> Yes, it's about family, and yes, I'd say you're very fortunate. I don't know how common "a family where everyone gets along" is, but in my personal experience, it's quite rare.
My immediate family gets along great. I think mainly because my siblings and I got our really mean disagreements out of the way as teens.
Now everyone just snipes at each other. Sometimes in ways that seem mean spirited to an outsider (my wife still sometimes will gape at the way we snipe at each other - in her family this would lead to years worth of not speaking and grudges), but we all know the topics to stay away from. You know - the really hurtful stuff. The sniping targets the small funny/embarrassing stuff, a snarky act of love for each other.
> It's the closest family that actually is the problem.
In our case, it's the extended family. The increasingly racist and unhinged know-it-all uncle. The aunt who is both a pathological liar, attention seeker, and also furious at the world. The passive aggressive aunt who was married to a pastor, who can't stop telling people how they should be living their lives.
10 minutes with any of them, and I'm ready to go to the bar.
My immediate family gets along great. I think mainly because my siblings and I got our really mean disagreements out of the way as teens.
Now everyone just snipes at each other. Sometimes in ways that seem mean spirited to an outsider (my wife still sometimes will gape at the way we snipe at each other - in her family this would lead to years worth of not speaking and grudges), but we all know the topics to stay away from. You know - the really hurtful stuff. The sniping targets the small funny/embarrassing stuff, a snarky act of love for each other.
> It's the closest family that actually is the problem.
In our case, it's the extended family. The increasingly racist and unhinged know-it-all uncle. The aunt who is both a pathological liar, attention seeker, and also furious at the world. The passive aggressive aunt who was married to a pastor, who can't stop telling people how they should be living their lives.
10 minutes with any of them, and I'm ready to go to the bar.