I Ruined You Before You Were Three

Sins of an average American mom

caroline beaulieu
Human Parts
Photo by Blake Meyer on Unsplash

HHey, kid. One day you’re going to learn stuff about your childhood that I’m sure you’re going to insist I explain to you. Things you’ll be certain ruined you, and you’ll probably be right, and I’ll have lost the sharp clarity of my reasoning over the years. So I figure I should write it all down. Save us both the heartache.

Ruining you didn’t take long. By all accounts, I’d completely fucked you up by three. I didn’t wait until you were a vulnerable teen. I did it young, when you were still too young to ever have a chance.

This morning I read an article about how screen time is going to turn you into a homicidal junkie. Those hours I let you watch Finding Nemo and play that bug game that keeps you happy and quiet while I have a glass of wine and try to connect with my husband, they’ve ruined you. You’re going to turn into an antisocial dick with no interaction skills. You’ll never date. You most certainly won’t ever have sex. Your father and I will house you and your collection of black socks and vintage Nintendo sets in our basement until you are imprisoned for life for a crime that could have been avoided if I just hadn’t given you that screen. So I’m sorry about that.

Also, you have a TV in your room. You probably don’t want to hear the speech about how…

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Responses (81)

What are your thoughts?

Yeah, we have a therapy jar at home where we dump quarters every time we do something that will ruin our children. We also keep a journal, complete with photos, names and dates so that when they turn 30 they can just hand the whole damn thing over…

I think every parent should write a letter like this to their kid and give it to them in their teens or early 20s….
I’m a counselor and yes, I deal with these parenting issues a lot. And how often kids just simply don’t understand a parent’s…