Chapter 22 - MY OWN CHILDHOOD
Anger-management became something else around Session Nine.
The instructor asked:
"Who taught you that fear works?"
I almost said Trent.
Then remembered.
Dominic.
My father, to a lesser degree.
Patricia.
Myself.
I had never hit Mason.
Never used corporal punishment.
Still, I had used presence.
A look.
A lowered voice.
The Conti room going quiet when I entered.
I liked it.
At home, sometimes Mason stopped arguing because my face changed.
Was that abuse?
No.
Could intimidation become lazy parenting?
Yes.
I began noticing.
One evening Mason refused homework.
I stood over the table.
"Now."
His shoulders tightened.
I stopped.
Sat.
"Why aren’t you doing it?"
"Hard."
Math worksheet.
Fractions.
He was seven. No fractions? Better basic word problems.
"Which one?"
He pointed.
We worked.
No fear needed.
May you like
That sounds small.
Family cycles usually break in small rooms before they break in courtrooms.
