I'm the oddball of the family.

unregistered358967 · #1 08/22/13, 09:58 AM

(I tried to post in general chat but I'm still new so I don't have access).

I'm still trying to figure out how my parents and I can be so different. They're about as high-tech as can be..cannot do without their daily coffee and gym runs, must have all the cable channels, gets nails and hair done often..I could go on and on - essentially very high maintenance people.

They simply cannot believe that I'd choose to have a basic 'dumbphone', no cable, no facebook, choose to hang my laundry, even use a manual can opener - do all the things I do from scratch. I've started baking my own bread too which wows the heck out of them because it's "too hard to do".

Basically everything they need, I do not. I haven't even told them about the property I've been eying because they'd completely freak out and call me a hermit, wondering why anyone would want to live in a solar house with just the basics, in the middle of nowhere, not near a Starbucks or Caribou. Never mind I'd probably see my own caribou, moose or bears, which IMHO is way better anyway.

Is anyone else so different from their parents/relatives/siblings? It does make me chuckle, like when my dad bought me a leafblower which I didn't ask for but I continue to use the broom and rake. LOL. I'm surprised that they don't refer to me as their hippie daughter. Or maybe they do. Who knows.

Bret · #2 08/22/13, 10:05 AM

Good work. Less isss more. You do not choose things to make you happy.

AngieM2 · #3 08/22/13, 10:06 AM

I think this is a very Homesteading Question question as it applies to a lot of the members here, and their various family members.

You're not strange - they are

andyd2023 · #4 08/22/13, 10:15 AM

Yes it's fun to be high maintenance! until you realize the cost in money and the cost to the planet. But some people chose not to see that. It is their choice! The great thing about growing up is you get to make your own choices.
Chose well.
Andrew

unregistered358967 · #5 08/22/13, 10:22 AM

I think I was secretly implanted with the LHOTP gene.

doingitmyself · #6 08/22/13, 10:28 AM

Perhaps because of being around all that "fluff and puff" that you realize you need more "stuff". Not in materials goods but as in solid life experiences, skills, and your comfortable being with yourself. I deal with "fluff and puff" all day, my real life outside of that work is the exact opposite, my job does not define me its just how i make $$$.

I think its awesome that you see, think and feel the difference and you ask these questions of yourself. Self evaluation, reflection, and transparency is the hallmark of good mental health. Stay the path and reap the harvest season after season!

Harry Chickpea · #7 08/22/13, 10:42 AM

Your parents are the type of people who drive the economy and are driven by the economy. You are the type of person that just drives by the economy. There is no right or wrong. In a million years, the dust will all be the same. Enjoy your parents while you have them, even though they are different than you.

unregistered358967 · #8 08/22/13, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry Chickpea

Your parents are the type of people who drive the economy and are driven by the economy. You are the type of person that just drives by the economy. There is no right or wrong. In a million years, the dust will all be the same. Enjoy your parents while you have them, even though they are different than you.

..and I do.

I could see them visiting me in the future and really enjoying my low-key life during their visit. I just think it's interesting that so many people are carbon copies of their parents and I'm more of a negative..polar opposite.

LisaInN.Idaho · #9 08/22/13, 10:53 AM

I've gone both ways in my life and enjoyed both so I must be a super-duper, real oddball. Lived in a luxury apartment in downtown Boston, lived on a sailboat, fulltimed in an RV traveling the country, lived in upscale subdivisions with manicures and cleaning ladies and lived off-grid for many years (we're grid-tied and net metering now) and raised our own food, etc.
For us, having all the other experiences increases the appreciation of what we're doing now. Which is good because we live in absolute heaven (except maybe in Jan/Feb) and I can't imagine anything better.

Ardie/WI · #10 08/22/13, 10:55 AM

I think of it more as "different strokes for different folks"!

Whatever trips their trigger is fine and whatever trips yours is fine too.

hippygirl · #11 08/22/13, 12:04 PM

My mother, who was raised on a working farm, turned her back on the lifestyle and just about all that goes with it when she left home (all except living in the boonies, that is...she hates living "in town").

She'd rather pay almost $3 a carton for eggs from the store than accept all she could ever use for FREE from me. I cannot get her to accept anything from my garden except cayenne peppers (go figure!), and just forget about anything canned or frozen!

I'll bring up some problem I'm having and she'll roll her eyes and say something like "I have NO idea what to tell you!". What I find amusing is that, once in a while, I catch her off guard and she'll offer up some snippet of gardening wisdom or other sound, practical piece of "homesteading" information, realize what just happened, and quickly scramble to recover her "mask of ignorance".

It never ceases to amaze me!

vicker · #12 08/22/13, 12:07 PM

Someone once said to my ex-wife, "You've always striven for mediocrity, and you've achieved it". HAHA! She took it as an insult, I thought it was a complement.

jwal10 · #13 08/22/13, 12:43 PM

Everyone is a little strange except me and you and sometimes I wonder about you....James

biggkidd · #14 08/22/13, 01:21 PM

Your not alone if i didn't look like my parents then I would think I was traded at birth. Keep enjoying your life.

Larry
A World Away

lmrose · #15 08/22/13, 02:24 PM

You defintely are not alone in being different from your family. Lot's of people are. In our case we are so differnt because of our homesteading lifestyle my husband's family think we are mentally off a bit ! However we do what we want with our lives and they live their way. No right or wrong way to live in this case as it is personal choice and how one wants to spend their time and money.Isn't it wonderful to live in countries where we have the freedom to choose what lifestyle we want to live!

wr · #16 08/22/13, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Less-is-more

(I tried to post in general chat but I'm still new so I don't have access).

I'm still trying to figure out how my parents and I can be so different. They're about as high-tech as can be..cannot do without their daily coffee and gym runs, must have all the cable channels, gets nails and hair done often..I could go on and on - essentially very high maintenance people.

They simply cannot believe that I'd choose to have a basic 'dumbphone', no cable, no facebook, choose to hang my laundry, even use a manual can opener - do all the things I do from scratch. I've started baking my own bread too which wows the heck out of them because it's "too hard to do".

Basically everything they need, I do not. I haven't even told them about the property I've been eying because they'd completely freak out and call me a hermit, wondering why anyone would want to live in a solar house with just the basics, in the middle of nowhere, not near a Starbucks or Caribou. Never mind I'd probably see my own caribou, moose or bears, which IMHO is way better anyway.

Is anyone else so different from their parents/relatives/siblings? It does make me chuckle, like when my dad bought me a leafblower which I didn't ask for but I continue to use the broom and rake. LOL. I'm surprised that they don't refer to me as their hippie daughter. Or maybe they do. Who knows.

I grew up on the family ranch and I'm pretty fortunate that my family and I are pretty much on the same page but I have seen quite a few that have moved out to my area who are much like yourself and I would advise you to remember that your family is no more wrong or right than you are.

It sounds like you have a good relationship with your family and they likely just want you to be happy and in my opinion, the best way to do that is follow your dreams, embrace the lifestyle you chose but respect the lifestyle they have chosen too.

Incidentally, what's wrong with a manicure? I do my own nails so the cost is minimal and dig in the garden, work livestock, ride horses, bake, knit, hitch a bit of horsehair and do whatever has to be done with happy colored nails.

LisaInN.Idaho · #17 08/22/13, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wr

Incidentally, what's wrong with a manicure? I do my own nails so the cost is minimal and dig in the garden, work livestock, ride horses, bake, knit, hitch a bit of horsehair and do whatever has to be done with happy colored nails.

Even better than a manicure.....PEDICURES!

I don't do manicures anymore at a salon but I do pedicures whenever I get the opportunity.
Happy toes...happy me! (with cherry red polish!)

modineg44 · #18 08/22/13, 08:16 PM

I'm so different from all my relatives. Obviously I was switched at birth.

Nancy

Darkwater · #19 08/22/13, 08:23 PM

What is a "Caribou"?

Travis in Louisiana · #20 08/22/13, 08:45 PM

My dad grew up poor and on a farm. He split wood for heat and cooking most of his young life. When I was growing up, we had a garden, but he would not put in a fireplace or wood stove. He said he had split enough wood in his younger days, that he did not want to ever do it again. After I was grown and gone, he moved to a house in close to a city and he did not want to garden. He says he does his gardening at the store. He does work in his woodworking shop making wood projects. Since all his kids are on the computer and work with computers daily, he was set up with a computer. He even has a cell phone!