Jennifer Levey wrote:
I'm very firmly on Tom's side here. It's all very well for folk here to laud the efforts of their own parents, to be positive about what 'most mothers do', or to suggest that 'nobody can do better than their best, and it's better than not doing their best'.
But, what about those of us whose mothers and fathers failed - perhaps through ignorance, perhaps through negligence, perhaps deliberately, - in their parental role? Is it not sufficient that we use that experience to remind others here that family life is not always a bed of roses? And if our experience has been painful, is it fair to demand 'justification' for the brevity of our answers? - justification for withholding details that might give our answers 'wider currency than our own existence'? Does 'revictimisation' mean anything to you?
I'd rather you didn't take my words out of context like this. I haven't said or asked anything about Tom's upbringing, or said a word about mine.
I'm sorry that you both had difficult childhoods, but your reaction is more than a little insensitive given that the only morsel of personal information in my posts had to do with my own failings as a parent.