Lots of corporal punishment- not just spankings (my mom chasing my brother around the house with a wooden spoon in hand was a common occurrence in my house) but also soap in the mouth. Bleh. I can still taste the Irish Spring lingering in my mouth, urging me not to say "sucks" or "butt."

She also allowed me and three friends to take a road trip to Florida the summer after sophomore year, sans any sort of supervision. Good times.

Oh, and not really something my parents did but I remember there being an open bar at prom. Crazy!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, some of this stuff is downright abusive and to the PPs who posted those experiences, I'm so sorry. You were a child, as were your siblings, and should have been protected by your parents.

Other posts crack me up! I can almost smell the cigs, taste the Tab and feel the baby oil! Yes, the 70s and 80s had their dysfunction but I miss the good parts of that free-range time.

Yes! My mom left for work at 6:45 am, and would kiss us goodbye while we were still in bed. She always smelled like soap, coffee, and cigarettes. I never minded it. She has since quit smoking, but I can still remember that aroma.

My Grandma, who I adored, smoked so I actually like the smell of cigs as an adult (in small doses, obviously). Brings me back to the days of playing at Grandma's house, being cuddled by her, etc. Aww..

Anonymous wrote:My mom ate cake, cookies, cupcakes, etc. and a huge glass of chocolate milk for breakfast every day. On weekends, b/c my parents wanted to sleep-in they'd leave a huge pack (or 2) of double-stuffed Oreos on the kitchen counter that was meant to be our breakfast. My brother and I would routinely polish off 10+ servings each of cookies before 10am.

Out of curiosity - did you have problems with your teeth? What are your eating habits like as adults?

Smoked and drank martinis while pregnant.

Left me to play at the beach all day at about age 5. No sunscreen. Ended up with sun poisoning.

Never believed me when I said I was sick or hurt. Had a broken arm for a week before they took me to a doctor.

Left me alone 5 days a week (work travel) starting at age 14. I did all the things you would expect an unsupervised teenager to do...

Served me alcohol starting at age 15.

My mom ate cake, cookies, cupcakes, etc. and a huge glass of chocolate milk for breakfast every day. On weekends, b/c my parents wanted to sleep-in they'd leave a huge pack (or 2) of double-stuffed Oreos on the kitchen counter that was meant to be our breakfast. My brother and I would routinely polish off 10+ servings each of cookies before 10am.

My mom convinced us that only parents' who hated their children sent them to summer camp. She said it was horrible and used as a punishment for bad kids. When she thought we were misbehaving she would pick up the phone and pretend to call a camp and tell us to pack our bags and be ready in the driveway for a camp bus to pick us up. Of course the bus never came but we were terrified at the thought of camp!

Wow, so many of these.

Definitely the sleeping bag in the station wagon on road trips.
Also running to the store to pick up her cigs (which she denies).
Always staying in the car instead of going in the store.
My mom was a bartender & my dad a musician, plus one grandma owned a pool hall, so I pretty much grew up in smoky bars.
Baby oil instead of sunblock.

But I guess they seem pretty sane compared to some of these stories.

My parents actually were psycho in various ways, not that you would know because they were brilliant and charismatic. But so loco.

Some of my earliest memories are of my mom locking me (3) and my toddler sister outside the house and refusing to answer the door - all day. I made my sister hide behind the bushes and play in the dirt with me so that we wouldn't be so obviously visible. I've always been hyper vigilant.

She also used to accuse me of wanting to kill my little sister, and made us hide in the internal hallway when there was lightning. She also took us trick or treating in October, but not on Halloween. Mortifying.

She used to hit me as I walked by her inside the house, for no reason. Then when I was 7, I held her hand as she attempted to hit me and stared her down. That was the end of that nonsense. I never felt as in danger from her after that, whereas before I seriously feared for our lives.

She gave me a carton of Salems for Christmas when I was 11. I guess it was a present for herself, just pretending to give it to me?

My sister cut her off ages ago, but I still visited and gave presents and money. However, she only contacted me for money and to ask about my sister, her favorite. Eventually I just gave up on her. It is wonderful to be a mom, but I do marvel at what I missed out on, and how amazingly deficient my mom was. Of course there are mental health issues there, but still. There are also character issues. She just isn't a good person.

Anonymous wrote:Wow, some of this stuff is downright abusive and to the PPs who posted those experiences, I'm so sorry. You were a child, as were your siblings, and should have been protected by your parents.

Other posts crack me up! I can almost smell the cigs, taste the Tab and feel the baby oil! Yes, the 70s and 80s had their dysfunction but I miss the good parts of that free-range time.

Yes! My mom left for work at 6:45 am, and would kiss us goodbye while we were still in bed. She always smelled like soap, coffee, and cigarettes. I never minded it. She has since quit smoking, but I can still remember that aroma.

Wow, some of this stuff is downright abusive and to the PPs who posted those experiences, I'm so sorry. You were a child, as were your siblings, and should have been protected by your parents.

Other posts crack me up! I can almost smell the cigs, taste the Tab and feel the baby oil! Yes, the 70s and 80s had their dysfunction but I miss the good parts of that free-range time.

I remember my mom slapping me across the face, repeatedly, because I was talking about going to college and said something about dad helping to pay for it (they were divorced). Apparently, it wasn't in the divorce agreement that he would pay and she took it out on me. Wanted to teach me a lesson or something.

End story: I went to college. Dad paid for about half and had saved for it and was actively involved in my college selection process. Mom still sucks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents gave no shits about whether or not I was bored.

I'd sit for hours in my grandparents living room while the grownups visited almost every weekend. Even if I wanted to go play, there were only 2-3 leftover toys from my parents' childhood there to play with and certainly no television or video games.

Wow. This is so crazy and abusive. <sarcasm >

Yeah, I don't know what that PP is complaining about. Sounds great to me! One of the best things we can do for our kids is allow them to be bored and not rely on us for entertainment.

for am hour, sure, but for hours at a time on a regular basis? Come on. Not even an adult would put up with that and get this kid was supposed to? That's just selfish and mean. They should have least brought some books and crayons and paper, or something small to play with like cars, cards or Polly pockets. Something. Or a bike or ball to use outside. Sorry pp, I'm with the original pp on this one. Maybe I'm jaded because I had to spend three hours at church every week and then for a few months had to go to a hospital and either sit quietly in the waiting room or in the car because my adult step sister was in a coma after a car accident. So so so boring am unreasonable to expect a kid to sit patiently and quietly for that long.

My brother begged my mom to let him ride in the trunk of the car. So she let him. Of course, then I wanted to try it too. Actually pretty terrifying. It was only down the street to the store, but I always think about what would have happened if someone saw us or we had an accident or whatever.

Anonymous wrote:My dad would bring a six pack or a thermos of martinis for any drive over an hour. And give my younger sister martini soaked olives to eat (she became an alcoholic). He would also let a bunch of us sit on top of the station wagon while he drove around town. I can remember hanging off the roof rack over the back by our knees

OMG

Anonymous wrote:My mom was a little OCD about cleaning, but other than that, there really was no crazy shit. She was very laid back about everything else and had absolutely no interest in whether I was doing homework and just sort of left us to fend for ourselves in school. Actually, although we were close, she didn't do that much actual parenting at all, and I didn't really need much. It worked out great for me, so now I feel like an asshole when I have to get a little bit helicoptery about my own kids (I was a better student and more self-motivated than either of them are). DH was raised in a similar style and it might have made us both ill-equipped to be parents in the 21st century.

This is the same for my DH and me. Our parents were sooooo hands-off. We're parenting our kids very similarly and it concerns me sometimes...not enough to change, though! Haha!