Parenting Interview

637 Words2 Pages

I interviewed my mom who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a seizure disorder, and fibromyalgia; therefore, she struggled to be fully physically, mentally, and emotionally present while my sister Hannah and I were growing up. That definitely influenced how she parented us: she did the best she could, but her parenting style has fluctuated a lot over the years. To keep this from being too lengthy I will focus on her parenting style with my sister now, which is mainly permissive. For example, on several occasions Mom has decided to homeschool Hannah because she was doing poorly in school. Each time she attempts to do this, she buys all the books, works with Hannah for a couple days, Hannah decides she doesn’t want to do her work that …show more content…

She loves her very much, but she is not ashamed to admit that she has little respect for her. She frequently argues with adults in a position of authority, thinks that she deserves to get whatever she wants, is extremely impulsive, has few friends, and does not care about school in the slightest. Since Mom was more uninvolved because of her multiple major depressive episodes when I was younger, I am used to spending long periods of time by myself, I sometimes struggle with the things other people were taught by their parents when they were young, and it took a long time to feel confident and comfortable with myself and others. My authoritarian grandmother also played a significant role in raising me, and one of her favorite things to say to me was, “If I tell you that the sky is lime green, and frogs are blue, you just say yes ma’am.” As a result of her influence and Mom also being more authoritarian with me, I wouldn’t dare speak to my elders the way Hannah does, I show Mom respect even though I don’t feel it, and I am much more likely to hold my tongue even if I am upset or really want to say something. Although Hannah and I have very different temperaments and personalities, a lot of our differences in behavior are rooted in the different ways Mom parented us. Parenting style is a key factor in the behavior, attitudes, and achievement of children; however, I have slowly learned that your parents’ parenting style doesn’t have to define

Open Document