My Mom pretty much raised 4 kids on her own. She did it all. My Dad was too busy hustling/playing pool, hanging out with the boys, drinking and, later we found out that he had a few “lady friends” on the side. I’m the youngest, and there is an 8 year difference between the third child (my bro) and I. My older brothers and my sis got to see the worst of it (Dad being abusive mentally and verbally towards my Mom and my siblings .. sometimes, physically), and, I’m lucky in that I missed out on that shit.
When my brothers and sister were around 13–16, my Mom went to see her doctor because she was experiencing depression and low self-esteem (my Dad made her feel like shit), the doctor put her on some Lithium to help her get out of her slump, but, also said to her, “there’s nothing wrong with you (mentally), it’s just that your self-esteem is low. You need to do something in order to feel better about yourself”. So, with four kids, my Mom decided to get a job, and she went to night school to work on her B.A. in psychology. She graduated with honors. Go, Mah! She started to feel pretty damn good about herself and no longer put up with any of my Dad’s shit.
Mah definitely ruled the roost after that.