Compare and Contrast My Mother and Father

¶ … Mother and Father as Individuals and as Parents

Perhaps they are the most familiar person to you, the people you are most comfortable with. Sometimes you love them for bringing you into this world; sometimes you hate them for telling you this fact over and over again. The other may be lenient in disciplining you, while the other is too strict on you. Or sometimes, both exercise their right as your parent to impose rules that you must follow as their child.

These are the situations every child experiences with his/her parents: the people who you love to hate and hate to love, who can forsake you while at the same time care for you in times of trouble or crisis. Our parents, bound to duty and responsibility in the society as parents of their children, have the tremendous responsibility to rear their children properly in order for them to become productive citizens of the society and have a better life in the future.

However, this "Bonny and Clyde" team may work together all the time, but they can also be individuals with their own temperaments. Sometimes Father shares similar interests and character with Mother, but there are also differences that set them apart and at the same time, which complements one with the other. This paper seeks to determine and discuss the similarities and differences of my Mother and Father, both as an individual and as parents to me. My primary determinants are their personalities and activities they engage in order to identify these comparisons between Mother and Father. The texts that follow contains a complete enumeration and discussion of these characteristics and activities, analyzing how these qualities make them complement and individualize each other to become better individuals and parents not only for their children, but for themselves also.

Mother and Father have numerous differences with each other, may it be acting the role of a parent or just being themselves. Mother and Father's personalities are often influenced by their genders, thus, their personalities are characteristically the stereotypes and expected dichotomies that people have between men and women.

As individuals, they have different temperaments in treating situations presented to them, especially when it comes to decision-making situations. Mother is mainly a confrontational individual, preferring to confront the issue at hand in order to come up with an immediate solution to it. Furthermore, she is empathic when dealing with people who have difficulties and problems, which is help enough even if she was not able to help in formulating a solution to the problem.

Father, on the other hand, prefers to confront the solution already, and does not delve on the problem at hand for long. He acts immediately, and does not try to alleviate the problem by comforting people. Thus, Mother is more interactive and empathic, while Father is the rational individual.

Within social groups, Mother and Fathers surface further. Father tends to be individualist whenever he and Mother go to social gatherings and occasions. He also communicates with people high-contextually, relying on the other's perception of him (Father) in order to convey to the person what he feels, thinks, or mean by something. Father also prefers to be left alone, and only "socializes" when compelled to do so.

Mother is the anti-thesis of Father when it comes to social gatherings. While Father prefers to have small talks with people, Mother wants to immerse herself with big social groups, and is expressive of her views and feelings, regardless of the topic being discussed. Her sense of cooperation also works at an advantage for her, since people often return big favors for her in exchange of previous favors she did for others. With Mother's personality, it can be said that Mother has a bigger social network, but Father has a considerable amount of friends he gets along with; only, he does not show his being sociable in front of the people.

Mother and Father's differences are also reflected in their parenting styles. Mother is comfortable in her approach as the friendly parent, sometimes agreeing with the children (us) whenever we are in a disagreement with Father. Nevertheless, she is also congenial towards Father, neither taking sides when conflicts arise within the family concerning her children and her husband. Father, on the other hand, is adversarial, especially when facing conflicts within the family. He tends to think that everybody is against him, especially when Mother comes to us to comfort or talk to us. Furthermore, he is a disciplinarian, a strict parent, which can sometimes be both an advantage and disadvantage for him.

It is evident that Mother and Father's differences as individuals and parents complement each other. Thus, conflicts, whenever they arise, are dealt with equally, since both have different temperaments and attitudes in tackling the problem. Both personalities produce effective resolutions and decisions, the only difference being the execution of the decision arrived at.

Apart from their differences, Mother and Father also have their similarities, especially when sharing their hobbies and activities together. What is remarkable between Mother and Father is that, despite their difference in their personalities, they share a passion for animals and plants and does gardening as a hobby. Every weekend, our neighborhood would always greet them, and compliment them for the wonderful work they have done in their garden. Mother takes care of the flowering plants, while Father tends to his vegetables and fruits (crops).