My father was never around, and my mother used to worry that the kids won't grow up to be connected to him.
That's my parenting style - 'Go watch the TV.' I'm one of 11 children, and my mother's parenting style was, 'There's the TV. Go watch it. Mommy's got 10 other people to take care of.'
Kingsley Amis was a lenient father. His paternal style, in the early years, can best be described as amiably minimalist - in other words, my mother did it all.
I never helped my kids. I was working too hard. My kids had to be responsible for themselves.
My mum had me brought up by nannies and governesses. I didn't have much to do with my parents until I was 21.
My parents, especially my mother, were no influence on me whatsoever.
Mothering is just so different now from the way it was before. Especially with my mom. She was like the anti-helicopter mom. She was like an inflatable-tube, blow-up-flamingo-in-the-pool mom. Her philosophy was, the situation will declare itself.
My parents were singularly uninterested in me. My father was too self-centered and too busy with his own practice to pay a lot of attention to me, and my mother was probably deflected more by my sister.
I haven't put an ounce of effort into my families. I never have.
I've been a loner all the time throughout my life... I haven't been the best father... Many times... my children have accused me of not giving them enough attention. And, frankly, I never have been good at handling that.
My parents had no interest in spending a lot of time with me. They were busy doing what they were doing, but they were not obnoxious. They were fabulous.
My dad was not super-intentional in his parenting. He was very self-absorbed. I won't say mean or selfish per se, but very self-absorbed. I think he was just thinking out loud.
I didn't spend much time with my parents when I was growing up.
I wouldn't want to be a mother that put blinders on and didn't see what was going on with my child. There can be huge consequences to such a thing.
