Culture Shock

My family too was never very affectionate but we all understood and knew that we were loved.
we never got hugs and kisses as kids and even after my dad passed away when i was 6 and my brother 11, we hardly got hugs and kisses

still to this day when i see my family and we hug and kiss hello, as they in zim and we kiss when we say thanks for christmas presents etc it kindda feels "uncomfortable"
we also came from a family where we saw my mom get abused by my dad as well as after he passed my sister's father, so i think maybe she just i dont know, cant think why she never...

Although my mom LOVES and i mean loves chloe, she hugs, kisses, scrathes her tummy for hours etc, as kids my brother and i never had that LOL but its ok, we knew we were loved.

MY hubby is the only child and as well, i would of thought that his parents would be all over him but they not, they also not very "affectionate" with chloe and i for sure as heck dont want them to be with me either LOL but was just strange.

But we all do love each other in this weired and wonderfulw ay of showing one another

LOL Lollipop.. had to laugh at that one, my parents also love the "soengroet" thing, I dont mind very close family, but then you get far-off family and my mom always expected me to kiss everyone.. YUK

I have to post this in afrikaans, sorry girls.

@ Joli,my ma'le soengroet ook, iets wat my man se ma'le glad nie doen nie, dit freak myman uit, hy sê my ma'le is bietjie te erg, hy moet hulle soengroet as hy uitgaan op 'n smoke break!

My dh also comes from a strange family (well to me they are strange)

I was brought up with always having family around. We always have family get togethers & functions. We celebrate birthdays etc.

Whereas dh's family dont. If dh doesnt speak to his mom or see her for a month it wouldnt bother him / her. I see my parents & family almost every weekend & if I dont I will call to see how they are doing.

We all live in the same neighbourhood, like a 5min drive.

All families are different ...

My dad ws never bought up with affection and bringing us up he didn't know different, although my mother did show us alot of affection, she too would hug, kiss and cuddle and would try get my dad to do it, still to this day my dad doesn't show affection.

Dh and I both had some problems in our family growing up and as we had discussed and said to my MIL that with our children we want to BETTER or CHANGE things of how we were brought up. Both his father and my dad dont show any emotion, its frustrating, but we know that that is them.

Its amazing how different every family is, i suppose its a good thing

Thanks ladies

DH's family already have 3 grandchildren! So not sure we'll see much of a change there I do think they are a bit of a strange bunch, but I do also think they are very nice and I'm glad they are my in laws despite their weirdness!

I guess it's also quite a culture shock for DH! My family is very hug/cuddle etc. Think sometimes it overwhelms him!

When I was pregnant with Megan my MIL would always call to find out how it was going. She babysits the girls and she's very involved. It was really very strange for me in the beginning. Didn't know how to handle it. When I was pregnant with Kayla, I was on my own. No family and mom to help and to talk to. I also struggle to say the words I love you, but it's different with my kids. I kiss them and hug them and tell them that I love them. Kids do change things. Like RM said - they might just surprise you.

Another thing that was really strange for me is the way my inlaws kiss and hug each other hello and so on. Took a while to get used to it. Remember I only met them after DH and I got married!