When did you begin...

[Shades of grey]

I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in a bad part of town, So for me it was fairly early. I saw all the other kids with new bikes, nicer toys thier parents doing things with thier kids while mine were passed out drunk on the couch or worse.

I knew I did'nt want that kind of life so I began setting goals for myself. I finished high school, Then went into ROTC and earned a degree in electrical engineering and I do'nt "want" for anything EVER. My life is far from perfect but I am the only one I answer to.

 

[April]

I'm not an adult, and I refuse to be one. I'm reclaiming my childhood, since I didn't really have one. No where near as bad as most in this thread, but bad enough.

Come on, reclaim your own childhood! Stick out your tongue and refuse to grow up!

 

[MissTaken]

Here! Here!




I won't bore anyone with the details, but mine was also a tale of lost youth.



Come on! Give it back! lol

 

[alexandraaah]

tomorrow.

 

[LukkyKnight]

[I'm not sure if I felt like an adult - but I had to grow up at a very young age because of some pretty bad problems at home. When my older sister couldn't take it anymore, she was able to leave. That left me to make sure my two younger siblings wouldn't be harmed in any way. That was when I was around 12 years old.

What angers me, though, is that I didn't have lots of time to be a child - I never invited friends to my house because I wasn't sure how the adults would be acting that particular day.

But, I don't know if that made me an adult or not?

It represents the theft of your childhood. Whatever the dictionary says, the effect was to plunge you into adulthood, ready or not.

You get kudos for the reason you took it on yourself, and for surviving. It is time now, Enchanted, to find you way to wholeness. Childhood provides balance in our later years, and should not be overlooked. You need to play to learn certain things, that is the function of play. People survive many forms of bad parenting, obviously, but I submit you (and others in this situation) should go out of your way to set aside time when you believe it is OK to simply play - OK to not be responsible for somebody else - if there is ANY way at all you can put it into your life.