As I was growing up in this world, I was actually considered to be a pretty nice child. I did as I was told, respected my parents, and tried to be a “good kid” as my mother put it. I did my chores, never sassed back, and worked hard at school. I will admit, math wasn’t my thing, but after some years of struggle I have at least come to appreciate the usefulness of quantitative skills and I have worked hard to develop mine (after all, they are very necessary in my chosen field of science).
Oh, and did I mention that at the age of 36, I was officially “disowned” by my mother and, thanks to her, the rest of my family?
As I read more and more about toxic parents, I have come to realize that they exist, and they can really fudge up your life. My mom is a classic example of a narcissist, and a toxic parent. As I have learned by research, I was the classic “golden child” as I was growing up. I would never dare cross my mom, and if she wasn’t happy I always had to work hard to fix that. I would try to make her laugh, and try to fix whatever problems she was having. During this part of my life, I was well received by her and my family.
The trouble came when I met my husband-this is when I turned into the rebellious child. Please realize, my husband is a WONDERFUL man, and truly my soul mate. He puts up with my crap (which there is a lot of). This can include 4 rescue…