I am the third child out of four, but don't worry, this post isn't going to be about me whining about the struggles of being a middle child. There have been times when me and my older sister, the middle two, had our own experiences with "the middle child syndrome", but for our entire lives my siblings and I have been sick with the "Anderson family syndrome". We are all loud.
I have an older brother, an older sister, and a younger sister. We are all relatively close in age; we are two years apart repsectively. My dad worked as a construction worker, and his work wasn't very constant when I was growing up. My mom's job as a nurse, however, was. This being the case, we spent a lot of time with my dad when we were growing up. My dad was and still is a kid at heart. We would always run around and be crazy with him. When my parents split up and my dad moved out, the craziness that he taught us still remained. When it was just us and my mom, not only did she have to deal with four crazy kids; she had to deal with four crazy kids that all wanted her attention. If you wanted to get Mom's attention, you had to be louder than the others. In order to be heard, my mom had to be louder than all of us. My cousins had a very similar situation thus making them just as loud as us. My family and our cousins spent a lot of our time at our grandparent's house while our moms were at work. My grandma, all four feet and nine inches of her, had to look after eight crazy and obnoxious little kids. If you were to go to any family gathering, you will notice that we will all be yelling, or talking very loudly at the least.
What first started as a survival technique eventually developed into our everyday way of interacting. Our lack of volume control continued on into our lives. For some of us such as my older sister and one of my cousins, they were completely different people inside and outside of school. They were very shy at school, but once they got home they were loud and crazy and they could drink anyone under the table. On the other hand, my older brother and I acted the same inside and outside of school, but our outgoing nature was channeled into different areas. I was very sociable and involved in student activities such as pep fests and student council. My brother had a love/hate relationship with every staff member in the school and set records for the most referrals given to a student in a school year.
I understand exactly what you're talking about in your blog. I also come from a big family and therefore have learned to use my outgoing nature to my benefit. However my favorite thing I have gained from my rather large and loud family is a group of people who always there for me and who somehow manage to always to turn my day around.
ReplyDeleteThis post reminded me of how awkward I am around my girlfriends family. Her family seems pretty similar to yours. They are loud, extroverted, and their family gatherings involve a fair bit of drinking. I come from a family of talking when it is your turn, using inside voices, and drinking a beer or two. So when I am in one of her family gatherings I pretty much end up being the quiet guy in the corner.
ReplyDeleteNow that I have known them for a while I am getting better, but it is still interesting how much family impacts your demeanor in social situations.