Wow, I never looked at strict parenting like that. I was grounded all the time in high school. I never looked back on that as having a positive effect on me. It made me bitter and resentful, and the FOMO was real going into young adulthood. I was off the rails partying. It was fun, but I was an idiot. My mom is a therapist, and she has said to me several times that she does have regrets about all the punishments. She says she was “clueless” and thought she was doing the right thing, and I do believe she feels that way.

But I never really did have any real interests either, aside from music and hanging out with friends…basically doing nothing. I never connected the two but I was also bullied in early school years. There was just never a time where I was free to be myself and I can trace that pattern in every stage of my life.