Christine, 54, USA

I was the oldest of 7 children/siblings. When I was 4 1/2 yrs old I had 3 younger siblings. I was always held responsible for their misbehavior.

By the time I was 10 years old I had 5 younger siblings. If I went to the swimming pool I had to take my two youngest brothers, who were only 1 and 3 years old. I had one on each hip and was totally responsible for them because my mother never went with us.

My mother was the youngest of 3 children, she was the only girl. She would always yell and scream at me for every thing that my sister did wrong, as if it was my fault.

For example, when we were told to be home by a certain time, I would always show up on time; however my sister who was 1 year younger would never come home on time so I received the yelling and screaming that she should have gotten for her disobedience.

The yelling went on for sometimes 2-3 hours "why didn't you bring your sister home with you?" yaada yaada yaada, but, as soon as she walked threw the door, then my mother would say " alright, I am going to bed now" I took all the abuse for my sisters stupidity!

I also grew up listening to my mother say, " You are all mistakes, I wish that I had never had any of you damn brats".

My father would sometimes not come home for several days, he worked construction and he liked to party.. My mother would take us in the car and drive around town to see if my dad was at any of the local bars.

We were always told about his infidelity and crap like we were suppose to know why or how to fix it...To this day, she is still abusive...She never calls me or comes to see me or my children when they drive 750 miles one way to come here...Yet she can go to the casino with my sister that she has favored all of her life.. She never even called to see if they had a safe trip or anything.

When my youngest son was about 7 years old he asked a question that really got my attention....he asked, "Mommy why does your Mom love her other children, but she doesn't love you?"

My husband says she treats me different than she treats her other kids. I swore to never treat my children the way that I was treated. I just wish I could forgive her and forget her and never let any of this hold me captive ever again.