Parent Child Relationships

[alexlella]

Hello,

I thought it would be interesting to look at how parent child relationships play out among the four generations. Obviously, a child can be the generation right after a parent, (e.g. a prophetic parent has a nomadic child, a nomadic parent has a heroic child, etc.) but sometimes if the parent and child are at the tail end of their generations it can skip a generation, (e.g. Prophetic parents have heroic children, Nomadic parents have artistic children etc.) Therefor there are eight parent child relationships. I have attempted to examine them and provide examples from fact or fiction.

1. Prophetic Parent-Nomadic Child  We saw this one on Family Ties when the Boomer parents, Steve and Alyce Keaton were actually too liberal for their conservative son, Alex. The Nomadic Child thinks that the Prophetic parents are too weird and just wants to live a normal life.

2. Prophetic Parent-Heroic Child This is supposed to be going on later with the Boomers raising the Millenials. The helicopter parent requires the child to engage at an early age in community service and the like and the child gets a reputation for being a "good kid".

3. Nomadic Parent-Heroic Child If you want an example of this from fiction, consider Lost generation Vito Corleone's relationship with his GI son, Michael.  If you want a real life example, how about Senator Joseph Kennedy's relationship with his son John. Nomadic parents often want their children to have better lives then they did and are willing to engage in almost Machiavellian methods to achieve this goal. But the heroic child is too good to appreciate this. He or she goes off and joins the army sometimes against their parents' will.

4. Nomadic Parent-Artistic Child Well, I guess now we have this going on when the Gen X parents raise Homelanders, but to go back in history maybe an example would be Lost generation Alfred Hitchcock's relationship with his Silent daughter,  Pat. Alfred famously said that actors should be treated cattle, but when his daughter wanted to be an actress, he supported her and gave her parts in his films. In a way, the artistic child is more appreciative of the Nomadic parents sacrifices then the heroic child.

5. Heroic Parent-Artistic Child I can't think of any obvious examples of this one. There was Silent Elvis Presley's relationship with his GI parents, but I'm not sure how typical that was. Basically, it's a situation where the child appreciates the parents, but is not afraid to occasionally turn on them with Rock and Roll music or Beatnik poetry.


6. Heroic Parent-Prophetic Child I guess this was dramatized by All in the Family and many other places. The GI Archie Bunker didn't get along with his Boomer daughter and son-in-law, Gloria and Michael. Heroic parents did their part for their country and don't get why prophetic children are trying to change the status quo.


7. Artistic Parent-Prophetic Child  I had a little trouble thinking of examples for this one too. I guess The Brady Bunch was supposed to be an example of this type of family. Mike and Carol Brady were members of the Silent generation and their six children were boomers. They took a somewhat tolerant view of their children trying to be "groovy" rock stars. I also thought of Elton John's relationship with his parents. Both of them were very much music fans, but they did not approve of his flamboyant attitude to music.


8. Artistic Parent-Nomadic Child  Actually, this is my relationship with my parents for what that's worth. (I'm a Gen Xer and they're (young) members of the Silent generation.) I know the book cites Judy Blume as a member of the Silent Generation. I guess the point here is that Artistic parents are, in some ways, wiser than Prophetic parents because they realize that you have to let Nomadic children be Nomadic children.

So that is my analysis. I would appreciate comments and maybe some help filling in the blanks.

[pbrower2a]

Also interesting might be the common situations in which parents straddle a generational divide -- let us say with parents born in 1898 and 1903; 1923 and 1927; 1940 and 1944; 1958 and 1964; or 1979 and 1983.

I'm guessing that as a late-wave Boomer born to middle-wave Silent I might be less prone to rebellion than against GI parents.There was less against which to rebel.

[brent1MP]

alexlella, thanks for sharing.

[Marypoza]

(01-27-2020, 03:28 PM)alexlella Wrote: Hello,

I thought it would be interesting to look at how parent child relationships play out among the four generations. Obviously, a child can be the generation right after a parent, (e.g. a prophetic parent has a nomadic child, a nomadic parent has a heroic child, etc.) but sometimes if the parent and child are at the tail end of their generations it can skip a generation, (e.g. Prophetic parents have heroic children, Nomadic parents have artistic children etc.) Therefor there are eight parent child relationships. I have attempted to examine them and provide examples from fact or fiction.

1. Prophetic Parent-Nomadic Child  We saw this one on Family Ties when the Boomer parents, Steve and Alyce Keaton were actually too liberal for their conservative son, Alex. The Nomadic Child thinks that the Prophetic parents are too weird and just wants to live a normal life.

2. Prophetic Parent-Heroic Child This is supposed to be going on later with the Boomers raising the Millenials. The helicopter parent requires the child to engage at an early age in community service and the like and the child gets a reputation for being a "good kid".

3. Nomadic Parent-Heroic Child If you want an example of this from fiction, consider Lost generation Vito Corleone's relationship with his GI son, Michael.  If you want a real life example, how about Senator Joseph Kennedy's relationship with his son John. Nomadic parents often want their children to have better lives then they did and are willing to engage in almost Machiavellian methods to achieve this goal. But the heroic child is too good to appreciate this. He or she goes off and joins the army sometimes against their parents' will.

4. Nomadic Parent-Artistic Child Well, I guess now we have this going on when the Gen X parents raise Homelanders, but to go back in history maybe an example would be Lost generation Alfred Hitchcock's relationship with his Silent daughter,  Pat. Alfred famously said that actors should be treated cattle, but when his daughter wanted to be an actress, he supported her and gave her parts in his films. In a way, the artistic child is more appreciative of the Nomadic parents sacrifices then the heroic child.

5. Heroic Parent-Artistic Child I can't think of any obvious examples of this one. There was Silent Elvis Presley's relationship with his GI parents, but I'm not sure how typical that was. Basically, it's a situation where the child appreciates the parents, but is not afraid to occasionally turn on them with Rock and Roll music or Beatnik poetry.


6. Heroic Parent-Prophetic Child I guess this was dramatized by All in the Family and many other places. The GI Archie Bunker didn't get along with his Boomer daughter and son-in-law, Gloria and Michael. Heroic parents did their part for their country and don't get why prophetic children are trying to change the status quo.


7. Artistic Parent-Prophetic Child  I had a little trouble thinking of examples for this one too. I guess The Brady Bunch was supposed to be an example of this type of family. Mike and Carol Brady were members of the Silent generation and their six children were boomers. They took a somewhat tolerant view of their children trying to be "groovy" rock stars. I also thought of Elton John's relationship with his parents. Both of them were very much music fans, but they did not approve of his flamboyant attitude to music.


8. Artistic Parent-Nomadic Child  Actually, this is my relationship with my parents for what that's worth. (I'm a Gen Xer and they're (young) members of the Silent generation.) I know the book cites Judy Blume as a member of the Silent Generation. I guess the point here is that Artistic parents are, in some ways, wiser than Prophetic parents because they realize that you have to let Nomadic children be Nomadic children.

So that is my analysis. I would appreciate comments and maybe some help filling in the blanks.

-- then there's my brother: a tail end Boomer who's kidz are both with his 2nd wife. The niece is a tail end Millie but her brother is Gen Z Artist

[Snowflake1996]

Your descriptions for the prophet-heroic + nomad-heroic relationships are spot on for my family. My prophet dad was big on me doing community service and my nomad mom was initially against my decision to enlist into the armed services.

My relationship with my parents very much resembles the stereotypical millennial child with boomer/Xer parent dynamic that Neil Howe talks about.

[alexlella]

(01-29-2020, 01:57 AM)Marypoza Wrote:

(01-27-2020, 03:28 PM)alexlella Wrote: Hello,

I thought it would be interesting to look at how parent child relationships play out among the four generations. Obviously, a child can be the generation right after a parent, (e.g. a prophetic parent has a nomadic child, a nomadic parent has a heroic child, etc.) but sometimes if the parent and child are at the tail end of their generations it can skip a generation, (e.g. Prophetic parents have heroic children, Nomadic parents have artistic children etc.) Therefor there are eight parent child relationships. I have attempted to examine them and provide examples from fact or fiction.

1. Prophetic Parent-Nomadic Child  We saw this one on Family Ties when the Boomer parents, Steve and Alyce Keaton were actually too liberal for their conservative son, Alex. The Nomadic Child thinks that the Prophetic parents are too weird and just wants to live a normal life.

2. Prophetic Parent-Heroic Child This is supposed to be going on later with the Boomers raising the Millenials. The helicopter parent requires the child to engage at an early age in community service and the like and the child gets a reputation for being a "good kid".

3. Nomadic Parent-Heroic Child If you want an example of this from fiction, consider Lost generation Vito Corleone's relationship with his GI son, Michael.  If you want a real life example, how about Senator Joseph Kennedy's relationship with his son John. Nomadic parents often want their children to have better lives then they did and are willing to engage in almost Machiavellian methods to achieve this goal. But the heroic child is too good to appreciate this. He or she goes off and joins the army sometimes against their parents' will.

4. Nomadic Parent-Artistic Child Well, I guess now we have this going on when the Gen X parents raise Homelanders, but to go back in history maybe an example would be Lost generation Alfred Hitchcock's relationship with his Silent daughter,  Pat. Alfred famously said that actors should be treated cattle, but when his daughter wanted to be an actress, he supported her and gave her parts in his films. In a way, the artistic child is more appreciative of the Nomadic parents sacrifices then the heroic child.

5. Heroic Parent-Artistic Child I can't think of any obvious examples of this one. There was Silent Elvis Presley's relationship with his GI parents, but I'm not sure how typical that was. Basically, it's a situation where the child appreciates the parents, but is not afraid to occasionally turn on them with Rock and Roll music or Beatnik poetry.


6. Heroic Parent-Prophetic Child I guess this was dramatized by All in the Family and many other places. The GI Archie Bunker didn't get along with his Boomer daughter and son-in-law, Gloria and Michael. Heroic parents did their part for their country and don't get why prophetic children are trying to change the status quo.


7. Artistic Parent-Prophetic Child  I had a little trouble thinking of examples for this one too. I guess The Brady Bunch was supposed to be an example of this type of family. Mike and Carol Brady were members of the Silent generation and their six children were boomers. They took a somewhat tolerant view of their children trying to be "groovy" rock stars. I also thought of Elton John's relationship with his parents. Both of them were very much music fans, but they did not approve of his flamboyant attitude to music.


8. Artistic Parent-Nomadic Child  Actually, this is my relationship with my parents for what that's worth. (I'm a Gen Xer and they're (young) members of the Silent generation.) I know the book cites Judy Blume as a member of the Silent Generation. I guess the point here is that Artistic parents are, in some ways, wiser than Prophetic parents because they realize that you have to let Nomadic children be Nomadic children.

So that is my analysis. I would appreciate comments and maybe some help filling in the blanks.

-- then there's my brother: a tail end Boomer who's kidz are both with his 2nd wife. The niece is a tail end Millie but her brother is Gen Z Artist

[alexlella]

(01-29-2020, 01:57 AM)Marypoza Wrote:

(01-27-2020, 03:28 PM)alexlella Wrote: Hello,

I thought it would be interesting to look at how parent child relationships play out among the four generations. Obviously, a child can be the generation right after a parent, (e.g. a prophetic parent has a nomadic child, a nomadic parent has a heroic child, etc.) but sometimes if the parent and child are at the tail end of their generations it can skip a generation, (e.g. Prophetic parents have heroic children, Nomadic parents have artistic children etc.) Therefor there are eight parent child relationships. I have attempted to examine them and provide examples from fact or fiction.

1. Prophetic Parent-Nomadic Child  We saw this one on Family Ties when the Boomer parents, Steve and Alyce Keaton were actually too liberal for their conservative son, Alex. The Nomadic Child thinks that the Prophetic parents are too weird and just wants to live a normal life.

2. Prophetic Parent-Heroic Child This is supposed to be going on later with the Boomers raising the Millenials. The helicopter parent requires the child to engage at an early age in community service and the like and the child gets a reputation for being a "good kid".

3. Nomadic Parent-Heroic Child If you want an example of this from fiction, consider Lost generation Vito Corleone's relationship with his GI son, Michael.  If you want a real life example, how about Senator Joseph Kennedy's relationship with his son John. Nomadic parents often want their children to have better lives then they did and are willing to engage in almost Machiavellian methods to achieve this goal. But the heroic child is too good to appreciate this. He or she goes off and joins the army sometimes against their parents' will.

4. Nomadic Parent-Artistic Child Well, I guess now we have this going on when the Gen X parents raise Homelanders, but to go back in history maybe an example would be Lost generation Alfred Hitchcock's relationship with his Silent daughter,  Pat. Alfred famously said that actors should be treated cattle, but when his daughter wanted to be an actress, he supported her and gave her parts in his films. In a way, the artistic child is more appreciative of the Nomadic parents sacrifices then the heroic child.

5. Heroic Parent-Artistic Child I can't think of any obvious examples of this one. There was Silent Elvis Presley's relationship with his GI parents, but I'm not sure how typical that was. Basically, it's a situation where the child appreciates the parents, but is not afraid to occasionally turn on them with Rock and Roll music or Beatnik poetry.


6. Heroic Parent-Prophetic Child I guess this was dramatized by All in the Family and many other places. The GI Archie Bunker didn't get along with his Boomer daughter and son-in-law, Gloria and Michael. Heroic parents did their part for their country and don't get why prophetic children are trying to change the status quo.


7. Artistic Parent-Prophetic Child  I had a little trouble thinking of examples for this one too. I guess The Brady Bunch was supposed to be an example of this type of family. Mike and Carol Brady were members of the Silent generation and their six children were boomers. They took a somewhat tolerant view of their children trying to be "groovy" rock stars. I also thought of Elton John's relationship with his parents. Both of them were very much music fans, but they did not approve of his flamboyant attitude to music.


8. Artistic Parent-Nomadic Child  Actually, this is my relationship with my parents for what that's worth. (I'm a Gen Xer and they're (young) members of the Silent generation.) I know the book cites Judy Blume as a member of the Silent Generation. I guess the point here is that Artistic parents are, in some ways, wiser than Prophetic parents because they realize that you have to let Nomadic children be Nomadic children.

So that is my analysis. I would appreciate comments and maybe some help filling in the blanks.

-- then there's my brother: a tail end Boomer who's kidz are both with his 2nd wife. The niece is a tail end Millie but her brother is Gen Z Artist

---wow!

[Snowflake1996]

What about grandparent-grandchild generational types? It seems like these are the most common ones:

Idealist grandparent-Artist grandchild (boomers with today’s artists)
Reactive grandparent-Idealist grandchild (Lost with boomers)
Civic grandparent-Reactive grandchild (GIs with Xers)
Artist grandparent-Civic grandchild (silents with millennials)


All four of my grandparents were silent generation and the two I got to know very well were quintessential representatives of their generation. My maternal grandfather was like the blue collar version of Mr Rogers and my paternal grandmother has a very similar temperament. I got along with my grandparents.