Sounds to me like maybe his self-esteem might have been beaten up a bit. Did your Mom have a habit of giving him a good tongue lashing? Didn't he stand up for himself? Did he just "take it?" Of course you can't argue with someone who's drunk.

Sounds like he found his life in YOU, which isn't all bad as long as you were disciplined too. ??? Or did Mom do that? I'm sure he was trying to make up for your Mom's absence (maybe?) so he wanted to make sure he made you happy. He DOES sound like a nice guy. It sounds like he did the best he could under the circumstances. I'm sure he just didn't know what else to do.

Like has always been said, kids don't come with instruction manuals. LOL Boy I wish they did. LOL