Hi, I had a lingering question and hoped maybe someone could offer some advice or insight, suggested reading, or anything.
So, until I was about 10 years old, I was raised by my married parents with 4 siblings. Things weren't perfect but looking back, I have learned that my mother is/was a narcissistic person and basically an awful human being. I just thought she hated me till I was 30.
Long story short, when I was around 10 years old, she was diagnosed with invasive stage 4 breast cancer and was given little time. Fast forward 4 years, she actually beat the cancer but lost her mind completely. She divorced my father and proceeded to drown her sorrows in every kind of bottle and method possible. She became increasingly abusive, and I found myself the loathsome black sheep of the family.
Fast forward many more years, and I haven't had contact with most of my family for at least 3 years.
It may come as no surprise that my first 2 marriages were unsuccessful and now I'm raising 3 little boys on my own.
I'm just hoping for some guidance on how exactly to raise kids when there's no parental role model to work from. My only real goal is not to screw up my kids. Does anyone else struggle with this as well?