As someone who grew up in a broken house with parents that didn't know which end was up, I feel insanely envious of her upbringing. Let's face it - she had fantastic parents! Carole and Mike Middleton did a great job bringing these 3 kids up to be happy, confident, well adjusted people. Not an easy thing to do in today's day and age. Carole Middleton is a self-made women who, let's face it, wanted her children to have an upper crust eduction and mix and mingle with the progeny of aristocratic families. She should write a book on how to bring up healthy, smart, confident children - I'm sure it would be a best seller.
When I look back on my childhood, it was pretty much a mess. Parents who really should never have gotten married, let alone have children. Acrimonious divorce, custody issues, money issues, a mother who really just wanted to be single and party, and a father who had no idea what to do with two teenage children. Having a stable, close knit family like the Middleton's was something I fantasized about. Although my brother and I are close now, it wasn't always so. We have not even lived in the same house since we were young. I have often wondered how different things would have been with at least one able bodied parent, let alone two. Because of this, I struggled a lot with self esteem issues, fear of intimacy and commitment. Sometimes, I think back and I wonder how I even made it this far - my brother and I pretty much raised ourselves, as we had very little parental support growing up.
Kate, on the other hand, had none of these issues. Growing up in the secure environment that she did, she knew that she was loved and had the support of her family no matter what. Instead of the British press putting Carole and Mike down for being "middle" class, they should have been applauding them for raising kids that have not had drug issues, gotten arrested, embarrassed themselves or their family. I know Kate has been criticized for not doing much with her life before she got engaged to Prince William, but really it's not easy to date a prince and have a career. What is she supposed to do when William calls and says "let's go to the Seychelles for the week" and she can't get off of work? When you're dating the future King of England, work takes a back seat.
There's a lot to be learned for modern women from Kate. She's obviously not a feminist - instead she's basically a throw back to the 50's in that she has basically put her man and their relationship first and foremost. She's known to have cooked for him while at University, and later on while they were living in Wales - she has made sure he has a nice home to come home to and a good roast chicken. Men, when it comes down to it, are simple creatures - at the end of the day they want a hot meal and someone to come home to who's not going to nag them to death.
I suspect Kate used her mother as an example to model her relationship with William after. It's pretty obvious that Carole has a backbone of steel and calls the shots in her marriage - she started and runs the family business, picked the best schools for her children to go to so that they meet the "right" kind of people who will prove to be valuable connections in life as they get older. Kate too, is made of steel - it's not easy to take all the sniping and criticism that came her way for years prior to her marriage, and continues to this day.
You wouldn't think it, but I'm pretty sure it's Kate that calls the shots in her relationship with William - she's known to have persuaded William to stay in college after he wanted to drop out after his first year. The beauty of Kate is that she does it quietly...ladies, take note. She has a pretty famous quote from when they were younger and dating saying "he's lucky I'm going out with him!" That pretty much sums up the amount of self-confidence this girl has. Most girls would think the opposite, I'm so lucky "he's" going out with me, but it's only someone who is so extremely secure with herself who can say that and mean it. I wish I had 1/10 of that!
So, thanks Carole and Mike Middleton for showing the world how parenting should really be done...nice job!
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