Favorite things about your Family

[LowCarbLife]

I looked at the family forum and there was not even a post! Uncool. I figured I would share some love. So, what are your favorite things about your family?

Mine:

1. My family is slightly disfunctional and I love it. We can all 'let our hair back' and have a good time.
2. We never have fought all that much over the years, and when we do, everyone gets over it very quickly
3. My brother and I are BEST FRIENDS
4. I have always been able to do whatever I wanted. Literally. I turned out just fine and was a good kid.
5. My family supports ALL of my decisions and have always encouraged me to find my own path without their intervention

Families differ so greatly from one to another (like a snowflake!) It is amazing to get involved with another's family. Most of the time very uncomfortable, but appreciative at the same time. I know that when I have kids of my own, I want to raise my kids as my parents did me. However, I will DEF. make some changes too.

[Krishna]

I struggle with my family. We are butting heads a ton lately. However.
-When push comes to shove, you don't mess with one of us without taking on ALL of us.
-They want what's best for me, even though they drive me nuts telling me that and trying to push me in certain directions.

My boyfriend's family is fantastic though...they've been more like a family to me than my own in the last year or so:
-They let their hair down and turn almost anything into a party.
-They've accepted me 100% from day one, no questions asked.
-They treat me like I'm a member of the family and take me on vacations with them.
-They rarely, if ever, ask if my SO and I are getting married. They just sit back and watch things unfold.
-I know that if I were to be kicked out of my parents house, they would take me in, no questions asked.

[LowCarbLife]

Thats sounds like my ex-boyfriends family Krish! I LOVED them :) So much fun!

[hoodie]

1. We all lovingly mock each other about our personality quirks. We even have two different "mockery voices" that we use on each other that friends think are hilarious and try to learn.
2. My siblings and I get along really well. I live in an apartment with my sis and we are really best friends. We hang out a lot and hardly ever fight, and my brother calls both of us pretty often from NYC even though he's really busy investment banking.
3. My folks and I get along better than we ever have in my entire life. I go and hang out with them on most Sundays and have a genuinely fun and relaxing time every time I do.
4. My parents set a really good example for me in terms of what I'd like my own marriage to be like in their mutual support for and ability to balance each other out.
5. We are good to each other on purpose. Its things like my sibs and I throwing our folks a 30th anniversary surprise party, to me driving to New York with my bro to help him move, to my sister sitting up with me in my bed for hours the night my bf broke up with me to make sure I was okay, to my Mom making my sis and I little coasters with funny pictures of ourselves on them for our apartment, to my Dad walking me out to my car every week and carrying my stuff for me even when it's snowing...etc. etc.

...honestly not to be cheesy, but it's all the big AND little things we do as a family to make sure we know we care about eachother that keep us tight like we are.

This is a nice thread; it made me happy. I know I've been Debbie Downer lately and it's been good to have a thread like this to remind me of something really positive. :)

[bluup10]

My baby sister's baby! i adore her! she's so adorable! i love her to bits!

That's my contribution... lol

[ugarachel82]

I love that I got to see both sets of living grandparents this year at the same time on Christmas Eve! (Both mom's and dad's sides...this usually never happens.)

I also love that while my grandfather was trying give away the Season 1 WEEDS DVD he kept shouting, periodically throughout the night..."Anyone want some weed?" Like he didn't quite know how to say the series title, but since we all got such a kick out of it the first time he just kept saying and saying it over and over and over just to see our reaction. It's kind of our family joke right now...

So I guess what I'm trying to say is, I love that we can just be goofy and have a good time when we get together. No one is ever too serious.

[wordsmith]

My family is full of very smart, very funny people. People who really have a good time together, and who "get it." They are people who, if I were not related to them, I'd really want to hang out with as friends. We genuinely enjoy one another as people. There are no black sheep. They are also genuine, irreverent, and cool...no stuffed shirts or pains in the ass.

We have always had our priorities straight when it comes to the importance of family, and if sacrifices have to be made, family comes first. We always can be counted on to come together for one another when we are in need.

Support is unwavering in my family. I went to school with a lot of people who had to deal with parental disapproval of their choices, who had parents who dicated their decisions for them or would threaten to/withold support if they disagreed with something...I even had a roommate who, when she moved in with her boyfriend, concealed it from her parents for YEARS due to their disapproval and the lack of support that would have resulted. I've never had to deal with a punishing dynamic, or parents who are into withholding approval or emotional blackmail, and I consider myself lucky, since I know a ton of people who can't say that. My parents have always respected my independence, confident that they raised me to make good decisions and be responsible for the outcome of my own choices.

They are willing to work hard at family relationships. My parents just celebrated 35 years of marriage, and in that time, have been through some hardships and tragedy that might have torn less strong families apart, and they worked hard to keep it together. I really respect that their marriage was important enough to them to really work at it even when the chips were down.

[winneythepooh7]

Something that I value with both sides of my family, is that they will offer their opinions about things, but in the end, they stay out of stuff and let me make my own decisions. They are really good to vent to.

Both sides of my family are also very giving and just supportive in general.

I know that they are always around to count on for anything and I actually look forward to hanging out with everyone.

I love how everyone can joke around and make fun of each other too and no one really takes it personally.

[dacrunkest]

My mom is very supportive and wonderful person. She and her husband are quality people. I only get to see my mom about once a year, but I am much closer to her than I am too my father. My brothers are good guys, even though they are radically different than I am.

I also really love my girlfriend's family. They have taken me in as their own.

[sondra_finchley]

This is a nice, positive thread!

My mother is unbelievably CRAZY- and everyone loves her for it. Even when Andreas' friends visit I feel comfortable taking them over to my parents house on the lake and they adore her too. Hell, she was at an art opening once in Las Vegas and Tony Curtis yapped with her at the bar for 15 minutes because shes just really "down to earth" i guess you would say :)

My brother is similar to my mother, so therefore also fun to be with. My father, sister and I are more alike- more quiet and thinking.

My aunt ( mothers brothers wife) has a great laugh and is always making jokes- no big surprise that her and my mom have been very close for 30 years.

My assorted great aunts and uncles- one is life of the party ( see the thread?) and is wonderful to spend time with- especially when near a bar. The others are getting a bit deaf but are loveable in their own way.

On the boys side of the family- very laid back (thankfully!) so its comfortable going to their house as they arent as formal as some of his friend's parents. H

[DCgirl]

My boyfriend's family is fantastic though...they've been more like a family to me than my own in the last year or so:
-They let their hair down and turn almost anything into a party.
-They've accepted me 100% from day one, no questions asked.
-They treat me like I'm a member of the family and take me on vacations with them.
-They rarely, if ever, ask if my SO and I are getting married. They just sit back and watch things unfold.
-I know that if I were to be kicked out of my parents house, they would take me in, no questions asked.

Does your boyfriend have a brother? ;)

As for my family, I think they did the best they could and knew how to. My parents are legal immigrants from south east Asia. I was born and raised in America. Two VERY different cultures. Let's just say we clashed a lot when I was in middle school and high school. They thought it was strange that I wanted sleep overs with other girls and that other girls invited me over for sleep overs. You know, like NORMAL American girls do in elementary school and middle school. It was like pulling teeth when it came to dating. I wasn't allowed to date in high school. In fact, I had to go to the high school prom (which was the only high school dance I attended) stag and with a group of other 'stag girls' so to speak.

Now that I"m almost 30 and living on my own, they don't enforce their rules and ideals....too much. :) The current battle is pushing me to get married. In Asian cultures, I'm already deemed as an "old maid" so to speak. I don't care what other people think, but according to traditional Asian culture, I'm bring shame to my parent/family by not being married. Typical. :rolleyes:

Dad has always been emotionally distant. No hug...no saying "I love you" or "I'm proud of you"....it was very tough for me back in high school and college. I was ALWAYS envious of my peers' families and how open they were to expressing feelings of caring and support.

Mom was is/was okay, but I am not close to her either. I can't talk to her about men, dating, sex, and anything else that a typical American girl/woman can talk to their mom about. I never did get a lecture about the 'birds and bees' from my mom and dad. It's too late for that now. LOL

In the past, when ever I broke up with a boyfriend, I would miss his family a lot because the bf's family always showed they cared. Also, I could talk to the bf's mother about ANYTHING. The bf's father would hug me good bye when I left the house. Basically, the bf's family had ALL that qualities that I wanted in my own family, but they couldn't/wouldn't express.

If I ever have a family, I'm going to raise them in a non-Asian type of way in terms of actually talking to them openly about a lot of issues that kids face.

I don't resent my parents anymore. I think they did (and do) the best they can. I feel sorry for the both of them now because they really don't know my bother and I too well. I don't know about my bro, but I have a hard time talking to my parents about anything now. I keep the topics 'light' and safe so to speak. My mom tries unsucessfully to get close to me emtionally by talking about dating (specifically, seeing if there are any potential husband candidates), but I don't open up because it's just too weird now. You reap what you sow....and if you were emotionally distant from your kids while they were growing up, then don't expect for them to all of a sudden want to talk to you about certain things as an adult.

Sorry...went off on a tangent. As for my uncles, aunts, and cousins....no one is close....In Asian cultures, it's all about unspoken competition on who makes the most money, who lives in the best home, which kid/cousin is the smartest....you know, all the superficial stuff. My mom is close to her sister, but my dad isn't close to any of his siblings. Dad is very pessismistic and Mom is usually optimisstic, but sometimes my dad's influence makes her grumpy too. There's a lot of family drama between my uncles on my dad's side of the family. It's crazy! You won't hear about it on the evening news though because most of them stop talking to each other for years (no joke)! It's quite sad actually. Case and point - one of my uncles gave 50K to another uncle to start up a business. There was only a verbal agreement for payback....after all, it's family, right? For whatever reason, the uncles doesn't get his 50K back. Of course he can't take the other uncle to court because there was no written agreement. So it's been almost 9 years since they stopped talking to each other. *sigh* Gotta love the family respect and expressions of love. :rolleyes: LOL

So yeah....there you have it. So whomever has a family that hugs them and says "I love you" to them....don't take it for granted. You are truly blessed.

[koolkat1980]

Well nuthing's ever hunky dory! There are bad points my family have...but since this is what do you LIKE about your family, I'll focus on that:

* Mostly supportive - esp materialistically and mentally in a dysfunctional kind of way because 'receiving gifts' isn't really my 1st love language. Heheh.
* Taught me what's right from wrong. (I got belted big time when naughty).
* Parents relatively good role models apart from being quaint and rather narcisistic.
* Not scared of confrontation. (When we were mad - we screamed @ each other).
* Parents are SO different from one another, I feel I get the best of both worlds in some ways.
* I'm the youngest and get away with more than my older siblings.
* My mother is very intelligent/obsessive and has a very good business sense.
* My dad is a fantastic chef and really taught us how to eat properly.
* My parents weren't overly strict - if anything, I was probably a bit neglected and left to my own devices. Heheheheh
:D