I don t know what to talk about with my folks ???? need 4 topics a day?

[jason_fly]

I guess it happens to each and everyone of us , generation gap , bad aging, all that stuff but lately when I come back it s really cringing to talk with my parents .The thing is I m living abroad and currently I m compelled to stay here for visa reason , can t afford going to the hotel so I am compelled to crash at my parents home .
my father is retired (he took it very hard even if he spent his time bitching about his work). Doesn t have any real hobbies (goes back and forth tv and computer all day long). Doesn t belong to any cultural club .No social activity . Hates to travel and isn t even aware that sometimes he s borderline racist behind its veneer of understanding . Know s... about sport . Has a knack for monopolizing conversation with his opinion (some of our dinner talk is merely my dad talking while my mother and I listen . ) and he has an opinion for everything .
my mother doesnt know much either but at least she is very keen to travel , have an active social life a job and so on . Still things like social media , asia , world soccer aren t very fashionable topic here ... not her world either ....
I guess I could talk about my life but even if getting personal is a key principle of good conversation I can t do that too much here : my pop loves to lecture us and tell us how to lead our life...There is a limit to how much effort I m ready to make .Getting blamed at my private life and personal decision is one of them.
It s already hard to relate but when my litlle sister comes back it becomes really troublesome....She s accostumed to L.A pace and lifestyle .... the generation gap is even more obvious and my sister find very hard to put up with this charade ....
Clearly I have to PREPARE topics before I go dinner with my folks !!!and finding common ground for everyone grows harder and harder.... once it s on I m good at managing the whole thing by passing the ball , checking everyone gets its turn ,asking questions , cutting threads to keep things lively ... but finding a good topic...
I m plugged to my RSS reader , twitter to find latest topic but even like that it s not easy ....I NEED at least 4 topics a day .
Any idea for a source of topic ? I have most social bookmarking and trend site rssed (digg,stumbleupon , reddit,yahoo buzz ,tweetmeme ), news website .

[majenta]

It kind of great of you to try and talk to them, even if you feel like you have to. Not many people would bother, so well done And yes, I'm one of those who get "these are the choices you should of made and you've made mistake lectures" too.

But, anyway, why not ask your mother about her travels - where her favorite places were and where she would like to go. My mother is a traveler and she could spend hours talking about it. Father and son's have a different relationship that people have written books about - I can't help you there.

Try not to think about it too much, either, when it comes to dinner time. If your mother has cooked the meal, compliment her (even if it's crap) and ask her how she made it. Once you establish easier small talk, the rest will follow.

Remember, they are your parents - you don't have to talk about current affairs items, but about each other's day and whatever.

Hope this helps.

[vjmaliyil]

On thing I love about your question is that you really care. Most of the people don't bother. That means you are a good man.

Now back to the topic. RSS feeds can be great. But the question is whether you are looking at the right feeds. Here is a list of best RSS feeds. http://webupon.com/web-talk/10-life-chan...ss-feeds/.

Someone I know also had the same issues. Give them a passion and all your problems will be solved. By whatever I have read so far, I think writing would be a great pass time for both of them. Ask them to join Triond. http://www.triond.com/users/Jaison

Are your parents active in social networking through facebook? If not, help them to be. Find out who in their social circle has got FB and connect them. The moral of the story is "if you give them a fish, you feed them for a day. If you teach them how to fish, you feed them for a lifetime. " Good luck, god bless and let me know if I can help.