Patricia Grisafi
Some people should not have kids. If you think it’s appropriate to blame your child for your life problems, accuse them of ruining your marriage, call them names, physically abuse them, gaslight them, threaten them with harm or homelessness, or manipulate them, please reconsider procreating.
On Reddit, people who were raised in toxic family situations are sharing their experiences, and it’s incredibly depressing but also empowering.
If you were raised in a toxic situation, you have the power to end the cycle. You’re smarter, more empathetic, and more aware than your parents were, and you can make the world a kinder place.
1.
“‘You wrecked my marriage’ no…he went to jail for sexually abusing me for 7 years. Age 4-11.” — Gypsy-Soul-618
2.
“In my experience, divorced parents that say stuff like: ‘Don’t talk about that to your [other parent]’ ‘Tell your [other parent] this’ ‘Your [other parent] is trying to manipulate you.’ ‘You see what [other parent] did? I’m not saying you should hate them, but isn’t bit fucked up that they did that?’ It really screws with the kid’s head. If you’re ever going through a divorce and have children, please find a way to sort your shit with your former spouse without involving your children more than necessary.” — Loa_Ex_Machina
3.
“You’re worthless.” — grandma4ever3
4.
“‘We’re moving and you’re not welcome.’ This is what my dad said to me while blackout drunk, after he took my sister’s pizza that I made, ate it in front of me, and then threw the pizza at me after I asked him why the f*ck he’s like that and walked away. We were supposed to be moving to a new place the next couple weeks after this fight.” — LiaLovesCookies
5.
“I kicked your mom out and I can kick you out as well.” — Mandrake_m2
6.
“My dad made my mom choose between me or him when I was 15. He was angry I wouldn’t give him my email password so he could change it and block me from having any friends after I changed schools. My mom without hesitation told me to leave. It was winter. I had no coat. I wandered around town then slept under the stairs of the building they lived in. Eventually that night my father gave my mother permission to let me back in. I told them about this trauma when I was 25. They both screamed at me & called me a “f**king liar” while I cried. I’ll never forget the trauma of my mother telling her child to leave and choosing her husband. Over an email password.” — cat_peets
7.
“Does hitting your kid count because that’s how my dad talked to me.” — Quizzledorf
8.
“‘So you’re saying that I’m a bad parent’ in response to any form of help-seeking of constructive criticism was the worst for me.” — Derpchieftain
9.
“Constantly comparing you with your older siblings, and extremely different treatment. It makes you feel inferior to them and like no matter how much you try or do, it will never be enough.” — mo95z
10.
“‘If you’re so depressed why aren’t you cutting? Cut deeper and kill yourself.’ She also forced me to sleep outside regularly. Dad let me in sometimes after midnight. She starts screaming and crying that she knows my dad and I are having an affair or he wouldn’t have let me in. Oh and ugly remarks about my appearance, how no one will ever love me or be friends with me. Which I guess she’s right about that one.” — angelhiyori
11.
“‘I gave up everything I liked for you,’ ’95? Why not 100?,’ ‘Why can’t you be like so and so’s child, they do <one impressive thing>” — Average_jaded_guy
12.
“‘Okay.’ Over and over again for years and years. Any accomplishment any trial passed any challenge won just ‘okay.'” — Evergladeleaf
13.
“‘I wish you’d commit suicide.’ – my dad.” — cracksoldier2
14.
“‘I’m going to throw myself off a building, you all hate me anyway.’ And a hundred variations of that.” — Mister_J_Seinfeld
15.
“I have a list. 1) I wish I aborted you too. 2) I wish I put you up for adoption. 3) List all the bad things about dad and then immediately tell me I look/act just like him. 4) What did I do to deserve such a disrespectful child why couldn’t I have a good one? (I was not a bad kid at all, always home, cleaning the house, cooking for her, good grades, people pleaser, etc.) She wonders why I never talked to her about big things happening in my life, why I put 5,000 miles in-between us, and why I haven’t returned home for almost 10 years.” — amt628
16.
“It may not be as harsh as other things stated but the dreaded ‘It’s all in your head/you are just imagining it.’ As it turned out I wasn’t imagining it and now I struggle to differentiate what’s real and what’s not because I was led to believe I thought I was imagining things constantly.” — Missing_Maestos
17.
“I wish you were the one who died not your father.” — SchrecklichXy
18.
“‘I don’t believe you’ – When the school told her I’d been sexually assaulted.” — littlevivid
Featured Image: Unsplash