Growing Up With Alcoholism — And Becoming What I Was Trying to Escape
I didn’t grow up thinking my childhood was traumatic. I thought it was normal. I thought every kid learned how to read the room before they learned how to read books. I thought every kid knew how to stay quiet when energy shifted. I thought everyone learned how to disappear emotionally when things got heavy. I grew up in a home with alcoholism. And later, I became one myself. Not because I wanted to be reckless. Not because I wanted to hurt anyone. But because I never learned how to feel safe in my own skin without numbing something. Alcohol didn’t start out as a problem. It started out as relief. What Childhood With Alcoholism Really Looks Like When people hear “alcoholic home,” they often imagine chaos all the time. Yelling. Broken things. Obvious neglect. Sometimes that’s true. But sometimes it’s quieter than that. Sometimes it looks like inconsistency. Unpredictability. Mood swings. Promises that don’t get kept. Sometimes it looks like love that’s there o...
