Your parents.

[paulpablo]

What was your childhood like?  What were your parents like?  How was your upbringing?

For better or for worse my parents have always been together.  My mother has always taken anti depressants for as long as I can remember and there's been plenty of fierce arguments between my parents.  There's never been any violence, spanking or whatever. 
My dad has always been some sort of tech support person in terms of his career, my mother has worked in administration and a few other less well paid jobs.  They're not rich or poor, somewhere inbetween. 

My Dad drinks, but very responsibly.  Neither of them take illegal drugs.  

I think there's always been a lot of passive aggressiveness on my mothers behalf. She's always been the type of person who would never teach me or have me doing the washing up throughout all my childhood years, never let my dad do the washing up, then complain that no one else does the washing up while also complaining when anyone else does the washing up that they shouldn't be doing it.

Generally my parents have both been very kind to me and mostly ok with teaching me stuff.  Just very lacking in teaching me stuff that helped me gain independence from them that I think slowed me down in life a lot.  Things like learning the value of money, cooking and cleaning are things that I pretty much stumbled across myself over the years. Also my parents have never owned a car so learning to drive was a big step for me, I feel like I spent my childhood years just walking and walking everywhere.

In regards to if I've turned out much like my parents, I've always had OCD and what you might call some experiences of depression.  In my teen years and early 20s I'd say I self medicated with illegal drugs and alcohol, now in my later life I think exercise and a good sex life is good substitute for drink and drugs and it makes me feel better. My dad can be quite passive aggressive too which I'm conscious of and I try and counteract that in my personal relationships by saying what I mean bluntly and directly as much as possible in situations that require it.

[Organic Machine]

My father died when I was like 7-8. Don't remember too much about him except that one time my mom got mad at him because he let me watch Jaws and even when she told me to go to my room I didn't, and he just kept letting me watch Jaws with him. He was quiet too.

Me and my mother had issues when I was in high school. I did not like where we had moved to. I had very few friends as I was not into drugs or drinking and most kids were. I had one really good friend who did smoke "the pot" and my mom wouldn't let me hang out with him because of that even though he knew I didn't want to and never tried to get me to after that first time. She didn't like my other friend because he got in trouble in school, I did not however, aside from just not participating in class. Basically she blamed them for why I was doing bad in school despite that I just hated it. I left to live with the second friend's family. His mom became a mother of sorts to me and helped me get through high school. Then she got mad at me for questioning the bible and Christianity. She almost kicked me out. I don't talk to her anymore. My biological mother and I are ok now, but not all that close. I'm not particularly personal with her. I had to move back in with her and her boyfriend in my early 20's. When that happened me and my sister became really close so she's the family member I'm closest with.

[The Valkyrie]

My wrinklies have been married since my dad was in med school and they became lumped with me.

Now, he's a GP in Sydney and has made a good life for himself and our family. Once his practice was established (and the worst of the student loans paid), my mother gave up work and concentrated on the home, though she did work reception at the clinic when I was young.

Both drink, but only socially. As far as I know, neither are on drugs, though Mum IS on a mind altering belief system (Catholicism). Dad's the main atheist of the family, but they've somehow made it work.

Now that the kids are out of the house, they go away on holidays more than ever.

My Dad's my buddy. My Mum's my bane.

[TheRealJoeFish]

I had an extraordinarily happy family life. My parents have been together for... I think 28 years now, and are pretty clearly in love. My dad went through some depression but it never really affected me and my two younger brothers. We were always lower middle class, which in rural areas is essentially the only middle class there is; we never really had money trouble, due in large part to the generosity of my mother's parents, who were quite well off.

I was lucky enough to know four of my great-grandparents, and to be born when all of my grandparents were in their late 50s or early 60s (three are still alive today, at 75, 78 and 80). We've had a cat since I was 8 (the same cat; he just turned 18 and is still pretty darn healthy), and have had a dog for the last 10 years (odds are the dog dies before the cat). Since my grandfather died last May my parents, who sold their house and were renting a townhouse in order to save up for retirement with my brothers and I all moved out, have moved in with my grandmother (my mother's mother). I live about 75 miles from them, and get to see them at least once a month.

Both of my grandfathers were alcoholics (who both, amazingly, quit drinking before I was born), so my parents enjoyed their wine but always made sure to enjoy responsibly. My dad smoked, then didn't, then did, then didn't again. My mom stayed home with me and my brother (who was two years younger) until I was four, and then when we moved back to my mom's hometown (a nice rural spot to raise a family as opposed to the city my dad was from) my mom worked 9 to 5 and my dad worked part time on nights and weekends.

That's what I remember about the whole growing up business. I've come to realize, as I've grown older, that my family situation has been in like, the top 5% of possible family situations. So... I'm grateful for that.

Edit to add: my parents are both Catholic and very involved with the local church, as is my youngest brother (the middle is agnosticish). Obviously they'd rather I believe, but they don't pressure me at all, and are happy I've become an independent young man who can think for myself. They don't really give a hoot about my atheism, and they wouldn't give a hoot if I was gay or had a kid or anything like that. They're really really awesome people, and thus probably bad Catholics

[Jackalope]

My parents were largely absent when I was growing up - psychologically when not physically. We're not all that close as a result, I don't have a lot of emotional trust. It bothers me when I let it. I try not to.

[vorlon13]

yo mama

[c172]

I was born in Dec. 1975 to my mother and biological father, who suffered a stroke (causing hemiplegia and cognitive damage) in 1982, and died in 1990. I remember him to be a loving fellow, and devoted father. I also remember that I was not brought up with the notion of Santa, but he was a mall santa (and law student). 

Between his stroke and his death (which was from MRSA), my mother had to take care of me (I am disabled, with spina bifida) and often him. I think it was a pretty full plate for my mother, who is a very emotional person. I think this all affected her parenting a bit, which at times was spot on, but at times either lacking or overkill. 

My mother remarried in 1991. My stepfather soon after adopted me (so I refer to him as my father, as opposed to my late biological father). He has been a very good husband and a devoted father. We don't always get along, but his heart (and mine) are in the right place. If I were to be a father, I would hope to emulate him a fair amount. 

However, my relationship with my mother has deteriorated. They are both still very much in my life (a bit too much, at times). I have gotten to really see some things in my mother that are lacking, and we get into little arguments over that. As well, she tend to keep things in until there is a hot mess of issues to bring up about me, so my trust in her has kind of dwindled. Her heart is very much in the right place, but she wants things to be happy all the time, and ironically gets upset when they aren't, which is a fair amount. And she takes care of others way more than herself. And her massive amount of friends probably expect that of her, as well, which makes things worse.

She is immensely popular with everybody she meets. But, we do have quite a bit of tension between us.

[Alex K]

My parents got married in '68 while living in one of the hotspots of the German student movement (the old capital of Bonn), talk about anticyclical. My dad, who is 9 years older, came from a very poor and catholic background and was a construction worker and occasional dancehall musician in the late 50s and 60s, which is when he met my mother, who grew up in a relatively wealthy (in comparison) protestant family of merchants and winemakers. An unequal pairing which was not immediately approved of on her side, but they got over it. He hated construction work like the plague, went to evening school to get a proper diploma, after which they went to college together to become HS teachers, and he also a classically trained singer on the side. Half my family were wine makers, so there's some drinking involved, but not to a degree that is unusual. My childhood was protected and harmonious, a very stable environment in one of the prettiest spots of the country, and there was music all around - my dad was conducting 3 choirs and mom probably a member of as many at times. My dad always communicated to me the wonder of science and his passion for curiosity and education, because he had to work so very hard to find these things due to his background - but I was never pushed hard to excel academically, that just came naturally to me.

[ignoramus]

Father and mother were hard working Greek immigrants who came to OZ to start a family.
Dad was so busy with work, he never gave a shit about any of the kids.
The feelings were eventually reciprocated.

Looking back, he was a narcissist and at times violent.
I dedicated my life to become the opposite of what he was.

He split the family further when he died by leaving his will to one child.
This was out of spite because the younger sister and I chose to marry who we wanted, rather than one of his hand picked suckers. I have zero regrets....

His loss, not ours.

[Little lunch]

Cool, I'm taking notes here. I want to be a great dad.
My dad and I never got on. He didn't like me as a person. He's dead now.
I think if he we're still around we might have developed some sought of friendship eventually.
My mum is my rock. She's made a few parenting mistakes along the way, but she had only just turned 16 when she had me.
And I was a shit of a kid. I'm so lucky to have the perfect daughter. :-)