Did anyone here have silly parents?

Rot 911 · 09-04-2007, 10:04 AM

I do all kinds of silly things with my daughter. Bad singing, playing tag, watching dumb movies. That kind of stuff. I was just thinking that my parents never did those things with me when I was a kind and I wonder why. Is it because they were products of the depression and WWII? Because we were poor and they were more concerned with keeping a roof over our heads? I had some friends with parents that had more money and they did things like go on vacations, but I never remember anyone's parents doing the kind of silly stuff I do with my daughter.

Moses · 09-04-2007, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurt V

I do all kinds of silly things with my daughter. Bad singing, playing tag, watching dumb movies. That kind of stuff.

She'll still think you're a dork when she's 15.

masraum · 09-04-2007, 10:07 AM

Mine has thought that I was a dork for years. I'm silly. I don't know that my parents were silly though.

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

My grandfather was an overgrown kid who enjoyed doing "silly stuff" with us like flying kites, building boats, tree forts, etc...

HardDrive · 09-04-2007, 10:09 AM

My parents did do that stuff with me. My dad was a total goof ball, and used to keep us in stitches laughing.

Dantilla · 09-04-2007, 10:27 AM

We're a pretty silly family. My daughter is 12, and now that her friends are starting to think it's not cool to be with their parents, we are thrilled that our daughter still loves to hang out with us. Hope it stays that way for a long time.

frogger · 09-04-2007, 10:35 AM

I AM a silly parent.

livi · 09-04-2007, 10:55 AM

Believe me, Kurt, that is the recipie for success as a parent. As a matter of fact and incidentelly, that is what I use to say to parents when then consultation is over - 'what ever you do as a parent, if you only remember to talk, read and play with your children - you can´t go wrong.'

The sillier the better. That´s doctor´s orders!

tabs · 09-04-2007, 10:59 AM

All we are is older kids, some of us have forgotten that, thats all.

No matter what I do, or how I shuffle the deck I keep coming back to the central premise that I have the capacity ot love. Money, power, position can come and go but our knowledge and capacity to love are the only things that can't be taken away.

notfarnow · 09-04-2007, 11:21 AM

Tabs, did you have silly parents?

MRM · 09-04-2007, 11:31 AM

I think you're right about the depression and WWII thing. My dad was never comfortable unless he was working. He would drive all over the country to watch us kids play sports or band, but I couldn't imagine him joining in the fun or singing or doing something deliberately silly.

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

If they did, I've repressed it all - thank god.

tabs · 09-04-2007, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by notfarnow

Tabs, did you have silly parents?

No they aren't "silly." That notion was knocked outa them at an early age.

the · 09-04-2007, 11:47 AM

Parenting has changed a lot in the past two generations. My parents had great parents, but like my mom says, "My dad would have never gone outside and played games with us." It seems that parents who grew up in the 1920s/30s or so didn't much play or "be friends" with their kids, it doesn't seem that was part of the culture.

My parent's generation (those who had kids in the late 1950s/60s), seemed to have a bit of a softer stance. I played baseball with my dad every now and then, when he wasn't working, and we all occasionally played board games, etc. But "silliness," no, not so much. They were parents, not "buddies." They also worked very hard to make a living (like their parents did).

Our generation (people who now have kids) seems dramatically different. "Parent as indulgent buddy" seems to be the norm in a lot of neighborhoods. With that comes a lot of silliness.

Why? Not quite sure. Maybe a lot more people have it easier now than then? We haven't grown up through World wars and a Depression, like they did (I think that's a big one)? There is much more media/TV influence today than in the last generations?

gassy · 09-04-2007, 12:13 PM

My kids--11, 9, and 5--think I'm the silliest dad they know and say I'm not like other dads. As Moses said, that'll change soon...but we do cool and creative things together and they love that.

}{arlequin · }{arlequin's Garage

my dad used to make soup come out of my nose. the nicer the restaurant the more likely he was to crack me up. mom wasn't impressed

Rot 911 · 09-04-2007, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the

Our generation (people who now have kids) seems dramatically different. "Parent as indulgent buddy" seems to be the norm in a lot of neighborhoods. With that comes a lot of silliness.

My daughter would definitely say I am not the indulgent buddy. She knows who the parent is. But if the opportunity presents itself for some fun with her I am always on board.

Dan in Pasadena · Dan in Pasadena's Garage

My Dad never said he loved me even once in his life. He played ball with me only once that I can remember. He never went to a game or a track meet I was in.
When he died I was already 35 years old. In his wallet we found two folded pieces of paper. One was a picture of me doing the high jump cut out of the local paper. The other was a column from the same paper that in tiny, tiny font had my name and my finishing height in the high jump.

So, I know he loved me and after he died I found out he took pride in my accomplishments but he never said a word. He'd tell me to put out the garbage or after a string of curse words while working under the car, he'd yell at me to get him, " a....5/8" box end wrench.."

I made a very conscious effort after he died to redouble my involvement with my kids (8 & 9) and I have never regretted it for a minute. We are very close. I am silly, goofy and always available to shut up and listen to their problems now that they are adults.

lisa_spyder · 09-04-2007, 12:57 PM

God - yeah!!!

Mostly Mum - she would love being silly; had a whacky sense of humour and according to her older siblings always did have. Being one of 9 kids (the baby) in a happy but certainly not wealthy household probably contributed.

Dad was nowhere near as silly but he would have his moments - mostly mischievous stuff. He would get a twinkle in his eye and a boyish grin and be just plain silly

.

I had a GREAT childhood - loved the fact that my folks would be the life of the party anywhere and anytime. They both worked damned hard but they really knew how to let their hair down too.

And yeah - they were embarrassing for me once I hit the teenage years - that's a parent's job isn't it

? Funny though; all my friends thought I had the coolest parents out of all of us - they loved hanging out at our place just to see what antics my folks would get up to!

tabs · 09-04-2007, 02:03 PM

Mother always demanded that I act the proper gentleman as a child. I had to wear a tie with sport coat and Cole and Hahn dress shoes for dinner. If I ever acted like a child I would get a slap across the face from Mother with the rebuke, "Thats not how a gentleman acts, now straighten up and act like one."