I couldn't agree more, Freewilled. I'm sorry that you had to go through this situation as well. You shouldn't have had to be "parentified" as a child. I can also relate to wishing my dad would have intervened when my "mom" would go off on me, too. It was hard to sit there as a child and be called names (ugly, pig, *****, etc) & be told things like "I never wanted you," "I wish you were never born," "I'm going to kill you when Dad isn't looking," etc. I do often wonder how my dad could sit there silently while my mom said those things to me-- and then leave me alone with her and expect me to be her caretaker. I realize I probably sound a little dark today, but all of the Mother's Day commercials on TV, the radio, on the internet etc. depress me at this time of year. It's really hard, wishing I would have had a mother. And I hate how all of my casual acquaintances and co-workers say things like "I bet you're excited for Mother's Day; do you have plans?" or "Have you done your Mother's Day shopping yet? It's so hard to think of a gift special enough for someone who's done so much for us, isn't it?" It makes me want to scream!