3. Describe your relationship with your parents.
I don't know that this one is going to be all that interesting. I think I've talked about my relationship with my parents here and there plenty of times over the course of this blog, and it's not exactly like there are any skeletons to uncover. But ok, sure.
I love my parents.
I look like my Dad's side of the family. Bigger boned-- farm stock type. And my dad very much is farm stock. He's kinda the quintessential "strong silent" type. He is the oldest of nine, and one of my aunts said that my Dad was the one with the "kindest heart." This doesn't come as a surprise to me at all. I think he yelled at Rhonda and I less than ten times in the entirety of our childhood, and that was usually because we were flagrantly disobeying him and not picking up the living room even though he'd told us to 17 times.
As I said yesterday, his dad passed away when he was a few years out of high school and before that, Grandpa Waltman was on bed rest for several years. (Dad told me once that the doctors basically told him to do the exact opposite of what they would have told him to do today, but doctors only know what they know when they know it.) So Dad and the other older boys took over the family farm pretty early. He and the other older boys didn't go to college, which is kinda a waste, because my dad is actually super smart. I asked him once what he would have studied if he had gone to college, and he said that he was always pretty interested in medicine, so he probably would have tried to become a doctor. It's too bad, cause I think Daddy would have been an amazing doctor.
I think that's part of the reason why I really try to get to know a person before I make any judgements based on external factors... cause while it might be easy to assume my dad was a back-country hick if you only looked at the bare facts, he is actually uber smart, rather artistic, and very kind hearted. He doesn't drink, he never swears, and his work ethic is off the charts.
Dad reads those Uncle John's Bathroom Readers (huge books of random trivia) cover to cover and he remembers a lot. Also if you pick the right subject he can talk for a really long time about it. It's actually pretty funny to watch my good friends interact with him. He doesn't talk at all and then my friend will ask a question that he knows something about and he starts going and my friend's faces are so funny cause they were starting to think that he just didn't speak.
He also jumps around when he's into a movie as though he could control where the characters go with his body.
You know how I never like to make a decision? My dad is 10 times worse than I am. Even when told that the only person he is deciding for is himself, he will still say that he'll "go with the flow."
My dad is the main cook/baker in my family and he's good. He will make me coconut cream pie when I go home and it's *incredible.* He also made me my nail polish spice racks. That's kinda how Dad is... the love language he speaks in is gifts of service.
He has really big hands and he's really strong, and if I'm tired or I don't feel good I still like to go over and just lean on his arm. Once in a while he still calls me kiddo, and I will still call him Daddy on occasion even though I'm a big bad grown-up.We rarely say I love you to each other, but I know that he loves me very much, and the same goes for me.
I think I got a lot of my sense of humor from my mom. I can remember several different rides home telling mom some story from my day and the two of us busting up and Rhonda yelling at us, "That's not even funny!"
My mom is a city girl (Pittsburgh) transplanted to the middle of nowhere for love. She taught school in Kirksville for a year or two and then met my dad (one of my aunts was her roommate in Kirksville, and liked to bring girls home to meet her brothers.) I think Mom was originally "intended" for my uncle who was closer to her age (my parents are 5 years apart) but she met the older brother and I think that was pretty much that. (It's not too surprising. I've seen old home movies of my dad from around the time I was born and he was totally gorgeous.... but I think that a girl's "type" is usually determined by her father so maybe that's not that big of a surprise?)
I'm a little sad that I don't take after my mom more... she weighed 98 pounds at 24 (23?) when they got married. She couldn't even give blood. I think the only time I ever weighed 98 pounds was in like the 6th grade. However, I will say this for mom. She never mentioned/worried/spoke about weight when I was growing up... at least not around me. And I think that's a really big deal. I care about my weight and wish that I weighed less, but I actually think that I have a pretty healthy relationship with my body image and food because she never seemed to notice or care about it. I know a lot of girls whose mothers passed on a really unhealthy outlook on dieting and weight and I didn't really get any of that, and I think it's a huge blessing.
Mom and I have a very similar relationship with tears... in that we shed them, but we don't like it, and try to avoid them/staunch them as quickly as possible. When they dropped me off for my first year of college Mom totally bawled as they said goodbye the last time. I was shocked- not because I didn't think that she'd miss me, but because we just don't cry that much.
I got my crafty-ness from Mom, who was crafty before it was cool. We always had the supplies to do any sort of art or craft that I ever desired and if Rhonda or I ever really got into a craft type Mom would make sure that we had the supplies/instruction books to do it. Mom says she isn't artistic at all, but she really likes art. (I think there is an argument that she is artistic, but either way she's certainly very crafty.) I think she was kinda delighted that I turned out so artsy. Even if it doesn't pay very well, at least I can paint whatever projects she wants when I come home. She still asks my opinion on paint colors and interior design decisions even though I'm not there to be able to see the paint chips in person. Though I've noticed that she's stopped taking my advice every single time... hmmmmm. :)
Mom is also super smart. Smarts are genetic! Apparently when they were younger they could wipe the floor with people as a team in Trivial Pursuit.
I never really had that "rebellious" period with my parents... I was kinda always a goody-two shoes. I think my 28th year is actually the most rebellious I've ever been and I'm a full fledged adult by now, so I'm not sure it's the same thing. I think one time I did get annoyed with Mom asking me if I'd done my homework once my senior year of high school and I responded, "Mom, I'm the valedictorian! Have I ever not done my homework?! I don't think you need to be concerned about this!" I think that may be about as sassy pants as I got.
So yeah... I think I told you more *about* my parents than about our relationship... but I don't really know how else to talk about a relationship.. Cause who you think a person is, kinda defines what your relationship is, right?
.... whoa... I think that was one of those super true insights into how I think that I didn't realize till I said it... is that true of how you think of relationships? Am I normal or abnormal?
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