Making home, feeding kids - I've come a long way (and have a long way to go)
I didn't have a high bar set for me when it comes to making home... my mother reacted to her misogynistic father's refusal to educate her ("women belong in the kitchen") by running away, getting her education in the field she loved (music) and never going anywhere near housework. She didn't cook or clean. In my early childhood, my father did some of these things, but as their relationship deteriorated our home and diet spiralled out of all control. My father's mother sometimes came in to do a deep clean - I learned recently that she thought of our home as a dumpster, and she wasn't wrong - but in general, we lived in filth and ate ready-made microwave meals. As an aside, I had gallstones at age 16, having my entire gallbladder removed as the problems were so advanced... that shows just how bad things were. I also have fillings in every tooth. After my mother's death, my sister and I moved in with our aunt and for the first time (I was 15) learned a few