30 People Who Swore To Never Be Like Their Parents Share How It Turned Out

Well as someone who learned young not to go to my parents for anything because they never took my side, I stayed true to that promise. No matter what bad things happened to me, it was always my own fault. My kids are adults now. They've always come to me with problems. I made it a point to treat them as individuals when they were kids. Not my property or things that had to obey or else. Was I disappointed when boy got sh**faced at 16? Kinda. But then I remembered what I was doing at that age. Went and picked him up and let the hangover be his punishment.so glad he didn't try to stagger home at 2 am like I felt I had to.

I don't smoke (at all/with my kids in the car), I don't keep my kids up till 1 am to drive home drunk and I support their education and encourage them instead of ignoring them.

I'm doing much better than my parents.

Great. I went to therapy and really worked at not being like my parents. My mom notices and has said on multiple occasions she wishes she was more like me when she was raising my sister and I. I'd say I succeeded.

It's working out really well. My kids are thoughtful, sweet, intelligent, funny and kind little humans. My teenager is respectful, but brave enough to stand up for what he believes in.

My child is a toddler and I’m far more patient, and I do everything I can to make sure my child feels safe and loved because I know how important that is.

Really good! My dad was an abusive narcissist and my mom his enabler. I’ve been in therapy doing the hard work of breaking generational trauma. My kids are growing up with confidence, aren’t afraid to be themselves, and ultimately show us that we’re their safe place (as parents). In contrast, I grew up with severe mental health issues, was bullied at school and home, and entered adulthood basically afraid of my own shadow. I have cptsd as an adult, yay. But my kids are thriving and that’s all that matters.

I found that my parents were both trying to “not be like their parents” as well. They broke generational trauma and yet left me some work to do on my own to break it for my own kids. I have tendencies of both my parents and yet have also parented in my own style which is exactly what they did. LOL.
I’m forever grateful to them for their strength and dedication to the family, something I didn’t see when was swearing to never be like them.

It worked out like this - I have 3 high schoolers. All on honor roll. All in multiple varsity sports. All do volunteer work. All in multiple clubs (ie D&D, cooking etc)All 3 are happy a majority of the time.

My childhood? I tried to hang myself twice at the age of five.

I would say doing everything opposite of my parents is working out just fine, thank you.

So far so good. If I'm wrong, I admit it. If I did something that negatively affected my kids, I apologize. I don't give my kids the silent treatment if I'm mad or upset. I talk with them to go over how we view the situation and what we need to do to fix the issue.

I'm interested in my kids and their passions. I don't use that to tease them about it. I support them in the ways they need for their hobbies.

It's been a very active process to break the generational trauma and make sure they don't experience my childhood. Not perfect but at least I have a good relationship with my kids. Unlike my parents who are in a need to know basis and get general updates on my life.

It's like I downloaded a 'Parenting App' directly from my mom and dad's brains. I've caught myself saying 'because I'm your mother, that's why' more times than I can count. And guess what? My living room is now a no-food zone. History repeats itself, but with more WiFi.