What was lacking in your family growing up?

A stable environment. My parents tried their best but it didn’t happen. I wish I could have spent more times but then again if I did that I could have turned up a completely different person.

Sports/General Athletic Ability. I come from a family of uncoordinates, and am genetically/formatively doomed to forever lack athletic skill.

Siblings. A single home. We moved around a lot.

An understanding of my brother’s mental illness and what could be done for him.

For me it was physical contact, and just involvment altogether. I’m a bit resentful of my parents (just a bit), but I think my father looked after my mother very well, but my mother just looked after herself. They gave me money, but honestly, that’s all.

Structure. Proactive parenting.

Emotional support. My mother was perfectly awesome about being very involved in my life, except when it came to understanding and dealing with emotions. I don’t think she was equipped to handle an intense child.

This may sound a bit harsh, but I don’t look at it that way. As the last child out of four over a 14 year span, and being the one at home when Dad started his own business with Mom running it vs. being a housewife, I didn’t get the personal attention that the older siblings did.

I grew up wearing hand-me-downs, listening to the records and reading the books that were left behind. I had no room of my own, but moved from one sibling’s to another as they left and then returned. The treasures that they left behind held mysteries that were left unanswered for many years.

Mom, now 85, still occasioinally brings up a sense of guilt for not being more involved in my upbringing. The only resentment that occasionally crops up is that there was no sexual education from Mom, and they wouldn’t allow me to join the YMCA girl’s basketball team like all of my friends did. Had they, it probably would have built better team skills that had to be painfully learned later in life. Even then, it is still a work in progress.

Money. It was all hand-me-downs, PBJ, Mac & Cheese, and hot dogs.

Money. Intellectual curiosity. Honest communication. TV-free environment. A full-time father.

My parents provided everything their kids basically need to exist except personal influence and warm guidance. The relationship was not close. When they finally tried it with my youngest sibling, they did it wrong and spoiled him. Believe it or not, he’s in drug rehab for years.

My dad, my parents divorced when I was around 6yrs old. That left my mother to bring up three boys single handed….yes that’s right, she’s my fucking hero!!

Sanity.

Only thing I can think of is my dad and I had a strained, distant relationship. I remember feeling envy of my friends’ dads who seemed more mature and serious about the family dynamics. Oh; and zero discussions regarding religion which may not be an important thing to most people. I don’t know.

I had good parents who provided for my siblings and I.
I can’t think of anything we really lacked.Even being low on money at times was not an issue for us kids.We just didn’t know and were happy regardless.

If I go into details yes there were a few things I/we didn’t have but in the grand scheme of things they really don’t bloody matter. I was loved and cared for and I turned out well. Very very grateful.

Didn’t lack for anything until I was 12 and my father died. That was a bummer but we coped.

My parents ultimate goal is us being happy. I can’t think of anything that was missing because you could feel the love. I am who i am because of them and I’m so grateful for that. I think I’m blessed to have such parents.

Money (but we had food).
Money (but we had a roof over our heads).
Money (but we had loving parents).
Maybe I’m hallucinating and nothing was missing.

Integrity, honor, respect and compassion.

My dad was pretty absent. He was around but not present. I freaking feel ripped off that I didn’t have a father for any of the things I really needed one for.

My family didn’t feel safe either. I learned very young to stay quiet and run like hell if I heard my mother start to get mad and hope she didn’t see me running because I’d pay for it later.

Freedom.

I was only just let out of my basement cage when I hit puberty.

Money lol. Also, my mother didn’t treat me right much. I assume my pillow obsession is due in part to having next to no maternal contact. That was my dad’s theory anyways.
Stability is another thing. I spent my teenage years being bounced from living with dad to group homes, back and forth. It sucked.

Stability. My father and step-mother argued a lot. He packed us up and left quite a few times but always went back. We wanted him to stay left. It was not a good situation.

A happy mom.

She was always fighting with my father. I didn’t know it at the time, but my father had multiple affairs throughout my childhood and into adulthood. My mom did her best to be happy for her children, but we could tell she wasn’t happy.