now that i'm older it takes less dangerous forms, luckily!

[MicheleinMN]

I need the obligatory *other* category!

 

I have always been the sort of person who does what is REQUIRED, but I will not be bullied or cajoled into doing ANYTHING.

 

I was the straight A student who hung out in the bathroom on occasion to have a cigarette. I liked shooting pool at the pool hall, but didn't drink at all.

 

Even now, I will do what the law requires (think homeschooling laws), but I will not give the school or state a single piece of information that I am not required to give them.

 

So...do I qualify as rebellious or not?

[JVA]

I was always very compliant as a child and a teenager- a "people pleaser".

 

However, when I met my soon to be sil- I changed. She is as narcissistic as they come and my dh's entire family enabled her to keep the peace. It was then that I realized no one was telling me what to do. I started to re-evaluate how I responded to things....

 

Many things changed- I grew a backbone and learned when it was most profitable to share my opinions. Usually, it didn't make any difference, so I kept them to myself and my husband....he usually agrees with me. We lived quite differently than our individual families do/did.

 

I've always thought that all homeschool mothers were rebels in a sense in that we weren't going to let someone ELSE educated our children but were going to do it ourselves. We can do it BETTER, more EFFICIENTLY and have more MOTIVATION because we love our children.

[gpsings]

I have a complete mistrust for authority in general. Strangely, I have blind loyalty for those who win me over. Chock it up to a bumpy childhood, I guess. I have to temper my rebellion and remember who I am in the scheme of things, but I'm glad to have a mind of my own as well!