Uncoventional parenting (were you raised in a different manner than most kids)

I spend summers with my grandpa, and taking turns living with parents for a couple of years. My dad let me do what ever I wanted even play video games until school and then to skip it because I was tired. I was given $5.00 for lunch and I bought a hoagie and 1 liter of milk for lunch. My mom taught me and shared time with me. She poached eggs with bread every morning. I left home at 35 and I am 36 now, living in a boarding house with cable and private fridge and high speed internet.

Unconventional in that I basically raised myself. My dad was dying my entire life and finally did die when I was 10. He was really sick and I took care of him more than he took care of me. I also took care of my baby brother who was 6 years younger than me.
Since dad was sick mom worked full time. She was depressed a lot and spent a lot of time sleeping on the couch.
My older siblings were either grown or teenagers and were living their own lives.

I was held responsible for my actions. I was not allowed to whine. Seeing today’s children and their “parents” I believe that now this could be considered unconventional.

I was raised in a very religious family. My father had four brothers and all of them lived within walking distance of our house. We went to church together and spent most weekends together. Since Dad was the oldest, my brother and I were also the oldest of all the cousins.

Our family life was very much like those pictured on TV, especially Little House on the Prairie, only in a city setting, and something like Father Knows Best and Leave it to Beaver.

When I was about 16 the economy changed, and the families had to move where the jobs were. One went to Albuquerque, another to Cedar City Iowa, and one went back to their home town, a small town in western Colorado, to take care of their aging parents small farm. The youngest brother joined the Air Force.

The government called it a recession, but to most people it was a depression.

Deleted.

My childhood was similar to @Judi.‘s I was an only child, and my parents had a lousy marriage. My mother was sick for as long as I could remember. When I was 12, we discovered she had a very rare but insidious disease that would eventually kill her. I was an only child, and she told me I was the only reason she didn’t commit suicide and I was the only reason she didn’t get a divorce.

It took several decades, but I have healed from all that, and although you couldn’t pay me to go through that again, I am thankful because it has made me into the person I am today.

Yeah, only child, single mom who drank a lot and was bi-polar, at times a little abusive. I was shuttled between her and my grandparents a lot, so city kid and country kid mixed.

I was just telling another jelly that I think my mom’s IQ and our religious beliefs helped me conquer the negatives, but there was anger and resentment. I could have taken a really bad path, and did for a year or two, but then my self-preservation instincts kicked in and I chose to make something of myself, following more in the path of my grandparents than my mom. I did choose not to have children, but I have a good home, a good job and a good marriage, and I’m not insane so I guess I did okay.

I don’t know. Is being raised in a racist, sexist, homophobic place unconventional? Probably not. How did it affect me? I am staunchly against racism, sexism and homophobia, partly as result. My friends and chosen family would say that’s as good as it gets, all things considering.

I had a very traditional childhood. My family lived in a very nice area, but we were just barely scraping by, so there were no extras. That probably reinforced my clenched fist on financial control.