Were You Raised In A Two Parent or Single Parent Home???

i had three parents, really.

When i was 6, we moved in permanently with my grandma, and my parents took over the mortgage. I really hated that arrangement, because even though my parents paid for everything, it was still "grandma's house" so she made all the rules, never let me have friends over, etc. and worst of all, though i was an only child, i felt like i had a bitchy teenage sister, lol, because grandma was unstable and always picking fights with me. My parents felt fortunate, because she could watch me after school. Really, i think i babysat her.

When i was pregnant with my son, grandma moved out (i think i said one thing wrong over dinner one night, and she made a huge deal of it and demanded my parents get an apartment for her, because she'd had enough of me--she moved out that night, and for the first time, my parents understood she was delusional, and i hadn't been the horrible little brat she made me out to be all those years). Life alone with my parents for the next couple of years was wonderful, and though it sounds mean, i was glad grandma was finally out of the house, and sad that it wasn't always like this. I'd never been so close to my parents, and so seldom yelled at!

Two parents, in most cases, is best, but i imagine one parent is better than three! haha.

 

not really either one... my parents divorced when i was young and i alternated between my paternal grandparents my mom and my dad... my mom is a whore and had a new husband or live in boy friend every two years or so... i duuno i left home when i was 14 so i guess in alot of ways i raised my self.. i would nt change a thing though i am glad i had a rough childhood casue it made me a stronger person

 

I was raised in a two parent home. It was just over the holidays that my parents divorced. It's been hard. I wonder if it would have been easier if I was a child. I now question my own relationship and everything in it, because I don't want to end up like them.

 

I'm sorry. *hugs* It was alot easier for me that my parents got divorced when I was really young (I'm sure it was hard at the time) but now all I can think about is how my life would be so different if they had stayed together. I can't even imagine my parents being together, the thought is weird for me. You're already at a point where your grown up and although it's probably not any easier just be thankful that it didn't happen smack in the middle of adolescence. Just realize that people change and move on and don't let it hurt your relationships. Some may not work out, some will. My husband and I both come from divorced families and we're probably more committed to making it work. We realize that we're going to have problems so we talk about them so we can work through them. Be strong, learn life's lessons, and don't fear things that haven't happened yet.

 

two parents. i have 5 other siblings, so there never really was/is any special attention really.

 

i've lived in both. My parents divorced and both were single for awhile but then my dad got remarried and he raised me.

 

How about a 3 parent family? I was raised by my mother, who is a bit unstable so my grandma and great-grandma stayed with us and did alot of the actual "raising" of me. Really my mom and I are alot like sisters. My hubby always jokes that he has to be around to keep us from biting each others head off, lol. My g-gma died when I was 14 and it was incredibly hard on me. Now that my grandmother is getting older and frailer I don't know what I'll do without her, she is the only one in both mine or my hubbys family who doesn't constantly complain to us about how we live. She has always supported my desicions, and isn't even against homeschooling.

 

Two parent...until I was about 10 or 11, I guess...then my mom moved out. Course, my parents fought a lot before that. So I guess it was for the better. Although...sometimes I wonder how things would have turned out differently if they would have stayed together. I have a good relationship with both my parents, I'd say...I mean, sometimes we don't see eye to eye on a lot of stuff, but such is life...when I was younger, I'd stay with my mom and dad...they had like 50/50 custody or something every other week...but then I just started staying w/ my dad, since my mom was busy running her business. Now she's sold the business, and is married...sometimes, I'm not too impressed with her husband, but she seems happy. My dad has been dating this really cool girl for a year now...a year this week, I guess. I'm happy for them. I wouldn't change a thing, the experience really hurt me at first, but now I see parts of it have made me the strong, independent person I am today.

 

i lived with my mom till i was about 8 when she got remarried...
i would go to my dads house every other weekend on-and-off for years...

i only just realised that my (ex) stepmom was a fkkn druggie..
and my stepsisters would like..put on porn in the room all the time when i was young...
and thanks to them i took my first (and last..thank bob) puff of a ciggarette when i was 7..



what a lovely childhood, huh?

 

two parent home...my mother has become a little bit crazy over the years becuase my father has had serious mental issues...he is one of those fathers that wont let go...he found out my sis had a boyf when she was 18 and he didnt speak to her for 6 years (only to call her a whore etc)...hes gotton a little better...now he even talks to her boyfs...but i think hes just supressing his real feelings


i wish my dad wasnt around...but my older brother and sister have always taken care of me so im thankful for that

 

two parent home. 3 siblings. Until I was 16, and my youngest brother 6. So for him it's basically a single parent and asshole stepfather.....


but I still feel that we are family. At first I blamed everything on my dad, even though my mom cheated on him. But now, I really get a lot closer to my dad, because my mom only talks what she hears from her new husband, and he's evil.

I am so glad I never had to live with him ! Poor David. he is the one who suffers the most, and he can't live with my dad since he has severe learning disorders and my dad lives in yemen, and the international school there is to small to really have programms for severe cases.

 

I was raised...well, it's a very difficult situation...

I started off my life with only my mother. My biological father jetted the night I was conceived (I was the result of a one-night stand). When I was 9 months old, I walked up to a man in the grocery store and started calling him daddy. I'd never done this before and I didn't do it afterwards, so says my mom. But he and my mother started talking, and he eventually did become my dad (what a bastard).

When I was three, the bastard adopted me. And then started abusing both my mother and I. He never abused my little brothers. They were his own flesh and blood. When I was 8 years old, mom finally wisened up and we left for the first time. At this point in time, my biological father started coming around (they had been friends before the sex...Then he jetted to St. Louis.). He and mom decided it was a good idea for me to spend the summer with him. Well, he and his wife saw me as "an abused child" with all the classic signs. So they decided to keep me.

Well, after a very long battle between sets of parents, I was given back to my mother (thank the fucking lord above!). But by this time, she'd moved back in with the bastard. And as soon as she had gotten me back, she collapsed into this alcoholic spazzed out mess. The summer that I was 9, she checked herself into a mental institution. This left me with my adoptive dad, who continued to abuse me...only now he added sexual abuse on top of it. Thanks dad. Way to be. Add sex-abuse related body hang-ups and issues on top of all the ones I was already facing as a 180 pound 9 year old. Fuckhead.

So then, after I'd turned 10, mom came back to live with us. I think she knew something was wrong, as much as I tried to pretend nothing was wrong. So, finally, mom confronts the bastard about either giving her us kids and allowing her to leave him with physical custody or giving us the house to live in and kicking him out, he chooses not to give up his precious house and we leave.

So, from the time I was 11, it was just my mother and my brothers and I....But I've had the absolute worst of both worlds. And the best of both as well...Because when I was 13, my mom met the most wonderful man. And he fell in love with us, and we fell in love with him. And he stuck around for all the goings on in our lives. And when my mom decided to marry him, I was ecstatic. My step-dad has been the best dad I could have ever had...

Sorry so long...but I think I needed to say all of that :&

 

two parents... i am the most stable out of the 3 of us. my two younger sisters are nutcases. we all had the same opportunities but they decided to do otherwise.

 

oh HippyFreek, you're such a strong gal to have lived through all that crap. And you're super cute, whatever weight may be



I've lived with both single and two parents. When I was 3 or 4, my mom and biological dad divorced... he moved back to PA and after numerous court battles they settled on joint custody (though they're still technically married, because he'd always try and get full custody of me when my mom went for a real divorce).

About four years later (I was in grade 2), she moved in with my stepdad. But I do remember a fair bit of those years with a single mom, and it was great! She was a lot of fun (as I recall) and bloody strong to have done that without much of a family structure behind her to help out (almost all of her relatives said she should give me up for adoption because she would be a terrible mother. Yes, they told her to her face she would be a terrible mother)

My stepdad is awesome.... complete opposite of my dad. He was always a parent figure but let my mom do most of the parenting still, so he didn't try and take it over. Him and my mom are in the midst of a divorce... she moved out of their place last summer, and they'll be finishing up the divorce in court in a few months. I still keep in contact with him and my real dad too, because they're both great guys if completely different.

 

thanks Im and Blackie

Yeah, you would think that the guys you meet in a grocery store would be good daddies...but of course I have the worst luck of any girl, apparently

And I'm CUTE! Thanks! You two have made my day!

 

oh boy...this may take a couple minutes...

well, it started off as a 2 parent house hold. But it sucked. My mom and dada met in high school, and got married when my mom was 20 and my dad was 22. Then my mom had me when she was 22 and my sis when she was 25. About 3 years after they got married, my mom said that they started to fight really really bad. I knew something was wrong when I was little...I'd be laying in bed, and since I always had to sleep with the door open, I would hear everything that they yelled at eachother. Then I'd get outta bed and stand in my door way and watch the shadows of the chairs flying and hear the dishes hitting the walls. One time, I ran out to stop them, and my mom said that he threw a plate about an inch above my head. I was about 4-5 at the time. I remember another night when my dad came home, and he was drunk and mad as hell for no reason. He went downstairs and punched in all the walls, which he'd just finished fixing up the week before. There were tons of other things that he did, but that's just a small example. His favorite thing to do is to take my ear and slam my head up against a wall. He STILL does that to this day. But more on that in a minute.
Anyway, this went on for a few more years, but I just grew used to it. Then, when I was 10 and my sis was 7, we found out that my dad had a brain leision that was causing him to have sever seizures. He went in for surgery, and shortly afterwards, my mom and dad's fights got worse. Within 3 months of his surgery, he left to go live with his parents. He tried to come back occasionally, but by then, my mom decided that it was over and we deserved better. Thank GOD! I was so happy!Every time that someone found out that my parents were getting a divorce, and said that they were sorry, I just didn't understand what they meant. Everyone was so happy that things were finally quiet. Except my dad. He still is bitter to this day.
But quitet didn't last for long.
Then I was entering the "rebellious stage." I made everyone''s lives a living hell. I even tried to get myself taken outta my mom's house and put into a group home or something cuz I hated it so much. The whole time, I was the one being the pain in the ass, but I was trying to make my mom seem like she was. I just thought that i was the vicitim in everything. On top of that, I was really really depressed and had shit-disturbers for friends. needless to say, I was overly suicidal and started to cut myself, which lasted for years.
On top of that, I did NOT want to go and see my dad. He and my mom had joint custody and I had to go and see him every 2nd weekend. I hated those weekends, and I still wish that I hadn't had to go. My dad's temper was ridiculous!!! For example, I didn't want him to bother showing me a new program that he'd installed on the computer. I was busy at the moment. He flipped!!! He grabbed my ear (of course) and threw my on the bed and lifted my legs like when I was little and started to "spank" me with his belt. His second all time favorite thing to do. By this time I was 12, and I was pissed, but since I was being such a nut-case with my mom, everyone assumed that I was exaggerating.
well, a few more years passed, things sometimes got worse and then better, but by the time I was in high school, things between me and my mom had improved a lot. We still fought, but by then, it had calmed down. She had a few boyfriends, they all lasted a year or two, and there was only one that we really didn't like. But other than that, things seemed fine. By then, 6 years had gone by where it was just me and my mom and my sis, and we seemed great.
Then she met Gary. At first, we all loved him. He was teaching me how to drive, was going to sell me his truck and my mom seemed happy...everything was even better. In about 4 months, he proposed, and I was the one who was the most excited! lol! Shortly after, he moved in, and then all hell broke loose. I don't know if it was just because I had no strong men in the house for many years, and my dad only saw us cuz he had to, but I didn't like having someone else there telling me what to do. Of course, everyone just assumed that I was being my old self again. Selfish and obnixious. But we really seemed to have it in for eachother. In a year, i was kicked outta my house 3 times. By the time the 3rd one ended, mom and Gary had bought a house. That gave him more lee way in our fights. I'm not going to go into detail, but they were pretty heated. It would come to the point where I wouldn't even yell back, and he would start chasing me down the hall, screaming, "come back here you little ****!" Soon enough, I had a car, and in about 3 months, I had met my current bf of 1 1/2 years on the net. After 2 weeks of talking to him, I was outta my house and living with him 2 hours away. I knew that it wouldn't end, so that was the best thing that I coulda done. My mom always said that me and my sis would be outta the house soon, and that she wanted to have someone after we were gone. Ok, fine, then I left. Only now, everything that was going on with me, is going on with my sister. The problem is, that he's so stubborn, he just won't budge in his way of thinking. He has his daughter programmed to think whatever he tells her to, but my mom raised us to think for ourselves. But that kinda clashed in a house where we weren't allowed to have opinions.
Anyway, all is better for me now. My family just thinks that I made the biggest, most selfish maistake of my life by moving out...but what do they know. They said the same things when i lived there...blah. There's just no way to please them. But that's a whole other story.
As for my dad....oh boy. Once i got my car, my visits went down to nill. And he couldn't care a less. However, the computer that I was using when I met my bf was his, cuz my mom didn't have one. And when he found that out.....well, lets just say that in the last year and a half, we've talked a whole 4-5 times...and they've all been my doing. I've seen him 2 times, but very shortly. And now that I;m expecting a baby, he has nothing to say to me. I think that it's pretty pathetic for him to think that he even has the right to try and make me feel bad and tell me that I ruined my life, when he always told us that he only saw us cuz he had to and that if he could re-live his life, he would have never met my mom. ouch.
so yeah, that's the story up to this point. Sucks, huh? I must say though, now that I've moved out, Gary and I get along waaaay better.
Sorry this is so long. Just wanted to share my story.

 

two parent, only child. Moms second marriage, dads first. they got hitched at 38 yrs old and had me. I'd say that being a kid, watching a loveless, unaffectionate, sometimes hateful and bitter marriage, will SCREW YOU UP! also, not having a brother or sister around to talk to allowed my negative thinking/craziness to spiral out of control.

So if you plan on having a shitty marriage, at least have two kids, so the teams can be even.

that said, my parents may hate each other, but they both love me. Never got hit, or verbally abused, so i cant fault them too much.

 

posted by blackie:
" two parent, and it was the worst thing they could've done to me-they hated each other, and used me and my brother as pawns-doing their best to ruin both our lives...divorce would've been so much nicer...NEVER stay together 'for the sake of the children'."


yeah, absolutely. my parents stayed together (mostly) for the sake of the children. they fought ANY time they were home together, and sometimes the fights were scary and viscious. when i was sixteen, they did split up for about a year. my dad lived with a woman, i found out from my older sister that she'd been his girlfriend for many years. my mother got a boyfriend too, he was a holy roller. he also had a bitchy daughter who was a few years older than me who would tell on me if i came in late, or stoned (mom would leave her home to babysit my little sister and rat on me). so i told my mother that if she married him and made that girl my sister i was outta there.
my mom died less than a year later, and my dad married his girlfriend three months after that. they're still together.
as a consequence of this is that when the time came that my own marriage was in jeopardy, i just walked away and didn't fight for it, because i had that shining example of what happens when you force things...

 

Two-parents, two children (one litte sister) until I was 11 (sister was 6), then my Dad moved out. It was better that way I guess.