Did you have a easy or hard childhood?

That's a tough one. My first instinct was to say easy because my mother made it so for us. But the truth is somewhere 'in between.'We knew how poor we were, it was never hidden from us because that would have been impossible. I grew up in an alcoholic's household. My father was the alcoholic, but he was kind and funny so I didn't realize he was one or how severe his disease was until I was in my teens when it escalated. My Mom always made excuses for him when he'd lose a job or disappear for a few days, so it *seemed* normal. I have many, many happy memories. I have some sad or angry ones, too. I didn't put two and two together regarding the correlation between us being poor and my Dad's failure to keep a job until I was much older. I guess I had my head in the sand regarding his drinking until after he had stopped. He was sober for the last year of his life, had a job for that entire time. It was only then I realized and appreciated how much my mother had sacrificed and did without to make our childhoods as happy as she was able to.
:hug:
 
At home….easy
I had chores and things that were expected of me.
My parents gave me a lot of things, but not enough to make me spoiled.

At school…not easy
I was teased a lot for my weight and lack of in style clothes.
My parents were so conservative that they were totally unaware of what teenagers were doing and when I wanted to do or have certain things it wasn’t allowed, which led to me being teased. My mom didn’t help me with my weight, if cookies made me happy, then she bought me cookies. She didn’t mean to have me gain weight - I don’t blame her for anything - I love my mom, we are just very different people.

Fast forward to new adulthood….hard
Due to the school days of teasing I became obsessed with losing my weight and I ate unhealthy (which I didn’t realize), worked out like a madwoman and lost a lot of weight - I looked awesome! I got my belly button pierced (which was a brand new thing back then - I thought my mom was going to faint when she saw it - LOL!) and wore my first bikini ever! But it put me the hospital and I had to learn how to manage my weight in a healthy way. I also went into terrible credit card debt to keep me in style so I would never be teased again.

Fast forward to older adulthood…..easier
So many lessons learned in the early adult years. I didn’t want my girls to ever feel like I did in school and the early adult years. DH and I have been very open with them on what we can afford and not afford to get them and buy them things accordingly. They’ve learned that there’s alternatives to what they want to still keep them in style. We’ve taught them that if they want this, that it means they may not get that and for them to choose what’s most important. I personally feel that my DH and I have done a great job with teaching that money doesn’t grow on trees, budgeting money and teaching them to shop around for good deals.
In regards to weight my older DD23 was literally a double zero size in high school and could fit into anything - she had a beautiful figure. I wished she could gain weight and she did too. She ate like a horse and never put on weight - she had a super Metabolism.
DD18 has been blessed with my ability to gain weight when looking at food, which is tough when you’re an athlete and 5’3”. Since I‘ve always struggled with weight I’ve been able to teach her what she can and can’t eat and go through this weight struggle journey together. We keep each other on track - if she’s at the store with me and I start to look at ice cream she tells me NO! If we’re out and she wants fast food I say NO! We tell each other NO a lot - LOL! We do have a treat once in awhile, but DD knows if she has ice cream in the day then she’s done with anything unhealthy the rest of the day. She’s repeatedly thanked me for teaching her how to eat right, not bringing garbage food into the house, not eating things in front of her (if she shouldn’t eat it then we both shouldn’t eat it and the other way around) and doing this weight journey together. She believes that when she goes to college in a few months that she’ll be ok when it comes to food and will have good will power to stay away from garbage food.

As much as my high school days and early adult days weren’t easy for me, I believe that God did that for me to help teach my children later. My girls have had certain struggles too and someday they’ll teach their children how to deal with those issues. God is good and Life is good ❤️
 
Pretty easy. Stereotypical suburban nuclear family in a neighborhood swarming with other kids to play with (we were the baby boom kids). Schools were ridiculously overcrowded (45-50 kids in my classroom), but we still got a solid education. Things were safer for kids then (or perceived to be), so we were pretty free range. I was blessed.
 
Abusive dad, mom that decided to "deal" with that by drinking and taking it out on me specifically. Not my brother or sister, just me. She said that she did that because I was "tough and could handle it". I was always called stupid and lazy and any other horrible thing that my mom could come up with. I also had undiagnosed ADHD, got bullied and had no friends. My older brother also treated me like crap and gaslighted me. He would do something bad and then blame me and my parents believed him. So, not what you would call a great childhood. My husband is the only person in my life that really sees me for who I am and loves me unconditionally. He also treats me like a queen. So the last 27 years of my life have been great with him.
 



GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top