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What was your relationship with your parents like when you were growing up?

A22

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I was talking to some IXTX friends of mine and they told me that, like me, they were sort of distant from their parents during their adolescence, specially from their father - which is also true for me. I think that's one of the factors that led me to be an introvert.

What about you?
 

ESFP

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Interesting that it would lead to being an Introvert. One of my Introverted friends grew up with Extroverts and was criticized and forced to be one too. Very damaging.

I didn't have that problem with my Introversion, but did with the T/F and J/P preferences.
 

redbaron

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INFP dad, INTJ mum, they were split.

Didn't see dad as much, lived with mum mostly. When I was about 15 I wanted to try something else, so I did it the other way around and lived with dad most of the time and mum on some weekends or just for a visit.

Pretty normal relationship with both I guess. Mum was no-bullshit, Dad was infuriatingly long-winded and could get ridiculously emotional about things when he thought he was done wrong by. Mum could too, but I guess I related to her better because we both shared the trait of having an outburst and then being completely over it 5 minutes later. We would argue, then forget about it entirely. To this day I don't remember what a single argument we've had was about, we just both express our feelings and agree to disagree.

Dad was the other way around. I got over stuff so quickly, but I don't think he realised. Always seemed to believe I held the same bottled up emotions he did. He even thought I hated him at one point. I've grown up with an aversion to any sort of reliance on anything but myself, probably partly because of that. I saw how his necessity for validation that he wasn't receiving caused a whole plethora of other perceived problems.

In the end I took the best of both worlds. The pragmatic and self-assured (TeNi) of my mum, and the principled and questioning nature of my dad (FiNe).

I question myself without self-doubt and I focus on what is practical while knowing where my own personal boundaries lie. I don't regret anything, because at some point in time the action I took or the words that I spoke were either what I wanted to do at the time, or were what I believed I should do. Life is, nothing more.

That is I believe in part due to the influence of my parents. Although I did live with differing father and mother figures as well through the partners of my parents whom for all intents and purposes I treated like my own parents since they treated me like their own son.
 

Heisenberg

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ESTJ dad ISFP mom
They got divorced when I was ten, don't really get along with either very well. I mostly stay in my room when I'm home. They seem generally irritated with everything I do. Argue with mom often when we do talk. Dealing with a hyper religious ESTJ father can definitely be challenging at times too.
 

Jennywocky

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My ESTP dad was never home and otherwise lost in his boozing. He's had an alcohol problem for the last fifty years that not only put him in jail for 30 days at one point but almost killed him and left him in a coma for 2 days.

His public image is somewhat secure; people remember him as being capable with his gifts, but he lost the opportunity to pursue those professionally due to his drinking over thirty years ago. He is quite the charmer and a bullshit artist who is good at challenging other people's bullshit... just not his own. Due to his addiction, he was very difficult to live with, with his constant violations of personal boundaries in the family; he would also emotionally bully us, always have the last word, would overwrite other people's preferences with his. He held grudges when people criticized him or disagreed with him (even his closest friends and relatives), for periods of years; he has not spoken to me for four years at this point. It was like living under the rule of an overgrown child... at least when he was around and sober. Often he wasn't even around and/or was lost in his own buzz. I avoided him as much as possible.

My ISFJ has her own issues -- she's probably the sweetest, most kind-hearted person you'll meet, but also probably the most naive. She worked as an RN for her entire career and managed to never kill anyone while dosing them (she's great at following procedure and instructions), but she's terrible at thinking on her feet or understanding abstracted logic. While we could talk, we had trouble relating due to our vast differences. She was very tireless as a provider and caretaker of the family and spent her life energy to hold things together in my father's emotional relational absence, but at the same time could be somewhat of an enabler.

Basically, I raised myself and had to figure out life on my own, because neither of them were in a position to help with that... although my mom did her best to keep the home stable and all the basic needs of life provided for. I have a decent relationship with her at this point, but it's all based on things she likes to talk about... since she doesn't really understand the kinds of things I think about. I have an "ambivalent" stance towards them.

I do love them, still, but I still wonder if I was a changeling child. I just never really fit with my family.
 

Duxwing

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@Jennywocky *cringes* Yikes! I hope that nothing from that period bothers you anymore.

Not to make a mean contrast, but I have an INXP dad and an ISXJ mom, and they're married quite happily (they're adorable!) and their lives haven't caused any external disturbances other than the occasional worry for my dad's job security and many moves that occupied my very early years. As for the OP's mention of paternal distance, my dad is anything but: when he isn't giving me a fascinating lecture on history, politics, writing, literary criticism, human behavior, or theatre, he checks up on my grades and helps me in my college search. When I was little, he was absolutely relentless with his hugging, and now that I'm older, he still appreciates me hugging him at the door.

My mom, of course, is different. She's a real Nietzschean Ubermensch: born to an almost illiterate father and a clerk mother in communist Poland, she pulled herself up by her own bootstraps to become a full-fledged endocrinologist with a private practice. She even has her own self-constructed morality, which she formed during her existential crisis in medical school. That's the good news. We argue all the time, she really can't understand the complex abstractions that I use, and she hates philosophy and psychology. However, she's able to do practical things that I can hardly think of, and she can solve emotional problems that appear intractable to me through applied pragmatism.

Overall, I've got a pretty good household, and I hope to stay with them for a while by either commuting to college or living at one nearby.

-Duxwing
 

Jennywocky

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Jennywocky *cringes* Yikes! I hope that nothing from that period bothers you anymore.

My dad hasn't talked to me for the last four years as I said. He's still an alcoholic. He had me cut out of the will. And I'm not close to anyone in my family except a distant (physically) cousin. I'll hate it when he dies; the funeral will be ugly. Worse would be for my mom to die first, leaving him left behind.

So what do you think about it still bothering me? Wouldn't all that bother you?

I'm honestly glad you have a decent relationship with your parents, though, and have overall benefitted from having them in your life. That kind of thing helps me feel better, to know some people have had a good time of things. I'm glad I have a good relationship with my own children, so at least the crap in my family is not perpetuating.
 

Etheri

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ENTP dad, ESFJ mum. Eldest of a small army of siblings. I have a pretty good relationship with my family, but I rarely go home. Growing up as a kid was pretty good, other than a few unfortunate events. However, once I got older than 12 stuff started to get complicated. I moved out as soon as I got a good chance at it. I don't know whether stress in the relationship with my family caused introversion, or in a way introversion caused additional stress to this relationship, but the correlation is definitely there.

I don't mind my family, I just can't live with them... At all. I stress out within a matter of hours / days. My parents and I have decent understanding and mutual respect for eachother nowadays. Them not understanding my introversion was definitely a factor.

they were sort of distant from their parents during their adolescence, specially from their father - which is also true for me. I think that's one of the factors that led me to be an introvert.
Correlation? Likely. Causation? I'm not convinced, but who knows.
 

Duxwing

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My dad hasn't talked to me for the last four years as I said. He's still an alcoholic. He had me cut out of the will. And I'm not close to anyone in my family except a distant (physically) cousin. I'll hate it when he dies; the funeral will be ugly. Worse would be for my mom to die first, leaving him left behind.

*Nods quietly*

So what do you think about it still bothering me? Wouldn't all that bother you?

*Bows head* Forgive me, I had thought that your childhood troubles had (literally) become a distant memory of a far-off land. But, as you say, you're still bothered by them. As for the "ugliness" of your father's funeral, what will make it so? I have an inkling of why, but I'm not entirely sure.

I'm honestly glad you have a decent relationship with your parents, though, and have overall benefitted from having them in your life. That kind of thing helps me feel better, to know some people have had a good time of things. I'm glad I have a good relationship with my own children, so at least the crap in my family is not perpetuating.

And you can take heart in knowing that you've raised your two sons well. :)

-Duxwing
 

Cavallier

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Wow. I know a lot of people have strife with their parents. In fact I figure most people do.

I don't really fortunately. My father is an ENTP (5w7) and my mother is an INTJ. She was not the typical mother. She really worked hard to make sure I had the Tools necessary to survive but was not that great with the emotional baggage that comes with being a teen. My father was somewhat better at it in that his approach was to help me delvelop Life Hacks to emotional situations. He wasn't as good at actually helping me deal with them internally.

However, I think I came out of it fairly well adjusted if a bit...well...I admit people are a bit like little dolls to me that I move around and happen to be particularly attached to at times. I've felt removed to the point of not really even being on the same planet as other people. It has only been that last 4 or 5 years that I've started to connect to people in a way that doesn't feel like I'm looking through a peephole at them.
 

Duxwing

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Wow. I know a lot of people have strife with their parents. In fact I figure most people do.

I don't really fortunately. My father is an ENTP (5w7) and my mother is an INTJ. She was not the typical mother. She really worked hard to make sure I had the Tools necessary to survive but was not that great with the emotional baggage that comes with being a teen. My father was somewhat better at it in that his approach was to help me delvelop Life Hacks to emotional situations. He wasn't as good at actually helping me deal with them internally.

However, I think I came out of it fairly well adjusted if a bit...well...I admit people are a bit like little dolls to me that I move around and happen to be particularly attached to at times. I've felt removed to the point of not really even being on the same planet as other people. It has only been that last 4 or 5 years that I've started to connect to people in a way that doesn't feel like I'm looking through a peephole at them.

Wow, that's a pretty good tale. I'm glad that you're able to connect with people more. :)

-Duxwing
 

Jennywocky

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Bows head* Forgive me, I had thought that your childhood troubles had (literally) become a distant memory of a far-off land. But, as you say, you're still bothered by them. As for the "ugliness" of your father's funeral, what will make it so? I have an inkling of why, but I'm not entirely sure.

It's just simply a lot of the issues revolving around him have pervaded the family as well, with people taking sides. I'm also the oldest child. I don't even know what my role would be at his funeral, or what role I should expect of myself even if others disagree. it's just a big mess... and a shame that he managed to be so divisive in life and will likely remain so even in death.

And you can take heart in knowing that you've raised your two sons well. :)

...And an adopted daughter.

Anyway, enough about me.
 

Duxwing

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It's just simply a lot of the issues revolving around him have pervaded the family as well, with people taking sides. I'm also the oldest child. I don't even know what my role would be at his funeral, or what role I should expect of myself even if others disagree. it's just a big mess... and a shame that he managed to be so divisive in life and will likely remain so even in death.

Your role at that funeral is whatever you want it to be. Hug his coffin, spit on his grave, make a song, or whatever you choose; don't let their expectations make you feel compelled to act in a certain way. After all, it's not like he'll care.

...And an adopted daughter.

Anyway, enough about me.

Oh, that's interesting. I never knew that you adopted. I'll leave you alone now, though.

-Duxwing
 

BigApplePi

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I am really struggling to think of what type my father was. E?S?F?P.:confused: Probably P because I never heard much of an opinion from him. He was born in 1877 and a captain in the war. Probably an S if only because he was a house call physician. Mom? IS?FJ?:confused: Definitely I. The rest are guesses. They were too busy for me.

Mom was a registered nurse until she got married. What I learned from them was atmosphere. They loved each other. Mom valued me but had no idea who I was. I don't know what else to say. I think what I inherited from them was ignorance.:D That's why today I want to know stuff everyone else already knows plus things no one else knows.:D

If you are curious about any of this, be sensitive. Ask me anything and I can display more of my ignorance.
 

Jennywocky

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Mom was a registered nurse until she got married. .... Mom valued me but had no idea who I was.

At first glance, your mom sounds like my mom.

If you are curious about any of this, be sensitive. Ask me anything and I can display more of my ignorance.

Is that 1877 a joke? (I don't mean that rudely.) My grandparents were born around 1916-1918, so I'm asking. How old was your father when you were born?
 

Puffy

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ISTJ father, ESFP mother, to my guessing. Things wern't too great for a while but I moved out 4 years ago and get on fine with them in small doses. My Dad's difficult as he's very introverted and unresponsive (I'm introverted as well, but I try quite hard to be accommodating around other people). My Mum's a socialite and we get on fine, but her enthusiasm tires me out sometimes. :p

There's always been a tension between them that meant both are almost always under emotional stress (because of each other). Both my grandmothers, my parents and sister have been on anti-depressants for a long time as well, so I grew up always feeling my own difficulties were minor in comparison and didn't express them. Gradually, my parents let on more, and I became like a mediator to them, or someone they leant on, which is almost like a son-parent role reversal lol.

To be honest, my parents aren't that mature. I was probably quite isolated growing up and have ingrained negative views on relationships. But the advantage was that I feel I matured fast and became more independent/ emotionally strong/ introspective for developing my own coping techniques. My parents have always been supportive though, home just has turbulent qualities and I feel a peace-maker at heart (enneagram 9?). :phear:
 

Chad

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I don't know my biological parents I was adopted by my parents when I was 8 years old.

My father is ISxP. He is very distant and I don't believe I have ever had a meaningful conversation with him. I have actually learned form my father quite a bit. My dad is a great person and one of the nice people I have ever meet. The problem is nether one of us get very deep therefore are conversation are very shallow.

My mother is ESFJ. She is very over protective and clingy. It's nice to talk to her sometimes as she is good at getting to the bottom of emotional problems. However, as soon as I graduated High School I move 9 hours away form my mother to go to college. We have a better relationship now that we only talk when I call here 1 or 2 a month.

I would say that my relationship with my parents is healthy and funtional even though I personally chose to put physical and emotional distance between me and them. I don't think my parents made me into and introvert. I think my introversion has made me distant form my family.
 

BigApplePi

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At first glance, your mom sounds like my mom.
I assume they were not the SAME mom and keeping something from us.:D

Is that 1877 a joke? (I don't mean that rudely.) My grandparents were born around 1916-1918, so I'm asking. How old was your father when you were born?
No. Not a joke. Could be a typo. No not a typo. 1877. 59. 64 for my sister. Surprised?
 

NoID10ts

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My dad is an INTP (I think) and my mom is an ISTJ. They divorced when I was two and then she married an ESFJ when I was four (to spite me, I'm sure ;)).

I get along well with my dad, but he's difficult to talk to because he's so inside his own head (worse than me). The two of us together make for a lot of silence unless he's been drinking. He gets chatty when he's been drinking. A couple of years ago, he almost died of cirrhosis of the liver and the subsequent detox, so that put a stop to his drinking (I think).

I've always gotten along well with my mom. She's kind and helpful, but she can also be unsympathetic at times. Her signature expression is "get over it." She's not a hugger and definitely doesn't wear her emotions on her sleeve so she's hard to read at times. She'll do anything for her family though and has helped my wife and I tremendously through the years.

My step-dad is a pain in the ass. I love him, but he's a pain in the ass. He's a creature of pure emotion and instinct with seemingly little thought ever going through that head of his. His whole way of doing life is antithetical to mine, so we drive each other crazy.

Both my mom and step-dad are very religious and can be judgmental. Currently, I think they are disgusted with me for leaving the faith, but they never come right out and say it.
 

Jennywocky

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I assume they were not the SAME mom and keeping something from us.:D

I KNEW IT!

Hey, big bro. Can you take me to hang out with all your cool friends? please please please?

No. Not a joke. Could be a typo. No not a typo. 1877. 59. 64 for my sister. Surprised?

Only in the sense it's fairly rare. But it seems far more normal than being born with three arms. Just sayin'.

One of my friends had parents who were in their 40's when he was born, but I think that's the oldest set of parents I know personally.
 

Chad

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I KNEW IT!

Hey, big bro. Can you take me to hang out with all your cool friends? please please please?



Only in the sense it's fairly rare. But it seems far more normal than being born with three arms. Just sayin'.

One of my friends had parents who were in their 40's when he was born, but I think that's the oldest set of parents I know personally.

His father was 54 however this doesn't mean his mother was. It actually still quite common for older men to marry much younger woman. I don't think I could do this but for most men its not taboo. Its also no unheard of for a 80 year old man to have sperm as long as the mother is still per menopause a baby can be born.
 

MissQuote

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I've never met my father.

My mother is an INFJ with possible mental illness. She had a major head trauma in a motorcycle accident when she was a teenager, her skull was cracked open. I've never been able to pinpoint whether her problems stem from mental illness, or the injury, or both. I think her frontal cortex was likely damaged in some way that stunted her emotional maturity. She has the emotions of a teenager, and growing up they were very volatile. She has stabled out as she has gotten older, but was never fit/capable to have raised children. It saddens me for her now because she is very intelligent and has grown in that aspect over the course of her life, I can't imagine what it might be like to grow wiser on a mental level, but unable to emotionally mature. As an adult now who has changed and grown myself, I can see very well her growth as a person overall, but how her emotions cannot seem to mature. She can sit back and analyze her behavior in regards to her outbursts very well, but cannot at all prevent them from happening again no matter how well she understands them. Starting when I was a toddler, three years, she would pass me off to my grandparents as often as possible. So I was raised back and forth between her and them.

My grandma is an ExFx, I cannot quite pinpoint her exactly. She is very controlling and maniuplative, but very loving at the same time. She always tried to control who I was, even called me by a different name. Dressed me how she wanted, decided what things I like and don't like, told me who I was and treated me as if I were that person. She also taught me to read at the age of three, doted over me and provided a very calm stable environment.

My grandpa was an INTP and probably one of the most positive influences on my entire life. He was the sort of man that enjoyed having little children around and would just include them in whatever he was doing as a learning experience, rather than trying to find a little kid activity for them. Would talk to children like they were people and seemed to never tire of them just being around. He had a very calming effect. He worked for a airplane battery plant when I was very little and would often take me to work with him, he kept his bottom drawer full of wires and tubes and nuts and bolts and would just let me sit and make things out of them. When I was older he had his own company where they made high energy density battery's that he designed/created for use deep under sea, he would take me to work and just let me wander around the plant or play on the computer, show me the testing areas and answer any questions I had. He introduced me to poetry, and it was something we shared. He was an amazing verbal story teller, of made up little kid tales, and would tell my sister and I bedtimes stories he made up on the spot for an hour or more. His biggest hobby was old cars and he took me to car shows all the time, and junk yards to find parts for the cars he was restoring. He built me a car from the frame up, over the course of seven years, and let me help whenever I was around. Then he sold it and bought me something practical with the money when I became pregnant at fifteen. We used to argue, terribly. My two favorite arguments would be one when I was about twelve and we were driving down the road, he told me you could not teach a child reason, to which I, of course, retorted with that being untrue and next thing you know we are in heated debate about it, until he finally silently fumes realising he is in a debate with a twelve year old about whether you can teach a child reason and the twelve year old is calm and getting the better of him. Second favorite argument, I was seventeen, I told him something, a fact about a Greek goddess or something (forget exactly what) and he refuted me, said it was ridiculous, we went back and forth, finally he storms silently out of the room. Fifteen minutes later he comes back in from the library (home library) with a large book open in his arms, looks up at me and grins "I learned something today!".

He has been passed on for almost seven years now. I miss him a lot.



Edit- there is no blood relation between me and my grandpa. He adopted my mom when he married my grandma.
 

SpaceYeti

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My dad was awesome. My mom was a worrying nut-job. I got along with both, primarily because I had no reason not to. The whole adolescent rebel without a cause thing was irritating to me. A "rebel without a cause" is an oxymoron, and did nothing but cause unnecessary drama. Just deal with whatever you find so irritating and move on.
 

BigApplePi

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I KNEW IT!

Hey, big bro. Can you take me to hang out with all your cool friends? please please please?
Hey sis, well yeah. But how do I know you aren't my sis already posting under your own handle? (Only it was jabberwocky, not jennywocky.) In that case you already know who I'm hangin' out wid.
 

Jennywocky

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His father was 54 however this doesn't mean his mother was. It actually still quite common for older men to marry much younger woman. I don't think I could do this but for most men its not taboo. Its also no unheard of for a 80 year old man to have sperm as long as the mother is still per menopause a baby can be born.

yes, I didn't imagine his mom was. Women typically start having huge issues with carrying a healthy baby to term in their early 40's, and by the mid/late 30's the doctors nowadays are doing tests.

But men are viable much much longer.
 

Architect

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But men are viable much much longer.

They are finding that sperm has a shorter shelf life then they thought earlier. At least that's what my wife tells me :confused:
 

The Gopher

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My Father was an ENTJ and my Mother was an ESFJ. They both loved each other never heard them fight because they just discussed everything. All things considered I got on great with them. (it was my INTJ sister who was always right and my ESFJ mother who was also always right [but of course in different ways] that had the most tension {but still not a huge amount and they get on great now}

There were minor frustrations with the ESFJ's view of my success being getting a 9 to 5 job marrying, having kids and letting her teach them... Not that that isn't good but she seems to want to rush the process. (she is trying to marry me of to someone :eek:) My dad and I are both Ne Ti so we often are the humour powerhouses in the family. (although it's our family, everyone is pretty good) That said he can be quite authoritative at times.

Having two extroverted parents was almost a good thing, I am still introverted and such but they conditioned me to the outside world so I am not completely (but lets face it still mostly) unsociable.
 

Duxwing

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My Father was an ENTJ and my Mother was an ESFJ. They both loved each other never heard them fight because they just discussed everything. All things considered I got on great with them. (it was my INTJ sister who was always right and my ESFJ mother who was also always right [but of course in different ways] that had the most tension {but still not a huge amount and they get on great now}

There were minor frustrations with the ESFJ's view of my success being getting a 9 to 5 job marrying, having kids and letting her teach them... Not that that isn't good but she seems to want to rush the process. (she is trying to marry me :eek:) My dad and I are both Ne Ti so we often are the humour powerhouses in the family. (although it's our family, everyone is pretty good) That said he can be quite authoritative at times.

Having two extroverted parents was almost a good thing, I am still introverted and such but they conditioned me to the outside world so I am not completely (but lets face it still mostly) unsociable.

Now when you'd said, "she's trying to marry [you]," did you mean that she is attempting to become your wife, or do you mean that she is trying to find a girl for you in such a way, and with such vigor, that you are irritated and disturbed? The latter would be more commonplace, but the former would be far more interesting.

-Duxwing
 

Cavallier

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Oh thank goodness I'm not the only one whose parents got along. I think we are a minority.
 

Duxwing

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Oh thank goodness I'm not the only one whose parents got along. I think we are a minority.

Those with problems voice their tales of woe, but silent voices all sound the same: Perhaps the families of world are not in such dire straits.

-Duxwing
 

Chad

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Oh thank goodness I'm not the only one whose parents got along. I think we are a minority.

My parents get along great. I have never seen them fight though my mom has mentioned to me that they have gone threw troubled times in there marriages.

I can't really stand to living in the same zip code as my parents doesn't mean I don't have healthy relationship with them. It also doesn't mean my parents have any relationship problems.
 

snafupants

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I like to notice the predictable childhood patterns of each enneagram type. Type ones, for instance, notice a deficiency in external authority and, therefore, step in as their own superego-driven authority figure, as if to trumpet, notice my goodness and emulate me! More often than not ones evoke a priggish sensibility, though. At any rate, my dad was always out working. Good provider, but it seemed as though he cared more about being industrious than being a father. He may have been frightened of emotional closeness or of making a mistake; ironically, not being there was the mistake. Mom was very loving but also quite narcissistic. She snatched her love away at a moment's notice, which created a mild, thankfully temporary, distrust of compassion in my two sisters and me. She also kept her three children in an unarticulated fear, an unwarranted malaise; occasionally she would beat us but, more often, she was nurturing. To be fair, dad did distance himself from work when I entered high school. He and I played baseball together and went to movies. Also, mom and dad went to all of our little school activities post-childhood, perhaps partly from guilt. I mean, they passed. I can't waste too much red ink of their papers. They tried. They were basically present.
 

redbaron

irony based lifeform
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Boy, I feel guilty in some way that I got along so well with my parents (and their subsequent partners after they split).

@Cavallier we're monsters, monsters I tell you!!

Where's a fucking sadface smiley when you need one?
 

The Gopher

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We aren't allowed to be sad that would cause a negative environment in this loving bright place.
 

redbaron

irony based lifeform
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I see what you did there. That was pretty delicious ironing.
 

Cavallier

Oh damn.
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Where's a fucking sadface smiley when you need one?

We aren't allowed to be sad that would cause a negative environment in this loving bright place.


By which he means that the "SadFace" is our general mode of operation. We have to use :), :o, and :cool: just to prove we feel something other than general misanthropy.

I had to have this little guy specially equipped: :D.
 

Cavallier

Oh damn.
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My parents get along great. I have never seen them fight though my mom has mentioned to me that they have gone threw troubled times in there marriages.

I can't really stand to living in the same zip code as my parents doesn't mean I don't have healthy relationship with them. It also doesn't mean my parents have any relationship problems.


True, true. That's basically the relationship between my ENTP father and his ESTJ father. They love each other and get along well enough but they just can't stand each other for more than 30 minutes or so.
 

Valentas

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With father - not good. He is an intp too but has totally different hobbies, world view and stuff... though he was always friendly when talking about mutual interests.

Mother...well we are still close, much better relationship than with father.

When I was growing up, I did not talk with my parents too much. Still never bother do so when I'm 20 years old. :} I guess they just put up with it.
 

Kdosi

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Father - ISTJ - up and down. Most of the time we both act according to our opinions and are surprised that his conservatism (from my point of view) or my extreme idealism (as he is probably thinking) could work. But as long as I don´t have any serious problems, he lets me be. When he thinks, however, that my actions are "foolish", "badly thought-through" or "stupidly revolutionary", he tries to step in and ´help´- the result being a sort of cold war. But I guess that since we had to for about five years work as a working unit (due to my mother´s illness), we have somehow learned to respect one another. Also, we both seek similar environments (e.g. silent, dimly lighted rooms with a lot of books, forests and meadows, art galleries and museums).

Mother - ENFP - has probably no idea what´s going on in my head half of the time (same vice versa), but for some weird reason is likely to support me when I am starting some of my more unconventional projects. When I was smaller, she tried for a short period of time to help me get more friends and generally become more ´extroverted´ - didn´t work, but as soon as I introduced my three friends to her, she has let me be.

Sometimes she does something I percieve as a subtle manipulation or I do something she thinks is an attack on her person (when it is just an attempt to find objective truth), but somehow we have both learned to say it right away, so that the other party stops.

We used to quarrell a lot more when I was younger - but it could have been just a result of her being bed-ridden for years and then returning to an environment which has already found its stability without her in it.

Writing this, I realise that the relationship with my parents could have been both worse and better.
 

Jennywocky

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We aren't allowed to be sad that would cause a negative environment in this loving bright place.

Oh, you can be sad; we just don't want to see it.

So SLAP ON THAT HAPPY!!!! :phear:
 

kora

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Yes. I get on well-ish with my parents but they were always working, especially my Dad who was only home on weekends. There was a distance, maybe not a psychologically damaging one but a distance nevertheless.
 

Reluctantly

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omg, I thought about this, but it just reminds me how crazy my childhood was. I have no reason to rehash it anymore.

I like to notice the predictable childhood patterns of each enneagram type. Type ones, for instance, notice a deficiency in external authority and, therefore, step in as their own superego-driven authority figure, as if to trumpet, notice my goodness and emulate me!

Emulate you? What type are you? I'd guess 7 based on your proclaimed denunciations and aversions to pain, as well as your seeming contempt for suffering. Plus you seem to get really engrossed in learning for entertainment's sake, rather than understanding's sake. But yeah, that's just my opinion, please don't take it to heart as an insult or something, just the way I've seen you before.

I see what you mean though by enneagram and childhood. I'm surprised I glossed over that now as it's almost like a foundation to the types. It's a lot more revealing than I would have liked it to be as an enneagram 4. I've heard christopher from Into the Wild is a 4; it really fits with the history he was told to have with his parents and family.
 

Jennywocky

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I see what you mean though by enneagram and childhood. I'm surprised I glossed over that now as it's almost like a foundation to the types. It's a lot more revealing than I would have liked it to be as an enneagram 4. I've heard christopher from Into the Wild is a 4; it really fits with the history he was told to have with his parents and family.

Chris McCandless seemed far more INTJ/type 1 in the actual book (which I consider to have taken less liberties with the data, it was a journalistic effort rather than an artistic one), although in the movie he came off far more 4 and/or INFP.
 

MikeTheSurfer

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I was born introverted and am the only member of my family who is. My father and sister cannot bear to be alone for a minute and must constantly have the attention of others. It's so strong in them that my father will rarely have a conversation with someone that doesn't involve him firmly grasping their shoulder in order to maintain eye contact and their undivided attention.

To make it worse my father married a woman (my stepmother who I now love) who was like him and I had to share a room with a stepbrother who constantly needed attention and couldn't handle being alone.

My mother lived across town and I spent an equal amount of time living there as well so I did get some alone time at her house.

On vacations the Walkman was my best friend. Put those headphones on and go away to Neverland to the sounds of Van Halen or any other music that captured me.

My family hated my anti-social behavior and I never understood that because I figured that I was a drag to hang around with (which I was) and that they would have more fun without me, just like I was having more fun without them.

But it drove them up the wall and drove me up the wall. I just wanted to be left alone.

However when I was in the mood to be social they would reject me from hurt feelings.

But enough. It's not like you guys don't know the feeling.
 
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