Growing up in my family, I used to think it was normal that ...

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

All families have certain quirks, traditions, and ideas about raising kids that aren't widely held. Some of you grew up in a neighborhood where you were the only kid of a certain background. But little kids don't know any better. No matter what their families do or teach them, they're likely to consider it normal and common, until they've spent enough time as schoolyard friends' houses to suspect otherwise.

Growing up in my family, I used to think it was normal that...

... adults didn't like current popular music. It weirded me out incredibly to hear a friend of my dad's put on a mainstream rock station in his car and croon along, when all my dad ever listened to was music from his youth and religious music, and tried to discourage me from liking pop.

 

[panic in paradise]

... this question does not confuse me, but i can think of an honest answer.!


in this way personally, i am very interested to find a response.

 

[AmorRoark]

... everybody in a family had to sit at the table for dinner every night, go around the table saying how our days went and never answer the phone during the meal. Maybe that's still normal for some families but the majority I see do not follow this type of traditional dinner table protocol anymore. Oh yeah, and we always listened to music during dinner. Usually my dad picked out the CD.

 

[CHiLD-0F-THE-BEAT]

^That's really cool amor.

I used to think it was normal:

- to cook vegetarian dishes for the majority of the family (myself, my sister, my Mum and my brother) before my Dad took over the kitchen and cooked up the 'unpure' dishes of meat for his dinner two hours later. It was definitely a learning curve having dinner at my friends' houses! More often than not I would try a completely new dish I had never even heard of (like meatloaf!).

- to talk to your Mum about periods, boys, sex and everything else.

 

[panic in paradise]

... this question does not confuse me, but i can think of an honest answer.!


in this way personally, i am very interested to find a response.

okay

i saw what was normal in other families, and what was not normal in mine.

 

[Samadhi]

I thought it was normal to:

As a 10 year old, know the Rocky Horror Picture Show off by heart

See your dad and his friends is fishnets/suspenders and corsets (dad is an singer/entertainer)

Attend massive jam sessions with mum, dad and their friends. I thought all parents knew how to play the banjo and double bass

Spend a good portion of my life around theatre, in AV boxes, sitting in dressing rooms and falling asleep at the back of a theatre, listening to rehearsals.

As a child, singing along with my folks to music that none of my friends had heard of.


...I wouldn't change it for the world

 

[ocean]

^I just fell in love with you Samadhi! hhahaha
"Damn it Janet! You're a slut!" hehehe
(For those who think I may be calling Samadhi a slut, it's a Rocky Horror Picture Show reference )

I thought it was normal to know a good filet mingon at 10.
I thought it was normal to talk to my mother about drugs, sex, and just about everything else that came into your head.
I thought it was normal to move all the time.
I thought it was normal to live in hotels for many many years, I thought everyone did
I'll add more later.

 

[amanda_eats_pandas]

... everybody in a family had to sit at the table for dinner every night, go around the table saying how our days went and never answer the phone during the meal. Maybe that's still normal for some families but the majority I see do not follow this type of traditional dinner table protocol anymore. Oh yeah, and we always listened to music during dinner. Usually my dad picked out the CD.

Same here, I like that tradition.

Growing up in my family, I used to think it was normal that...

...dinner was eaten together as a family, with the TV off and a glass of milk.
...that on the night before St. Patrick's Day children everywhere were also setting up traps for leprechauns.

 

[AmorRoark]

Same here, I like that tradition.

Growing up in my family, I used to think it was normal that...

...dinner was eaten together as a family, with the TV off and a glass of milk.
...that on the night before St. Patrick's Day children everywhere were also setting up traps for leprechauns.

^ Yeah, I liked it too. I think it's good for family cohesion. We also only drank either milk or water at dinner. My sister, dad and I all drank milk. Mom drank water because she doesn't like milk.

Your St. Patrick's Day tradition is really cute!!! I love it.

I also like everybody else's "I thought it was normal..."s they've posted so far.

 

[axl blaze]

fun thread!

I thought it was normal that everyone had English as a second-language. maybe I shouldn't go that far, but my big family is also very much Macedonian, so it was weird having to listen and understand my grandma in one language, and then b/s with my friends in a completely different language

I thought it was also normal for an under 16 year old to be in a bar. fear not! it's not like I was drinking or anything, it's just that the business in my family has always been owning bars and running them. for some reason, I found it fascinating, and that's probably why I'm working towards opening one up myself

I also thought that all other families enjoyed football as much as mine. damn, for some mostly non-Americans they went crazy every winter weekend. I guess living in Ohio rubbed off on them

 

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

Amy and amanda, my family also ate dinner together at least 4 night a week, with no TV or music ever. I wouldn't have it any differently, because I think this is how parents and children learn to enjoy talking to each other and be comfortable with each other.

In a similar vein to the milk or water:
Growing up in my family, I used to think it was normal that people who ate at restaurants seldom ordered beverages or appetizers, because they were a waste of money and stomach space.

I used to think it was normal that being bohemian and being deeply religious commonly went together. This one really knocked me for a loop when I first went to college.

I used to think it was normal that all the clocks in the house were set 15 minutes fast, to keep us on time.

I used to think it was normal that peanut butter was not sugary sweet, flowed at room temperature, and had little flecks of maroon in it.

 

[Samadhi]

I love the tradition of eating together as a family with no TV. My parents and I only did it a couple of nights per week as they both worked most evenings, but i really cherish the times that we did have dinner. We also used to play word games after dinner, without fail. I know that when i have kids, eating dinner together and asking about our day will be something i'll aim to do.

Keep these coming, It's a fantastic way to get to know you crazy kids a little better. I think this is a wonderful thread

 

[Ryan1411]

Hmm. Well with my family being religious I guess I was never really introduced to how a more 'secular' family would live. So it kind of shocked me to learn that some kids were watching rated R movies at the age of 6, or using naughty words around family without thinking anything of it, or (later on) smoking marijuana around their family as teenagers.

So I guess you can imagine in our family everything was G rated lol.

 

[AmorRoark]

Another thing I couldn't believe was when I was older watching kids yell and/or curse at their parents. This would be a 'you're grounded for the rest of the year' offense. Ok, maybe not that far but I can't imagine myself doing either growing up. I think my parents were a little too extreme and/or 'old-fashioned' about the seriousness of respecting elders.

 

[axl blaze]

^ yeah, I'm constantly amazed at how far some kids can push their adults in social situations these days. growing up in my family, I just assumed that all kids respected their parents as much as we did. it's strange because I was never afraid of them, per say, or of any punishment, really. my brother and I just had mad respect for our mom, and we did almost everything she ever asked of us. I was told that we were actually pretty good kids in that regard. I mean, I got in trouble for being a kid many times, but when it came down to the end of the day I wouldn't even think about crossing my parents/even raising my voice

 

[nekointheclouds]

-going to Disney world was not a big deal as you went so many times the year. Doesnt everyone's dad work at Disney World?

-

 

[lazygit]

Swearing was a feared word to use and that parents didn't casually swear. My Dad would swear to himself and at me a lot but never around other people, my Mum never swore. I think that pretty much has stuck with me as I rarely swear and find people who swear on purpose excessively totally annoying.

I used to think everybody was raised with good manners and etiquette (at a young age anyway) ...Toilet humor was frowned upon at home.

Roast dinners where always cooked on a Sunday.

Santa existed.

 

[addictivepersona]

Growing up in my family, I used to think it was normal that...

... kids went to visit their dads on the weekend. No one I knew before I started school lived with their mom and dad. Everyone I knew went to visit their dad on the weekend.

... every parent had two children, typically boys, and almost always two years apart. Gives a whole new level to the nature v. nurture debate with me!

... you didn't drink during a meal. To this day, I don't drink while eating.

... grandmas raised the children while the mother was at work and who then came home and was an absentee parent and bonified TV-junkie. Wasn't 'til I started going to other people's houses that I realized how much involvement most people's parents have with 'em... :-/

 

[Cyc]

I used to think it was normal that peanut butter was not sugary sweet, flowed at room temperature, and had little flecks of maroon in it.

OK, you gotta explain this. I'm intrigued (and possibly a little disgusted)

As for the thread, I don't think I had any preconceptions growing up. I was lost in my own little world. It didn't occur to me to question anyone else's. Of course, that changed when I got older.

 

[CHiLD-0F-THE-BEAT]

I know that when i have kids, eating dinner together and asking about our day will be something i'll aim to do.

We introduced this to Busty's two children when I first started living with him. If we're at home, we have lunches and dinners at the "big" table with the television off, water to drink for all (except sometimes a beer for Daddy and I) and conversation centring around everyone's week. We only get to see them once a fortnight, so there's usually a lot to catch up on at mealtimes.
I think the kids enjoy it as it makes meals interesting and fun. We usually have some laughs and everyone gets the chance to speak about their week. It's such a great bonding experience.

It's really nice being able to positively influence children. I often think back to my childhood and pick and choose the traditions and emotions I'd like to repeat for the two mini-Busty's.