But then, this is where the fine art of compromise happens

My parents came up with their own compromise. My mother is fairly social. My father, on the other hand, is so introveted that he makes me look extroverted.

When I was a teenager, my mother's side of the family started organizing "cousins' picnics" a few times a year -- the Parent Generation would get together for a picnic and talk. My father would chat briefly with everyone else while he ate, then go for a walk. When he got back, it was time to go.

whoo hoo guess who has two thumbs and is a horrible, horrible daughter.

"Every class is a performance."

Motherfuckin' WROD.

redacted

DH's always here, and I love him, but I just need a few days by myself per year.

"Every class is a performance."

Yep. That's how I look at my classes. A friend of mine even talks about how he used to "script" every class when he first stared teaching. He still does just not with the same amount of detail.

Me too! it's why I often room alone at the F2F. I love you all, but when I need to be alone, I NEED to be alone.

Vortex is me. I can be as social as all get out, if I know that I get to recharge later that night in my own space.

Barb, I can relate to my own toys thing. I live alone now, and cherish it. But I've had a few couples stay with me recently and have discovered that by giving them my bedroom, I get to putter around in my office (where I set up my pretty comfortable cot!) and it's FUN! I like being surrounded by my office clutter for a couple of days.

He's always here, and I love him, but I just need a few days by myself per year.

This right here is one of the reasons getting married scares me. I need at least 1 day/WEEK by myself.

I bet you're not a horrible daughter, Sox, so I guess Dr. Laura?

Nope, not Dr. Laura, unless she yelled at her mom for something that she shouldn't be shocked by at all by now. While said mom is ill.

ETA: Simply put, my mom gave me a check for something a month ago and I called her to tell her it was for too much and that I'd give her back $x. Sometime in between then and now, we took my dad out to dinner and she asked if we'd pay for it and just deduct the cost from the $x. No problem. So today, when she was helping me by picking HKF up from school, she wanted to talk about 'settling up' - and had decided that I should be giving her 3 times the original $x because of some really knotty family math that is also related to me being a bad daughter. I knew better than to engage this. I backed away and tried to save it for another time, as I have several other conversations on awkward topics lately (Fox News, racism, etc.). The conversation kept going, I totally lost my cool, and ended up saying what I really think. A lot. In short. I suck.

{{{Sox}}} You do not suck; families are difficult.

Do you really think you suck, Sox, or is that what your mother is saying? Because I gotta say, your mother sucks, not you.

"Every class is a performance."

::nods, nods, nods:: Yup, took me a while to figure this out, and it was another student in a class I was taking that pointed it out to me, that she could see the change where I went from reciting from my teaching guide to "performing" and actually sounding interesting. It was a real eye opener.