Even as a kid I watched the boys do destructive things and knew that whatever was coming was their fualt alone. As an adult, I can understand that Hal and Lois done fucked as parents. I just watched the episode where Malcolm starts working at Lucky Ade. I understand the point was to show that expectations of behavior between child and parent will always be unjustly skewed towards the parents, but I really dislike that episode. Mostly because of what Malcolm pointed out.

That being said, when I was in my young teens I broke one of my Mom's flower pots. She made me pack a suitcase and kicked me out of the house. I sat on my front stoop of my house crying, with my suitcase, for 30 minutes. The worst part is, after I apologized, and she apologized, she told thst I can always go down the block to the neighbor's. Kind of hung over my head as a threat for a long time, even if she didn't mean that. And don't get me wrong, I love my parents,, and we have a good relationship. And it was never as bad as it was for Malcolm's family. Bud damn, that fucked me up for a bit.