I asked Robin this question last night. He said that when he was a kid, he always assumed being sick was a punishment. Once he visited a sick friend and saw that the parents had wheeled the TV into his friend's room and brought him all his favourite comic books. And so his revolution began. Hey Hubski - What surprised you most about other families? Did you travel a lot as a child? Did that help you see that there were many ways to run a life? I've tagged this thehumancondition. Should it be tagged family?
Growing up in a household with only a mother and no father, I still find if strange when there is a man living in friend's houses. I can't figure out what they're doing. The way my friends would talk to their mother's made me fear for their wellbeing. How could you talk like that? What exactly is normal? I don't know anyone who is "normal".
I have to agree with thefoundation here. Families not eating together was the single largest shock I've had when visiting other families. I also found it weird to find out that not everyone has to help with chores such as vacuum cleaning, laying the table or mowing the lawn (granted, it is hard to mow the lawn when you don't have one). Travel for me is mostly camping vacations. These only reinforced the notion that not everybody has to help with the chores (my sister and I always have to do the dishes when camping). Other kids also had more freedom. They were allowed to just roam the camping site while we had to report back every once in a while. Btw, I dual tagged it under #family, since it also seems appropriate here.
I like the tag of thehumancondition, I think it fits in quite nicely. What surprised me most about other families is exactly the opposite. I was amazed that other parents didn't make their kids eat together at the dinner table. I was forced to eat with my family, with the TV off every single night. I still do it to this day whenever I'm home. I think it really helped me make good family connections, and I guess behave better. I traveled, but only on driving vacations with my family, not to see other peoples' homes. If I had seen more families living in different ways I'm sure I would've had slight culture shock. I was raised in a well structured family, and I love them for that.