…you exchange self-help literature for Christmas. Or perhaps they are all trying to tell me something? From my father, I received Approval Addiction: Overcoming Your Need to Please Everyone
I gave my Dad An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
ptlawmom
January 2, 2009 at 7:56 pm
My immediate family is missing a filter, apparently. We’re pretty direct and I’ve never known them to get offended by my words. Pissed maybe. But offended? Nah. They’d rather have it straight and so would I. Apparently, judging by the number of people who choose not to stay friends with me long-term, others do not like the direct approach. Hmm… I’m working on striking a better balance with the “others”. As for my family, I drew up a will and advance directive the other day. I marched into the living room and said, “Dad, since you’re a bit [finger twirling by ear to indicate complete lunacy], I’m taking you off my advance directive as decision maker because I sure don’t want you cutting the cords too soon. And since Mom is too codependent, she might just keep me alive to have a purpose. So I’m making my aunt the decision maker and leaving you two out of it.” He laughed and said that sounded like a plan but that my luck would leave my aunt losing her shit, too, and that I should really pick her husband, the Colombian, who makes decisions with military-like precision and the rationality of all of his engineering training. I will trust my aunt to lean on her husband if I end up in that situation.
cee
January 2, 2009 at 1:49 pm
sounds like your family is pretty close and open with each other and genuinely looking out for each other! I would worry in my family if I gave someone a self help book that they would be offended- in fact, one year i gave my mom a diet book because she wanted to lose weight. she got pretty mad about that
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