My New Subsection

Do you believe you had a good childhood? Please explain

Absolutely not. My mother was an alcoholic drug addict who left her abusive husband only to wind up with a more abusive drug addict/dealer who was mentally unstable.

What did your parent(s) do with you for family time?

At night we ate dinner together sitting in front of the TV.

Did your parent(s) make it a point to show and tell you that they loved you?

My mom told me sometimes. Her husband never did.

As a child when you did something wrong, what kind of punishment (if any) did you get?

My stepdad would do this thing where he would grab me between the collar bone and shoulder and dog his thumbs in hard as he screamed at me. Usually called a lot of names, Sometimes beaten.

Do you believe you will raise your children the same way you were raised? Why or why not?

No, definately not. I never took a drug in my life. I have a very stable loving marraige and I am working really really hard not to have such a bad temper all the time.

Do you believe that the way a child is raised determines the person they become?

Absolutely. I actively struggle with my temper every day. I constantly have to fight the urge to think "well, my parents did it this way, and I turned out fine?"

Do you believe you grew up in a good family environment? Why or why not?

No. My parents were drug dealers who constantly had costimers coming and going. Some of the friends molested me...

Did your home environment positively or negatively affect your growing up? Please explain

Yes. I developed eating disorders, control issues and became very shut off from my peers for fear that they would find out about my family.

What do you wish, if anything, was different about your childhood?

Nothing. It made me who I am today. And although I am seriously flawed, I am also accute at picking up on subtle signals and cues that something is going on with other people and my own children. I fully believe that if something like that were going on with my children or a friend of theirs that I would notice it. I wouldn't just keep letting it happen when all the signs are right there in plain site. And if a child ever came to me and flat out told me something bad was going on, I WOULD NOT blow them off by telling them they were "misinterpreting".

Do you really believe there is such a thing as a "perfect childhood"?

I don't believe there is a standardized definition of perfection. So, no.