Have been thinking about this for a while and would like some thoughts please... I have a good relationship with my parents. Very close but I wouldnt say we are emotionally close. My dad would work long hours as a police officer and my mum was left alone with not much but myself and my sister. As I got older a lot of my time was spent in my bedroom watching tv and not really connecting with much other than a few friends at school. As I got older I’d forged a bit of a relationship with my mother but nothing long lasting other than the usual pleasantries. I now have two boys who I love dearly. My husband very much takes the matriarch position when dealing with the boys. I try really hard but it’s just not as natural as him (he has a complicated family history and I think he tries to be what his mother wasn’t to him). As the boys have gotten older they’ve started to have interests in things I like which has made me think 1. We can forge a better connection and 2. Maybe this means I can be a better mother. As this is happening my husband seems to be be pushing me around bonding time etc in areas I’m just not that great at and when I make observations about his better connection with them he gets defensive. All I want is to be able to say in so many years time that I can still speak to my sons (and they want to speak to me) and I had a positive impact on them that means their childhood wasn’t all tv like me. Any observations would be great fully accepted.