• KingPorkChop@lemmy.ca
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    4 hours ago

    That’s my monster boomer mother. Also include “while you live under MY roof… blah-blah”. I spent my early childhood not feeling like I had a home. I was just visiting her house. Nothing was mine. She of course forgets my father paid for that house and she got it for free in the divorce.

    She’d also say to me “the world doesn’t owe you a living.” She only had a high school degree and a year as a “kelly girl”. That turned into a secretary job at a community college, which later turned into a better secretary job at a huge aerospace company. After a few years that paid more than enough to live and she got stocks and a pension out of the deal. Her aunt died and left her a fortune (none for me). She’s one of those boomers that did the bare minimum in life, sits on a pile of free cash, free house, retired early, and complains about people on welfare or “damn government handouts”. Meanwhile she has never contributed anything of value to society, never volunteers, never donates to charity. She’s a fucking leach.

    Oh yeah. When parents got divorced, she got primary custody of me. She was so insane, I ended up moving to my fathers house when I was 10. My father continued to pay her child support to stop her from filing a complaint with the court about me living with him (He was chill and figured it was the easy way to deal with her). So add that to the list of free money to her.

    Anyway, now she’s old, fat, stupid, with no friends and will die alone. I actually expect her to die in the house alone and they’ll find her weeks later after her cat has chewed out chunks of her. LOL. Good kitty.

    • wowwoweowza@lemmy.world
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      48 minutes ago

      That’s cheery.

      Let’s hope you raise your own children the way you wish you had been raised.

      • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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        10 minutes ago

        That’s what I’m doing. The pain of my childhood will not be passed on as more generational trauma.

        I had a similar childhood, and had minimal contact in the last 10-15 years of her life. My mom ended up homeless and would have died on the street if her brother wasn’t willing to take her in. It was my fault she ended up homeless, because I moved out and stopped being the parent in the relationship.

        I never want my child to feel about me the way my mother made me feel about her, and I’m doing the hard work to make myself a better person and parent than what I was taught to be.

      • TheparishofChigwell@sh.itjust.works
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        38 minutes ago

        Sometimes I think I’m not so smart

        But then there’s people thinking people like kingporkchop can have children even if they want to

        And I feel less stupid

  • Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca
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    7 hours ago

    My parents gave as much as they could. I never thought it was enough when I was a kid. Now that I’m in my forties, I know just how much that was.

    I come from work tired as fuck and I know my old man was the same way, but he still found time to take me to the playground and then taught me math and English every night. My mom did the exact same but there was always a lunch and a dinner cooked for my ungrateful ass.

    Through it all, they always loved me and said they were proud of me.

  • Dyskolos@lemmy.zip
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    8 hours ago

    Cut toxic people out of your life. No matter who it is. Period.

    Simple best rule for a happier life.

      • musubibreakfast@lemmy.world
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        6 hours ago

        Go into the world, learn a trade and make a man out of yourself. There’s no rule that says a steel worker, a deep sea welder or an HVAC repairman can’t be six. /s

          • musubibreakfast@lemmy.world
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            50 minutes ago

            Hell, get a gym membership, work on your body and get on the dating apps. Be serious and straightforward with the women you meet. Show them the kindness and empathy your toxic parents didn’t show you. Maybe you’ll meet the right woman and together you can build a future. There’s no rule that says a six year old can’t start a family

      • Dyskolos@lemmy.zip
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        7 hours ago

        Then you also haven’t read this and just have to survive it. I know that kids see those things as “normal”, even the worst kinds of abuse. As they usually lack diversified knowledge of alternatives or came to conclusion how they want to be treated.

        For those my advice is worth less than nothing. It was more aimed at people who can read and COULD do that. I know many can’t or don’t dare to. Or not without help.

        It’s part of what I voluntarily work in. A shelter-kind of people damaged or broken by other disgusting examples of this species. It’s the best one could do. Cut ties, start new. Or just cut ties.

        Even if its parents. Or especially if they are the toxic ones. If you’re 6, others should take you out of there.

  • Taleya@aussie.zone
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    9 hours ago

    I once told my mother i didn’t owe her shit for getting drunk and horny on NYE (i’m an early sept baby)

    …hilarity did not ensue

    • bitjunkie@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      Likely Valentine’s Day conception here, and this rang a bell but for a different reason… When I was in my early 20s I was convinced all I needed to do to make it in the world was focusing on my music, which obviously involved copious drinking. At one point my mom lamented that I was going to turn out like my estranged biological father, because that was pretty much his MO. My response: “I mean… That’s what you get for fuckin’ an Irish guy?” Hopefully someone gets a laugh out of it, because she sure didn’t.

      • Taleya@aussie.zone
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        2 hours ago

        Gotta love it when one parent slags off the other. I mean like… they fucked them.

  • Thebeardedsinglemalt@lemmy.world
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    12 hours ago

    You can’t play football, it’s too dangerous!

    You can’t take a martial arts class, it’s dangerous and too expensive!

    You can’t get a drum kit, it’s too loud and too expensive!

    You can’t have guitar lessons, it’s too expensive and too loud!

    Never leave this neighborhood it’s too dangerous!

    15 years later

    Why do you sit inside all day!?! Get a hobby!

    • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      Boomers and Gen X were heavily conditioned by the wave of crimes and news of serial killers. So it’s understandable why they have been overprotective.

      • lemonbun@lemmy.world
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        48 minutes ago

        seriously my mom would tell us about all the rapes happening on the daily. wasn’t till I could comprehend basic statistics did I realize how many screws she had loose.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      You can’t play football, it’s too dangerous!

      Okay, but totally unironically, though. Full contact sports are terrible for kids.

      Why do you sit inside all day!?! Get a hobby!

      I might suggest that the biggest reason I sit inside all day is that it’s fucking 95° with 60% humidity. But also, screens are hypnotizing, especially for little kids. My son would absolutely lock in on Ms Racheal or Bluey for hours a day if I let him. But he also loves to kick his soccer ball and dunk his basketball in his little stand when the TV isn’t on. And I’m fine with that, because he’s not plowing face first into a kid twice his size. Or trying to back kick one of his friends across the room.

      Also, I’ve never needed to buy my son a drum kit because everything is a drum kit to that kid. We can talk about a kit when he gets to middle school and shows he’s got the desire to practice, maintain the equipment, and not break anything when he loses his temper.

      • PhoenixDog@lemmy.world
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        7 hours ago

        Oh no! My child might get hurt playing a game! Little Jhonnythan is far too valuable to be put in harms way no matter how much he’ll develop emotionally and intelligently by playing <Insert Sport Here>. I’m an amazing parent!

          • PhoenixDog@lemmy.world
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            1 hour ago

            How is that more specifically bad vs any other sport with contact built into it, like baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, lacrosse, rugby… Even more individual sports have incidents like curling and tennis.

            Maybe your soft child might be good at golf? But they could strain leg muscles, pull a hip, should injuries are common among golfers…

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          5 hours ago

          My child might get hurt playing a game!

          It’s not a game when the goal is to injure the other players. It’s functionally a combat sport.

          • PhoenixDog@lemmy.world
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            1 hour ago

            I’ve played sports my whole life. Never has there ever been a sport where the goal is to “injure the other player”.

            Your ignorance is showing. I’ve accidentally hurt others, and others have unintentionally hurt me. Shit happens. I’ve torn a muscle in my shoulder from a bad hit in hockey. I’ve also severely sprained my ankle walking to my driveway. If you want to bubble wrap your kids and protect them from all the harm in the world, enjoy raising a completely incompetent leech on society that is dependant on you their whole life.

            • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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              41 minutes ago

              Never has there ever been a sport where the goal is to “injure the other player”.

              Not sure if genuinely ignorant or just contrarian maxxing

              • PhoenixDog@lemmy.world
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                25 minutes ago

                I could ask the same thing.

                Which team sport is designed around intentionally injuring the other players?

  • bridgeburner@lemmy.world
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    10 hours ago

    It’s not like I asked to be born, jeez. That’s like deciding to get a dog and then be surprised that it actually takes work to care of it.

  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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    8 hours ago

    As a kid: “Why is my mom so stressed and frustrated so often? Why can’t she just be carefree and fun, like me? Why won’t she just let me do whatever I want all the time?”

    As an adult, with kids: “Oh, wait. Some of this stuff was pretty reasonable and being a good parent is hard work.”

    • Taleya@aussie.zone
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      1 hour ago

      Cool story. Quick question: you ever honestly and angrily called your kid a little cunt to their face? Ever hit them so hard with something that the item in question broke? Or my personal favourite anecdote, woken your kid up by hurling a kilogram of solid frozen lamb chops at their head screaming about freezer burn?

      Don’t excuse shitty parents who take their unhappiness out on helpless children.

      Ever.

        • Taleya@aussie.zone
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          31 minutes ago

          You tried to equate parental frustration and childish obliviousness with familial abuse. As you should be aware, my comments were to highlight the difference between “gee, mums get frustrated sometimes” and what the actual topic of this thread is.

          And you don’t have to beat a kid to be a shitty parent, jsyk.

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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            30 minutes ago

            You tried to equate parental frustration and childish obliviousness with familial abuse.

            Nope. That was all you

            And you don’t have to beat a kid to be a shitty parent, jsyk.

            This thread is so flush with anti-natalists, I don’t think it’s part of the equation.

            • Taleya@aussie.zone
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              27 minutes ago

              So why make a comment about “gee i never got why mum was stressed as a kid then i grew up and realised adult things” on a post explicitly about abusive parents?

              You do see what that looks like, right?

    • CrowAirbrush@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      “you owe me for giving birth to you and putting a roof over your head” is pretty far out, if you’re raised like this I can assure you it would suit these parents a lot better to skip having kids.

      You owe it to the kid you decided to have to care for it as best you can, Not the other way around.

      • bitjunkie@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        We always try to frame it as “No we can’t do all the fun stuff all the time because things cost money” instead of “I want to be riding a dirt bike on the Pacific coast, you little shit.”

      • Doc_Crankenstein@slrpnk.net
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        7 hours ago

        Exactly. Our frustrations are ours. Not theirs.

        Like, yea, feeling frustrated and stressed is valid but it is in how we express it to those around us, especially to children, that can negatively affect them.

        Our feelings are valid but it is also our responsibility to cope with things in a healthy way in order to not just pass that stress and frustration along to others around us. If people can’t do that, then they shouldn’t be having children.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        8 hours ago

        “you owe me for giving birth to you and putting a roof over your head” is pretty far out

        Lots of parents throw this out half-joking. “I was in labor for eight hours, the least you can do is spend ten minutes cleaning your room” or some variation of it is a thing my mom would toss off on occasion.

        You owe it to the kid you decided to have to care for it as best you can

        We owe it to one another to be good in turn. The value of family is in building up the cycle of mutual aid. It’s never a one-way street.

        • criss_cross@lemmy.world
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          34 minutes ago

          I guarantee you my parents said all of this in all seriousness. It took decades of therapy to undo the damage of my childhood and I still have issues to work through.

          I’m sure there are some that joke around and that’s fine. I’m not trying to claim your mother was abusive when she said it. But I wouldn’t use that as an excuse to minimize a lot of others pain.

        • Taleya@aussie.zone
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          1 hour ago

          Its a shit joke and you shouldn’t be making it

          Edit: here’s a thing people from functional families do not understand:

          We did not have your experience. We are not whining because of misconceptions. Our childhoods were monstrous. Our family units objectively broken. There is no familial bond, only trauma ones.

          You cannot understand because you have no frame of reference to this level of dysfunction. And so you try and apply your framework instead, and skew the corners to fit.

          Don’t do that.

        • Dyskolos@lemmy.zip
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          6 hours ago

          We owe it to one another to be good in turn. The value of family is in building up the cycle of mutual aid. It’s never a one-way street.

          Why? You (not YOU but a parent) decided to procreate. Everything that follows is yours alone to deal with. I (the kid) never was asked to exist. Why do I owe you anything at all?

            • Dyskolos@lemmy.zip
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              3 hours ago

              Because that’s how society works, mutualism.

              I’m not stupid, but…who asked your offspring if it wants to be part of that? You forced it into existence.

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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            5 hours ago

            Why?

            Because it’s the foundation of a functioning civilization.

            Everything that follows is yours alone to deal with.

            That’s demonstrably not true.

            • Dyskolos@lemmy.zip
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              3 hours ago

              Because it’s the foundation of a functioning civilization.

              Why should one’s offspring care for that? It never ask to be in that civilization?

              That’s demonstrably not true.

              If this makes you feel better? Doesn’t change the fact that procreating is a one-way-decision-street. Yours.

              • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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                2 hours ago

                Why should one’s offspring care for that?

                Because they’re human

                Doesn’t change the fact that procreating is a one-way-decision-street

                Any expectant mother who miscarries can tell you why you’re wrong.

                • Dyskolos@lemmy.zip
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                  18 minutes ago

                  Because they’re human

                  Yes. That gives them the conscious option, not the obligation.

                  Any expectant mother who miscarries can tell you why you’re wrong.

                  I spoke with many so far and wouldn’t know what that would have to do with anything? Despite the tragedy of misscariage, it was still a one-way-decision to procreate. The result of it doesn’t touch the point. The resulting kid had no choice to exist or not to exist. It was first thrown into existence and then out of it again. It didn’t ask for either.

                  I don’t say kids shouldn’t be thankful or be in owing. They’re just no obliged to do so. You can’t set a kid in this world, expecting it to pay you back somehow. It might, it probably will. It might also hate you for it. But it doesn’t HAVE to do any of it.

          • forbiddencherry@lemmy.today
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            5 hours ago

            We’re all born into our various countries each of which places demands on us. And often that’s under threat of imprisonment or even death and with little of value in return. Yet people are patriotic and support that system. Even if some of us might say it is better that countries couldn’t do that, the fact that it’s widely supported means that there’s some basis for it that humanity recognizes.

            Then compare that to a parent who selflessly loves and gives and gives. It’s very reasonable to say that parents are owed something.

            • Dyskolos@lemmy.zip
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              3 hours ago

              Then compare that to a parent who selflessly loves and gives and gives. It’s very reasonable to say that parents are owed something.

              That’s the thing. They’re not. You surely CAN be grateful and thankful and whatnot. Of course. But you don’t owe it to them. Were you asked if you want to exist? Were you asked if you want to be part of this society? The rest you said isn’t wrong. I just fail to see the direct correlation between “i force you into this world without asking consent” and “because of that you owe me something”. If I take you hostage and treat you super-well and lovely, do you owe me something? Just because a baby can’t consent before being born, doesn’t automatically mean it has to be thankful for it. Doesn’t mean you mustn’t or couldn’t or even shouldn’t. But you don’t HAVE TO.

        • OozingPositron@feddit.cl
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          7 hours ago

          >I throw someone who doesn’t know how to swim into a pool.
          >I save this person’s life, getting him safely out of the pool.
          >This person must now risk his life and save me in return.

        • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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          8 hours ago

          I have known so many parents who believe that seriously, and want their kids to understand the sacrifice they are making for those brats.

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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            5 hours ago

            There’s a big gulf between conveying the challenges of being a parent to your kid and just nagging them over bullshit.

            Part of transitioning to adulthood is recognizing the struggles your parents experience, both in raising you and in taking care of themselves independent of their own parents. Then you strive for independence - at least in part - because you recognize you can’t lean on your parents forever. And, finally, you might even decide to take care of children, because you want to pay the debt of childcare forward into the next generation.

        • Doc_Crankenstein@slrpnk.net
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          7 hours ago

          Joking or not the sentiment is still damaging to a child’s mental state. You don’t get to pick what sentiments a child will internalize. The rhetoric is conditioning them to feel like love and respect are transactional things. It’s teaching them that guilt tripping people to coerce their behavior is okay by treating it as casual. It’s toxic. “It’s just a joke” is a bullshit excuse. Always has been.

          The mutual aid argument doesn’t work when one party is dependent upon the other for their upbringing and care. Mutual aid requires both parties to be functionally independent and a child does not have that level of autonomy being dependent upon the parent to raise them so they can become independent. A child is not responsible for the well being of the parent. It is the responsibility of the parents to put their problems aside for the well being of their children.

        • PhoenixDog@lemmy.world
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          7 hours ago

          I pray to whatever god wants to listen that you don’t have kids. You are a legitimately awful parent.

    • Smaile@lemmy.ca
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      8 hours ago

      Smart strawkid: ok, why are you taking your frustrations out on me then and wondering why i avoid you later in life.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        5 hours ago

        why are you taking your frustrations out on me

        Turnabout is fair play. Strawkids has been straw-taking their straw-stration out on me their entire life.

        • Taleya@aussie.zone
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          1 hour ago

          You do realise you’re a grown arse adult and they’re not, right?

          You’re the one who’s supposed to be teaching them emotional regulation

    • PhoenixDog@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      If you conflate “I gave birth to you and fed you, you owe me” with “parenting is hard work”, please drop your kids off at the nearest shelter as you are unfit to be a parent.

  • GraniteM@lemmy.world
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    9 hours ago

    Both of my grandfathers were horrible, and then largely absent. When each of them died, I managed a shrug and a mild bit of interest in learning more about them from their obituaries than they had ever shared with me over my entire life. My parents both show signs of generational trauma. They did their best with me, and I give them each passing grades, somewhat elevated by the fact that they got divorced when I don’t remember, rather than sticking it out in a malfunctional marriage and no doubt allowing me to get caught in the crossfire. Even for all of that, I recognize in myself some of the echoes of what was done to them. I’ve done therapy and I’ve resolved to make sure my kid knows that, even if we sometimes argue or have to tell her things she doesn’t want to hear, that no matter what we’ll always love and cherish her.

    Try to live your life in such a way that, when you die, the people you leave behind can manage more of an emotional reaction than a shrug and moving on with their day.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      “Children in Africa are dying” is largely the product of the scam charities that would try to profit off endless advertisement reels of impoverishment abroad. Once Americans got so jaded, racist, and broke that sad African children wasn’t a cash cow anymore, we moved on to bombarding you with ads for dick pills, inflatable mattresses, and sports gambling.

      • PhoenixDog@lemmy.world
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        7 hours ago

        “Children are starving in Africa, you should be grateful”

        I’m cool with helping feed them. You wanna run this bowl of Mac and Cheese to Africa, or am I getting my bike?