I got around that in a way. I figured if I did well then it would be expected of me and I actually had other challenges to deal with so I did not push myself. I also in a way realized too, with my effort to talk to him well, that he would criticize that too. Considering how I watched my mother try so hard and he ALWAYS found some way of faulting her, I tended to figure "what the hell", B's are good enough.

I don't know about you, but my father was the kind of individual that knew everything so he was hard to talk to. He read a lot and no one could tell him anything he did not already know. The only way you "could" talk to him is ask him all about HIM.

My mom used to say, "ugh, your father is so hard to talk to", and I would say, "no, not really, all you have to do is talk to him about him". Then he talks and talks. He tended to preach a lot too.