Anonymous wrote: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.

This is so much more interesting than the private school thread. In fact, I didn't think there were this many people in w
dC I'd be interested in meeting.

My mom used to carry a ping pong paddle in her purse to beat me with if I did something she didn't like (like if, for example, I answered her "yes" instead of "yes ma'am").
Around the house she'd grab whatever was handy: fly swatter, hairbrush, ruler etc.

Anonymous wrote:Military officer dad, mid-1970s. My parents threw "work" parties once a month at our house. Free flowing booze and mixed drinks served all night. Dad's single brother was hired as bartender and he'd work behind the built in bar all night long. No sitters, just all three of us kids in the downstairs bedroom with a black and white portable tv. Oldest sister was the babysitter who'd escort us to the bathroom and fetch us sodas from our uncle.

I never could go to sleep. House too smoky and loud and parties would run into the early morning hours. Coffee would begin brewing around 11 and doled out to "sober up" the drunks who'd soon be driving home. If you refused coffee, you'd be offered "one for the road."

The party was over once the last guest left and mom began dumping out ashtrays.

Oh my gosh. I am sure my parents were at your parties. I remember when my dad's entire squadron was in town. (He was a Navy pilot.) My mom would bring out the crystal, have plated dinners for 15 scotch soaked men. Cigars and cigarettes everywhere. Irish coffee at 2 am so people could drive home. What the hell?

She always hired a sitter, and one time they found me in a corner at age 6 with a black ring around my mouth. I had eaten the entire plate of caviar my mom put out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was an actual latch key kid. Had the key to my house on a shoestring around my neck. From 3rd grade forward I was the only person in my house from after school until one of my parents got home from work after 5:30. Watched a lot of television.

Also, a television was on in my home 24/7. There were three in the house and one was always on. For a number of years as an adult the first thing I would do in the morning was turn on the television. It was just background noise. No limiting of screen time for me.

Latch key was normal in the 1970s. I was a latchkey kid from the age of 8.

Me too from the age of 7. Also babysitter to my sibs, 5 and 3. 3 yr old got dropped off by preschool bus. The 5 yr old and I walked home from school together. I was in charge until parents got home around 7. We watched a lot of tv too and ate Kraft American cheese on white bread sandwiches when we got home from school.

Anonymous wrote:I was an actual latch key kid. Had the key to my house on a shoestring around my neck. From 3rd grade forward I was the only person in my house from after school until one of my parents got home from work after 5:30. Watched a lot of television.

Also, a television was on in my home 24/7. There were three in the house and one was always on. For a number of years as an adult the first thing I would do in the morning was turn on the television. It was just background noise. No limiting of screen time for me.

Latch key was normal in the 1970s. I was a latchkey kid from the age of 8.

I was an actual latch key kid. Had the key to my house on a shoestring around my neck. From 3rd grade forward I was the only person in my house from after school until one of my parents got home from work after 5:30. Watched a lot of television.

Also, a television was on in my home 24/7. There were three in the house and one was always on. For a number of years as an adult the first thing I would do in the morning was turn on the television. It was just background noise. No limiting of screen time for me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, my birth father told my birth mother that my twin sister and I had died during delivery and took us to the adoption agency instead. That's some pretty crazy shit!

In terms of non-abusive stuff, my adoptive parents moved us to a very small country in the Middle East that no one in the 1970s had ever heard of- Kuwait. We lived there for a good portion of our childhood and had a wonderful experience. When I think of how my parents packed up with 3 year olds to move around the world- that's crazy stuff too!

This is disturbing? Did you reconnect with them? How do you know this story?

Sorry, didn't mean to put a question mark at the end of the first sentence.

Anonymous wrote:Well, my birth father told my birth mother that my twin sister and I had died during delivery and took us to the adoption agency instead. That's some pretty crazy shit!

In terms of non-abusive stuff, my adoptive parents moved us to a very small country in the Middle East that no one in the 1970s had ever heard of- Kuwait. We lived there for a good portion of our childhood and had a wonderful experience. When I think of how my parents packed up with 3 year olds to move around the world- that's crazy stuff too!

This is disturbing? Did you reconnect with them? How do you know this story?

Mother would send me to the store to buy her cigarettes. I would help tend bar at their parties form a young age (people thought it was funny to see a 9 year old making mixed drinks). Both parents smoked all the time around me from the day I was born. Based on photos

Never learned too cook. Dinner was canned food every night.

Smoked my entire childhood.

I remember the day care/pre school I used to go to used to scream at kids, spank them, and wash their mouths out with soap if anyone was bad. All of us were between the ages of 3-5. Can't believe my parents sent me there.

My dad drove trucks and he would take us kids out on the highways all day and all night long, for stretches of days at a time. All of our food came from gas stations - hot dogs, twinkles, m&ms, and Yoohoo (which I tried once as an adult and discovered is vile). When we were tired we were sent into the back of the rig and we would try to make a flat surface out of boxes so we could at least lay down on something. I don't even know if we bathed.

Drove drunk a lot, threw screaming, swaying temper tantrums when we resisted getting into the vehicle.

Smoked constantly. Would flick cigarette ash into our soda cans and we wouldn't find out until we took our next sip.

Forgot to pick us up from school a lot.

I could go on...

Military officer dad, mid-1970s. My parents threw "work" parties once a month at our house. Free flowing booze and mixed drinks served all night. Dad's single brother was hired as bartender and he'd work behind the built in bar all night long. No sitters, just all three of us kids in the downstairs bedroom with a black and white portable tv. Oldest sister was the babysitter who'd escort us to the bathroom and fetch us sodas from our uncle.

I never could go to sleep. House too smoky and loud and parties would run into the early morning hours. Coffee would begin brewing around 11 and doled out to "sober up" the drunks who'd soon be driving home. If you refused coffee, you'd be offered "one for the road."

The party was over once the last guest left and mom began dumping out ashtrays.

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Strangely enough, no. I've only had 2 cavities in my life, once when I was five and the other in my 30s while pregnant. Otherwise I have great teeth!

Obviously our eating habits - cookie breakfasts aside - were not great as kids. We ate a ton of frozen, boxed and processed foods that were full of fat, fillers and sodium. Although we rarely had fast food because my Mom said the meat was from cats, dogs and horses. Chicken nuggets were a rare splurge but beef/hamburgers were off-limits. My mom has alway been naturally thin and always stressed counting calories over content as we got older. To this day she thinks it's acceptable to eat all of your daily calories in cake and ice cream, as long as you count them. I am built differently and have always struggled with my weight. She constantly shamed me for this growing up but did nothing to help me eat healthfully. I have major food issues to this day and do everything in my power to provide my family with balanced, healthy options. She thinks I'm crazy for buying certain things organic, having meatless meals or even serving vegetables steamed, without butter or a cream-based sauce. It's especially difficult when we visit them or she babysits my kids- it's all junk food all the time and when I say no she sneaks it to them.