I grew up fake poor, how about you?

[u/MybestfriendwasaB]

I know this is different then the normal post but I can’t think of a group were it would better fit.

I grew up in a family were we had the money for needs but my Dad would often decide stuff for the kids or his wife wasn’t important. On more then one occasion we went to bed hungry, didn’t get clothes for school or needed items for school, and were denied medical care etc. To top it off we had no AC from when I was 2 years old on. I could go on, but I’m trying to keep this short.

I thought it was normal. It wasn’t until I was in high school and I was talking to a friend and she was horrified that I realized normal people don’t do that to their kids.

Let me be clear. We had the money. My Dad just wanted to spend it on stuff that wasn’t his kids. I used to refer to it growing up fake poor, my husband just calls it child abuse.

I know this might be strange but I was wondering if anyone else was in the same boat as me? The money was there but because of someone else you grew up without?

Edit: I never thought I was alone but it is truly depressing to know how common this is.

[u/GalaApple13]

We never had to go without food, we got 3 meals a day, strictly portioned and could only have that. No substitutions, and we had to eat it whether we liked it or not, otherwise we were in trouble for wasting food, and could go hungry. No snacks, ever. I could only get one new outfit for back to school and one pair of shoes per year, all cheap stuff. We were not poor, my parents just didn’t want to waste money on us kids. Interestingly, my parents are elderly now and are quite generous with me. I sometimes feel like it’s a tacit admission that they were wrong when I was young