General Chat

In my experience none at all. I never knew what was going to happen next with her. As I got older I spent more and more of my time around my Aunt's house as she only lived just around the corner. I was fine if my Dad was home because she was all sweetness and light when he was around but as soon as he went to work she changed instantly.

Mine certainly slowed down a bit when my dad came home but e had his ways as well and, of course, he only had her side of the story to go by..

I always tried to treat my 2 children equally in all ways, but did wonder if they appreciated that. When they were adults I once asked them if they ever felt I had a favourite and they both said yes - their sibling! So maybe I did get it right one way or another.

:-D :-D :-D Sue!

Have to admit, I was too 'laid back' (some would say lazy) to bother with narcissism - it must take quite a bit of effort!
One example - catch year old daughter eating Gladioli - definitely not good for her.
Do I want to encase her in a pen? No
Do I want to watch her every move? No
So, I redirect towards the 'edible' marigolds and Nasturtiums :-D

When eldest (about 3) decided to strip off, dig a hole, fill it with water and make mud, which she then covered herself and baby sister in (this became a regular occurrence - we lived in the middle of nowhere), I just got out their paddling pool, put warm water and bubble bath in it, towels in their Wendy house,and left them to their own devices.

Husbands granny was a health visitor in a tough community but most of the children were cared for. Even though it was tough most of the family members would live there too so if a parent was struggling for food one night there was always someone granny, aunt, cousin etc with an open door. Nor could a child get away with anything as invariably someone would see and relay it to a family member. The only real problem families they ever had were the families that moved into the area and didn’t have a support network. One such family moved into the area with their three children and it became clear early on that the middle child was being treated differently to the other two. They were never spoken to nicely, they didn’t get the same dinner as the other family members and their clothes never appeared ironed or to fit when the other two kids did. It resulted in the parents losing custody of all three children initially when the health visitor reported her suspicions. They eventually got custody of two of the children again but they never got the middle child back.

There was a lot of family in the village when i was a child and being abused, as was the son and his twin sister of my cousin. The family all knew what was happening to him but I think the idea was that there could be nothing wrong with me because I went to grammar school, so that was alright then.

The family and many who lived in the village at the same time, still talk about how cruel my cousin was to her son but they all still speak to her civilly. I don't!