Member-only story
So You Had a Rough Childhood? Get Over It Already.
Buck up. Grow up. BE AN ADULT. Stop crying. If you’ve heard those words, and I admit to having flung them at myself, you can understand the resentment they might cause. If I’m having a rough day I might say it to my mirror image.
I’ll goddamn well give YOU something to cry about.
Why are you getting so fucking FAT?
I brought up LOSERS for children.
I wish I’d never given birth to you little bastards.
Ah, the things we sometimes say to our kids.
Some of us wear these words for life. Or, until we find a way to rewire the constantly-playing loop of parental/caretaker/teacher/preacher/friend disapproval.
Which is, if we truly understand ourselves, is nothing more than our own disapproval of ourselves, tossed like grenades at the unsuspecting.
Every parent has bad days. They’re allowed. Some parents have bad lives. Some parents take their disappointment and anger out on their kids, just like their parents did to them. I tend to believe that obstacles that we are presented even very early on build us or break us. I’m not a fan of folks who spend their lives blaming their folks for how they…