Awkward Parents

[Aris Khandr]

I can't talk to my father at all. We're just way to different. I mean, we can have superficial conversations, but nothing meaningful.

My mother, on the other hand, I can talk to about anything except politics and religion. She's very Catholic and very conservative, and I'm a moderately liberal atheist. It isn't even that our conversations get bad. They're always very civil, even when we don't agree. I just have this bad habit of backing up my point of view with facts, and she hates having to question her outlook on things. It's actually a little sad to watch her outright deny things to avoid having to face whatever subject is being discussed. It's gotten to the point where she just won't have the conversation at all anymore.

 

[Soxafloppin]

I cant talk to my parents about general stuff though I can't talk about my personal life to my mum (friendships, relationships)

She asks question after question and I get frustrated with her.

 

[EeveeElectro]

I can talk to mum about most normal stuff but if I mention anything slightly serious she'll freak out and start getting hysterical like she always has. She tells everyone my business too which is so annoying.
Talking about sex is a no-no. It's far too awkward. When I was younger she would act like sex is bad and the worst thing I could have done. I tried explaining to her that her crap attitude is probably why my sister had a child at 15 and my brother had 4 kids at age 23 because she wouldn't take about sex, or even safe sex with us at all. I'll never be like that with my kids.

 

[excalipoor]

I've never met my father (he's blissfully unaware of my existence), but I'd say my mother's pretty cool. I don't generally need to censor myself around her, and the only trouble I get in with her is when she thinks she's helping, but I just want her to back off and let me do my thing.

She is a bit sexist though, as in, doesn't have a particularly high opinion on the Y chromosome. Of course that doesn't apply to me (or John Irving, she loves John Irving), but I'm different, being her baby boy and all! I take every opportunity I get to call her out on it.

 

[Mrkillhappy]

It could be worse almost every conversation I have with my dad ends in a argument however on a very, very rare occasion we can have a decent talk.

 

[N3squ1ck]

Everytime I visit my parents (going to uni right now), my mum is happy that I am there and my dad at one point starts a big fight about nothing. So I leave again.

Also they were on holidays that were planned to be for me and my then-gf last month and everytime we talked about that or during the time my dad namedropped my ex-gf, even after I told him to please stop doing that (I really had a hard time after our breakup, with panic attacks when I went out and everything)

Oh also MY DAD THREW AWAY MY LEGOS WHEN I PISSED HIM OFF ONE DAY (we both can't remember what I actually did, I even doubt I pissed him off at all, and he just wanted to have the space free)

 

[Voulan]

I get along fine with my parents, and I still live at home. I don't understand why all my friends seem to hate their parents. The only time we fight is because I can be very stubborn about my views, and my parents aren't very open-minded about things like gay rights and occasionally make poor racist remarks. My dad is also a republican while I'm distinctly left-wing, so anything about politics or religion is a rough subject. There's never any full-blown, genuine fights though, just disagreements.

They don't understand my love of games, though. My mum is in the games-are-for-children camp, and my dad wants to take an interest but gets severe motion sickness. My mum would rather I wear pretty dresses and makeup, and gets way too enthusiastic if I go out with friends (I'm a very introverted person, so I hardly ever leave the house). But since I get great grades and do well for myself at uni and work, they leave it alone.

 

[Mr F.]

Well, I would need a medium to talk to my father. When he was alive we didn't really get on much. He gradually became more racist as he got older. He thought my sexuality was just a phase and never really accepted the fact that I am mentally ill.

My mum though, well, she is amazing. We have always been able to talk. Yeah, she doesn't understand me, but she tries. Really hard. She... Lets me make mistakes and then hugs me when I have fucked up.

Which is what you need in a mum.

Man, I might be 21 but that sentence made me cry. I miss my mum. Heh.

 

[jetriot]

My mom died when I was young so it was just my dad and I growing up. He remarried after I moved out at 18 and we don't have much difficulty talking. He has had a rough life but always did right by me and while he isn't super intelligent he has a great personality and is very wise. He seems happy with his new wife and even though she is a bit of an air head, she is a great person and I am really happy for them both. In short I was very blessed to have the parent that I did.

As a teacher, it is very evident that many, if not most, are not so blessed.

 

[manic_depressive13]

I don't really talk to my father anymore, but my mother does this annoying thing where if I haven't seen my boyfriend for a while she starts interrogating me for some reason, asking "When are you going to see ___? Why haven't you gone out with him in so long? Have you broken up?" which is just irritating. If I tell her we're fine she just asks "Well then when's he coming over?" as if she can't fathom two people being in a relationship and not having their asses glued together. It's actually sort of upsetting since it feels like she's suggesting he doesn't love me or that we don't have a proper relationship because occasionally we don't see eachother for a few weeks at a time. She does the same thing with friends I've fallen out of contact with. I get that she's afraid I'm too anti-social but rubbing in the fact that no one has time for me isn't going to my social life any fucking favours.

 

[Offworlder_v1legacy]

I can talk to my mum about anything and she's very open minded about things, however, she is hyper critical of my brother and me, she's just that kind of parent. So whenever I do try to talk to her about something it turns into a huge lecture about how I'm doing something wrong and how shity I am.

So I tend to avoid it altogether and talk to a friend or someone who doesn't think because I forget something minor it is an example of how much I will fail later in life.

 

[Colour Scientist]

My mom is awesome.

We had a frayed relationship when I was a teen, which was totally my fault, but at 21 we're getting on better then ever and slowly opening up to each other more. We can actually talk as friends now.

Even when things were tough, I respected the hell out of her. She's a tough cookie.

I don't know my dad so I imagine it would be pretty awkward if I tried to talk to him!

 

[lRookiel]

My mum and I are best friends pretty much. I call my mother a bellend as a greeting. YES

My dad and I ..... Oh god it's SO awkward, "You up to date with your uni work?" Is the one thing he says on a weekly basis. It's driven me to just speak with him only when he is either:

-Playing a computer game because he likes some games I like.
-When he gets home in the evenings.

 

[DrRockor]

The only time I have ever come in contact with my father was 2 emails a few years ago. My mum had to contact him about something to do with my birth certificate. I got an email that seemed like it was written by his secretary. Sure he had never talked to him but it still annoyed me. I replied to be polite mostly but I wasn't interested. I got a second email of him explaining what happened. People then told me that it was mostly bullshit so sod him.

My mum on the otherhand I can talk to about anything and I pretty much have. I think neither of us care enough to get embarrassed. She is one of the only people I feel genuinely comfortable around. I think the there are only about 6 people I feel ok around

 

[TheFunPolice]

Well, I get on pretty well with my mother, she really quite enjoys my sense of humor and we're pretty like-minded

However my dad passed away at the beginning of this year, and he and I always got on pretty well, but I never really thought he cared about my interests or tried to understand me as much as he would with my sister. But those thoughts have been put to rest, when I found out he bought tickets for he and I to go see my favorite band, and he wanted to keep it a surprise until pretty close to the date...

He was a great guy ^_^

 

[Gatx]

My parents are naturalized citizens so that automatically means there's a bit of a cultural gap (also a bit of a language barrier as I'm not quite as fluent in their native tongue anymore).

 

[norashepard]

I used to be really close with both my parents, and I'd take great pride in it because kids in high school would always be complaining about theirs. But then something happened, not sure what exactly, and suddenly I can't even really consider my parents connected to me at all. Like I see them sometimes and my general feeling is about as equal as how I feel when I meet someone I knew in school. It's weird and probably depressing, but that's just what happens, I guess.

That said I have like seven other couples who claim me as their own child now simply because of the rapport I've built with them, so it's not as much of a problem as it could be. Plus I have like the best little sister ever so that is a definite bonus, and probably the only reason I even remember what parents are.

 

[FancyNick]

Well I used to get along great with my Mom but then some drama happened and we sort of fight a bit more now. As far as my Dad goes it is the complete opposite. He was pretty much out of my life until I was eleven and we had some major problems getting to know each other over the years that followed. However, now we get along just dandy and have fun indulging in our common interests of cooking and gluttony. I go see him and my little brother every other week.

 

[YubiOre]

I've never been able to talk to my dad in a free flowing conversation. I don't know what it is, he's a good person and all, I just can't seem to click with him like my sister can. I used to be able to talk to my mom about anything,but ever since I left for college, I haven't been talking to my family as much. I won't go into details but it's just fueling my depression. She does guilt trip me a bit when I don't call though, which is kinda silly. She wanted me to call her everyday. It's odd, she really taught my sister and I to be independent people, but she seems to want to cling to me/lean on me.

It makes me wonder if I am a bad daughter for not really wanting to contact my family so much, or to go back and visit as much as I should.
(For anyone wondering, my family lives in Florida and I go to school in Northeast Ohio. If anyone asks me why I left "paradise" one more time, I will blow a freaking gasket, no offense.)

 

[Sajuuk_Khar]

My parents split when I was about 10 or so, since then I've only seen my dad once a week, I've never really been close to him, but got my love of gaming from him, so we talk about that and what his side of the family are up to, the only thing deeper we've talked about was when I told him about my depression, everything else has always been family or games.
Mother I don't like to talk to, I resented her for the four or five years before I left home, (she always seemed to be controlling my life, between questioning my every movement or action and a bedtime of 8:30 till I left home) so I try and avoid her. If I do end up talking to her, she usually asks how my life's going and complains about her family or anything else she has to whine about. We were close until I was about 9 or so (As close as you can be for a 9 year old) I became rather private soon after, and so our conversations never got any depth to them. I've never received 'The Talk' from either of them or anything else similar.