3x Thursday

Parents

1. Do you get along with both of your parents? Have you always/always not? Why/how?

I always got along great with Dad; it was rare for me to be upset with him. Mom is a totally different story. We just don't do well together; it's a struggle for me now to be civil and dutiful in her old age. I realized when I was quite young that we are too much alike in all the bad ways. It's too bad, because we had some good times growing up. The bad times are what seem to stick with me.

2. Is there one parent you connect with more than the other? If so, how so?

Dad was always the Good Cop and Mom was always the Bad Cop. I think this was slightly different from the strategy in use when my sisters were little, however. At least one of my sisters completely disagrees with my feelings about Dad, and I know he was a tyrant with my oldest sister. It's good to be the baby of the family sometimes.... I think Mom was just more consistent across the board with all of us.

3. Do you see your parents often? How often? Why/why not?

I haven't seen Mom for over a year. Sparky hasn't seen her in SEVERAL years. I'm a bad daughter/mom. It's just really hard to get to where she lives out in the boonies 1,000 miles from me, and over an hour to the nearest airport.

Bonus Question: Do you think parents in general are crazy becuase us kids made them that way? Do you think you kinda *have* to be insane (in that kooky parent sort of way) to be a parent?

I do think kids change the way people operate. Lots of perfectly normal adults are not functional around kids. A lot of buried-since-childhood stuff resurfaces, most of which isn't fabulous, at least in my experience. There are lots of moments of "when I was a kid..." that cause knee-jerk responses. I think, therefore, parents are crazy because their parents made them crazy and the kids are just a catalyst.

There are, however, days when I know that I must have been crazy to sign on for this job!!