Food for thought from "What the Dead Know" by Laura Lippman:

Even then, she was tight-lipped when it came to certain information about herself, clear about the distinction between eccentricities that might be interesting and compulsive habits that would mark her as odd.

That was another thing that Sunny never understood, that it was good to keep things back, not volunteer everything at once.

He had never broken the habit of speaking to Miriam over breakfst. In fact, he enjoyed it more since she'd left, for there were no contradictions, no teasing or doubt. He held forth, and Miriam silently agreed with everything he said. He couldn't imagine a more satisfactory arrangement.

Children can be happy when their parents are miserable. But a parent is never happier than her unhappiest child.