Ask Lemmy

I think parent responsibilities have gotten totally out of hand - I used to roam the streets until dark at 10 years old, but now you get the cops called on you if your 12-year-old walks down the street unaccompanied.

Lmao. I basically got locked-in my whole childhood.

Born in 2002, in Guangzhou, China.

I remember my apartment, my parents instaled these these locks that can lock from the outside via turning a key a certain way. So if my parents need to be away and grandma wasn't available to watch us, they'd just lock in me and my older brother at home... And I remember my brother playing with fire once... 👀

Then when we arrived in NYC, my mom just enrolled me in some after school program that ran to 6PM... basically parents used it as free babysitting (run by a non-profit Chinese-American organization)

And yea the fear of CPS was a big thing, that why the afterschool thing so I don't end up in a situation where a under-12-year-old (me) is frequently home alone without an adult (cuz older brother is still under 18), cuz somehow that triggers CPS or something? idk about the laws

I remember my mom telling my older brother to pick me up if I get dismissed at like 3o clock for some reason or like half days... so I'd be told to say home for the most of my time outside of school hours...

So basically most of time time were either spent at home or in school or worse, the fucking afterschool programs...

Now I have separation anxiety and still live with family of origin lol.

I mean I was allowed to walk home when I was in 6th grade, but too late, I spend all my life up to that point just being at home, never getting a routine of exploring outside, I basically just hid my room and spend the entire time on the internet.

So I didn't get much chance to be outside.

Like 90% of the time I've been outside, excluding school, was with parents by my side...

Hence, I am now self aware of where my Separation Anxiety issues came from and why I got so clingy to mom for my entire childhood.