We like to share with our children, especially introducing them to the stuff we grew up with .... specifically music and television shows we loved.The Caveman and I grew up in very different households. The thing we had in common was that we were both raised by single parents - his parents were divorced, as were mine. He was raised by his Dad. He was the only child and his exposure to different types of television and music was, by his own admission, fairly limited. He grew up in a regional area, with very little choice in TV or radio channels. TV viewing consisted of sport, news, documentaries and half-hour British comedies, and there was only one local commercial radio station. He didn't really discover popular music until he was a teenager and had his own radio in his bedroom.
My upbringing was almost the opposite; my mum was raising three kids, all with different tastes, so we had a lot of variety. We lived in Brisbane; TV was everything from cartoons to dramas, movies (old and new), sport, comedies, documentaries, and a bit of news thrown in for good measure. Music was a constant: radio (on popular commercial stations), cassettes and records - oh, how we loved our record player! - and watching Countdown (and Rage, later on) was like a religion for us every weekend.
There were other differences too, which dictated the atmosphere we were raised in. His Dad had grown up in a very stable, traditional home. My mum grew up in an orphanage ... when she had her children, she didn't have that traditional family model to follow. She was like a kid herself in many ways, and enjoyed discovering the things we liked, while also sharing her old favourites with us.
The Caveman and I are products of our upbringing - as we all are - and the differences do show sometimes. He likes tradition and routine, and believes that the kids should do what he says, no questions asked. On the other hand, I don't care too much about routines and I'm more easy going with the kids (probably too much, at times). We are well suited because of our differences, we have been a good influence on each other and, for the most part, have found a happy middle ground.
Sharing our childhood and teenage favourites with the kids is one thing we have always agreed on. In recent times, they've all learned more about 60's, 70's and 80's music than they ever wanted to know and, as it turns out, they don't mind most of it. Of course, the trade off for us is that we have to listen to their music too ... everything from Taylor Swift, The Weekend and Bruno Mars to Eminem and 50 Cent! But we are okay with that. I never wanted to be one of those parents that says, 'No, I don't want to hear the rubbish you listen to.' There is a lot of good music out there, if you're prepared to listen.
There has also been a resurgence of classic tv shows in our lounge room recently. We have a collection of movies and TV series which we choose from (none of us are interested in the constant stream of reality TV or current affairs shows that swamp our free-to-air channels). Our daughter has discovered a love for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Our younger son, aged 8, loves watching old Doctor Who episodes with his Dad and, in turn, the Caveman is learning to appreciate the modern Doctor Who as well. Our kids prefer the original Star Wars trilogy over the Prequels (well, doesn't everyone?). They have seen episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard, The Cosby Show and even Bonanza - now that's going back to before either of us was born! It's not all old stuff though... we also watch current shows like The Big Bang Theory, along with documentaries, sport and news.
Reading through what I've written, I realise that we may be nerds (really!), but the important thing out of all this is that it helps us to communicate better. Finding common ground, sharing things we all love, it extends into other areas of our relationships with each other. And that makes for a happy family.
