Relationship with your family?

[Drake]

What kind of relationship do you have with your family? Has MD affected it at all?

As for me, I have a very bad relationship with my parents. My dad sees me as a failed son who never lived up to his expectations and my mom thinks that I'm lazy and unintelligent because I spend my time sitting around and thinking (well daydreaming...). I'm on very good terms with my brother though, and I'm okay with my extended family I guess... and you guys?

[J Noland]

Growing up I was the quiet kid who had a weird habit of rocking in a chair for hours. My older sister was the pretty and popular one so my mum focused on her and just let me lurk around the background. My father was always working but he was quiet too so we were sort of a team. As long as I didn't cause trouble I was like a 3rd wheel. When I did get in trouble I'd get twice the punishment because my parents assumed I would turn into a drug seeking hooligan if they didn't act swiftly. Turns out they should have kept a better eye on the sis! Live and learn. Now that I'm all grown up my father died and left me here to deal with my mum and sis. I avoid them whenever possible. Mum is trying to make up for past mistakes, it's nice of her to notice but I'm an expert at emotional distancing these days. It's amazing how the dynamics change over the years. And compared to adult life, the years you spend as a kid are over in a flash. Just do whatever you need to do to get through school, stay out of crime and drugs and by the time you get out on your own they'll have no beef with you. Extended family? Hardly ever see them, weddings and funerals, and Facebook.

[littleschrodinger'scat]

I have a rather good relationship with my mother. My dad and I have a pretty constant mutual dislike. My sister and I get along but I wouldn't say we are very close. She is very reserved and socially inept (as am I) but I tend to get overly excited (or when I get anxious I feel like I have to be ) which gets on her nerves. I rarely ever involved myself with extended family. When I was younger I used to go to my grandparents' house every summer, that was pretty much the only contact I had with them (other than calls on birthdays). Then my grandma  had a midlife crisis of some sort, divorced my grandpa, and married some man I still have never met. Now I don't ever hear from them.

[Laila]

My family is held together by a very strong bond. I'm so close to my parents that I don't even want to move out, lol. My dad still treats me like a spoiled princess, so that's why. =P

My brothers are 15 years older than me, so I didn't exactly grow up with them, but they were still very involved. My oldest brother taught me how to walk, and he's really into anime and video games. They have children as old as thirteen years old, a lot of fun to play with. The only downside is that they all live 2 hours away, so we mainly visit each other for special occasions. That's not to say that there's never any family drama, but I never witness it, only hear about it.

Every two years, my family hosts a reunion that includes my extended family. My mom hosted one in Williamsburg, Virginia in 2006, which had the largest attendance of about 150 family members. It was craaaaazy.

Sadly, my mom is the one who feels very disconnected with her mother and some of the family because of politics. We're on opposite sides of the aisle. xD

So I can't say that my MD has affected my relationship with my family. They're all I've got. When I'm around them, I don't  even daydream much cuz I'm so busy looking after the kids or playing games. The only thing is that my mom thought I was lazy and stuff when I was actually daydreaming, but she knows about all that now.

[roxanne]

Laila, how is that going with your family knowing about your DD'ing?  Don't they ever get on your nerves when they want you to stop?  You must be really, really close.

[Wish Upon A Wish]

I'm not that close to my mum, last time I gave her a hug was in August on her birthday, the time before, I don't remember, and I'd feel weird just randomly giving her a hug again, even though I love her. My sister I'm not that close to (I learned a few things about her playing Never Have I Ever on my birthday, that were unexpected because she's never actually told me she's had a boyfriend but... yeah.)

My brother I'm probably closest to, we used to always hang out when we were kids,and I know I can tell him things, even though sometimes I'd rather not. I'm thinking of telling him about my MD.

Dad, who lives separate from mum, I'm not really close to either, but I do give him hugs and last time I told him I loved him was when he was drunk enough that I knew he wouldn't remember (officially, he'd be an alcoholic, but he's not bad about it. He's only ever a bit mean if he was hungry before getting drunk, which he tries to avoid.) I might tell him about MD, but I'm not completely sure, after learning his opinion on cutters. 

Extended family? They're on the other side of the world, in Switzerland (I went there once, had my 14th bday there, and my Uncle Röbi's a baker and he baked me a cake with Schnapps in it! Om nom!) And I'm never on Facebook, even though I have an account, I've been on New Facebook just once. And If I am of FB, I don't really talk to them.

And J Noland? I'm not really surprised that they thought that, because a lot of druggies are anti-social and stuff, but your sister probably went to lots of parties, got pressured into having some weed, and some more weed, and you get the gist. I think probably most people who have tried drugs tried them at a party first.

[Laila]

Only my parents know, and they've been more on the supportive side of things. My mom said that if MD is real to me, then it's real, and I need to take baby steps to control it. My dad will occasionally ask if I'm doing it and try to do something with me, like go walking or play scrabble. But for the most part, they don't bring it up because I think they're afraid of triggering it. I'm just glad that they never criticize it or expect me to stop just like that.

*Edit: Oh yeah, while I was at my brother's house last week, my 12-year old niece told me all about her daydream world. She has a huge family tree of characters and showed me on Word (it really looked like a family tree). She told me that she's rarely in her DDs--that she's just the creator, like their God. I'm thinking to myself, wow, that's exactly like mine. xD

roxanne said:

Laila, how is that going with your family knowing about your DD'ing?  Don't they ever get on your nerves when they want you to stop?  You must be really, really close.

[Drake]

I would never let my parents know. They would probably haul me off to a mental institution. Don't believe me? When I showed the slightest signs of slacking off in school/being depressed they forced me to go to a psychiatrist for two years before I put my foot down and said I wasn't gonna do it anymore. v.v I have no reason to trust them with information about myself.