Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Different Lifestyles.

I think that people's parents play a large role in how their child turns out in life. My friends and I have a lot of different viewpoints on politics, things that are socially acceptable, things that we should or shouldn't be allowed to do, and many others. Most of these viewpoints we get from our parents. I enjoy the way that my parents raise me and sometimes it is hard for me to understand the things that my friends' families believe especially when they are so different from mine.
In my family my brother and I are very close and when I got to do something, my brother who is 18 months younger than me, also got to do it. Jon and I are allowed to do more things than most of my friends are able to do which I think keeps me from being 'rebellious'. My parents are both workaholics, yet my mom is able to balance her realtor career with being a mom very well. She is able to organize her work schedule around mine and my brother's schedules which is nice. My dad is a land developer and works an obscene amount yet we get to hang out a lot on the weekends at my cabin. We all enjoy classical rock and hamburgers from the grill. Overall we are capitalist and our dinner conversations are dominated by politics and business and the economy.
Sometimes I will eat dinner at my friend's house and it is so different from my own. Her family is very healthy and eats some really weird food. Her parents don't talk about politics because they disagree. They are very silent during dinner except for when they say grace which my friend always does because she is an only child. Her parents are protective of her yet she is far more rebellious than I would ever be. Her relationship with her parents is distant. I respect the differences between her family and mine yet sometimes it is hard not to critisize their ways of parenting. Sometimes I think that she thinks my parents are a little weird for the way they raise my brother and I as well.
At another friend's house they discuss politics (yet with the opposite viewpoints of my family) and the medical field since her dad works in it. They love orchestra hall and sometimes speak in french. They travel a lot and are a very intellectual family. Her mom is a stay at home mom and pushes her two children into doing every sport and academic club available. My friend would never do anything out of line and she always obeys her parents. I don't think that she has ever brought home anything less than an A on her report card. I admire her for everything she does yet sometimes I think she overworks herself and she is often stressed which I wish her parents would see.

3 comments:

Kara M said...

I really likethe comparisons its really cool. its also cool how your're drinking water. im goingto tattle.

j.Irv said...

I agree that the way parents raise their kids tremendously influences the way the kid acts as he/she gets older. I would also agree that parents who are strict yet let their kids live freely is a good mix to create a successful adult. I would say that this is the way my parents and I think that I have turned out great so far.

Maitland said...

I wonder who you're talking about...................

Haha