Relations
Every once in a while it occurs to me how odd it is that I get along so well with my parents.
I mean, it’s not all roses and sunshine all the time. I was once a teenager, after all, with all the angst that implies. Nonetheless, especially now that I’m older, I get along really well with my parents. I love them to pieces, and I’m sad that we don’t get to spend more time together. (Wait until I have a kid…if anything will get my mother to force the move back to Colorado, it will be me breeding.)
My parents head back home tomorrow, so I took the opportunity to spend the day with my mom. An eighty-minute deep tissue massage, followed by a sushi lunch and then a stop by Olena’s house to snuggle with the world’s most adorable set of twins (my mom really, really loves babies.)
And it was awesome.
And maybe that’s not weird. Maybe a lot of people have good relationships with their parents…just not anyone I know.
I mean, yeah, I have a few friends who get along with their folks, and the majority of my friends love their parents, but I’m one of the few who actively enjoy spending time with their parents. It always makes me feel kind of odd…guilty, really…when my friends talk about how their families make them crazy. I smile and nod and empathize, but it’s not a sensation that I have a lot of experience with – at least, not since I hit my twenties. I like my parents. I want to hang out with them.
Anyway, my parents leave at insane o’clock tomorrow morning. I’ll miss them like crazy, but I can console myself with the incredible amount of knitting time I’ll get tomorrow. I’ve got to get this stealth project off the needles.
1Carrie
wrote on 24 October 2009 at 8:56
I love spending time with my dad. My late mother drove me up a wall if we were less than 100 miles apart, but when I was in Tucson and she was in Phoenix, we talked on the phone every day. I don’t think that’s weird.
2Mouse
wrote on 24 October 2009 at 10:15
I Definitely don’t think its strange! My dad and I have a somewhat strained relationship (though I do go to him for advice) but my mom is absolutely my best friend. I talk to her on the phone numerous times a week b/c she’s the only person around who really ‘gets’ me. We all couldn’t stand each other during my teenage years but I definitely couldn’t have asked for a better set of parents! I haven’t seen my folks in over 4 years and I miss them daily. Glad that you got to see your ‘rents for a while!
3Chris
wrote on 24 October 2009 at 18:13
Weirdo.
No, I think it’s great! My SIL gets along with her parents like that and I’ve always been amazed by it. I can spend a few hours with my dad before he starts to drive me nuts… and my mom’s been estranged from us for 10+ years, so…
4naomi
wrote on 25 October 2009 at 18:28
I, too, like hanging out with my parents. If I’m at their house for more than a week, I start feeling antsy, but that’s in part because I miss my cat and my autonomy, since there’s nothing within walking distance of their house and I never have a car.
5Dev
wrote on 26 October 2009 at 9:29
Very few of us like hanging with our parents. I adore mine (mostly my mom).
6Kristi aka FIber Fool
wrote on 26 October 2009 at 10:04
You’re not alone! I *love* my parents really wish they were much closer. I cried a couple years ago when my mom told me that she loves both of her daughters, but that there was something special between us and that she’d choose me as a friend even I weren’t her daughter!
7ellie
wrote on 26 October 2009 at 12:23
Count me in the loving family crowd. My brother and his wife are my #1 best friends and my parents rank really high up there. I go home whenever I can and for as long as I can and talk to them all multiple times a week. My family rocks. And it’s not just me saying so. My mom held a birthday party for her dog and tons of my brother’s friends came. We have friends that come just to visit our parents and one of my brother’s friends had his bachelor party at our house with my dad.
8gayle
wrote on 30 October 2009 at 5:50
I love hanging out with my folks, too. My dad and my stepmom are a positive hoot, and I miss my mother terribly since she died in June.
Enjoy!