Good question. My father has always been pretty chill, but he is difficult to talk to about "emotions," and is somewhat hearing impaired now.

My mother on the other hand.....I think she has contributed to some of my problems in relationships with others. As a child, I received "inconsistent" treatment. I know she loves me, but she is invalidating, judgmental, and often made me feel bad for being "me" unless I was doing something to impress her, such as through talents I used to have. She would ice me out if she became upset with me, and I found myself fighting to talk things over and needing everything to be okay all the time, but she would refuse or even resorted to physical punishment.

Since I fought for validation and acceptance from her and admire certain traits about her, since she is well educated, when I fall short, she makes me feel alienated and sometimes very hurt by comments she makes. My efforts to communicate this were never successful. She can be arrogant, prides herself on "being normal" (I believe otherwise), and never admits fault. So deep down, yes, I do care what my mother thinks and hope to get support from her, but her erratic behavior or reactions sometimes hurt me very deeply. I think I developed co-dependent patterns in relationships, but I'm just starting to explore this.

I hear you....I feel that I shouldn't care what my parents think, but can't help it. I guess because I was conditioned to fight for acceptance.