I know. I found this very rich source in the Look and Learn archive, postcards and allsorts. It was so normalised!
Oh yes, "I'll give you something to cry about," I remember that phrase, how vile is that. To punish a child just for expressing emotion. No wonder we are so messed up.
I too was a "good girl" and I couldn't believe how often I…
I know. I found this very rich source in the Look and Learn archive, postcards and allsorts. It was so normalised!
Oh yes, "I'll give you something to cry about," I remember that phrase, how vile is that. To punish a child just for expressing emotion. No wonder we are so messed up.
I too was a "good girl" and I couldn't believe how often I got smacked. I now realise it was just because mum was very unhappy in her marriage and taking it out on us. In the end I realised there was no point at all in being a good girl, so I went totally off the rails: underage drinking, sex, drugs and arson. And you know what? By then my mum was so disconnected from my life that she didn't even know/notice!
How much easier it would have been for your mum to just take the skipping rope back to the till and swap it for the one you wanted. What a ludicrous reason to traumatise a child.
I guess the tyranny of being smacked and the tyranny of the *threat* of being smacked can have the same result in the end, in terms of rebellion!
I was actually with her when she bought it; I think I cried because she hadn't listened to me. A recurring motif in my childhood, and crying was the only thing I could do. No control over lots of things. My mum took her unhappiness in her marriage out on her children, too. If at home, she'd smack with a plastic spatula. Also threw a goldfish bowl at my brother's head one time, water, goldfish and all.
Oh my lord, that's so dreadful. The patriarchy has a lot to answer for, it feels like; all these unhappy women taking it out on their children, and their husbands not even aware (quite often) that anything is wrong.
Not being listened to (especially by your own mother) is a source of great pain.
I know. I found this very rich source in the Look and Learn archive, postcards and allsorts. It was so normalised!
Oh yes, "I'll give you something to cry about," I remember that phrase, how vile is that. To punish a child just for expressing emotion. No wonder we are so messed up.
I too was a "good girl" and I couldn't believe how often I got smacked. I now realise it was just because mum was very unhappy in her marriage and taking it out on us. In the end I realised there was no point at all in being a good girl, so I went totally off the rails: underage drinking, sex, drugs and arson. And you know what? By then my mum was so disconnected from my life that she didn't even know/notice!
How much easier it would have been for your mum to just take the skipping rope back to the till and swap it for the one you wanted. What a ludicrous reason to traumatise a child.
I guess the tyranny of being smacked and the tyranny of the *threat* of being smacked can have the same result in the end, in terms of rebellion!
I was actually with her when she bought it; I think I cried because she hadn't listened to me. A recurring motif in my childhood, and crying was the only thing I could do. No control over lots of things. My mum took her unhappiness in her marriage out on her children, too. If at home, she'd smack with a plastic spatula. Also threw a goldfish bowl at my brother's head one time, water, goldfish and all.
Oh my lord, that's so dreadful. The patriarchy has a lot to answer for, it feels like; all these unhappy women taking it out on their children, and their husbands not even aware (quite often) that anything is wrong.
Not being listened to (especially by your own mother) is a source of great pain.