What did you hide from your parents as a child?

Nothing was hidden from my parents as a child.  There was no privacy allowed.  I couldn’t study or read in my room.  They would ask, “Are you mad at us?  Come sit out here.”

We didn’t run around naked that is for sure.  You always had to have clothes on.  I remember once when my sister came home late from a date and I think Daddy met her at the door in his underwear.  I didn’t see daddy half clothed very often.  Mother would sometimes come out in her slip and underwear but she was probably ironing her dress or something.

We also had only one bathroom for five people so you didn't linger in the bathroom.  When the family was away I spent time in the bathroom, primping and such.

I did hide something as a teenager, but it is entirely too personal to discuss with anyone else.  Also, if I went on a date, I wasn’t allowed to go to the drive-in but if that was where my date wanted to go, I went anyhow.  Of course, I always told my mother the truth if she asked where we went on the date.  She was disappointed but I don’t believe I was ever punished.

Once when I was a teen, I received a letter from a boy I had met from another town.  When I got home from school, my brother had already opened it and read it.  My mother just stood by and didn’t say a word.  I was humiliated and wanted to die.  The boy hadn’t written anything personal but said he had liked me.  We rode a Ferris wheel together at a fair, for Pete’s sake!

I do remember when I was in college, we were assigned Catcher in the Rye.  I read it in the living room, laughing at the top of my voice with my family close by.  I’m sure if my mother had any idea what I was reading, she would have blown up.  The next time I read the book, by the way, I cried my eyes out.  I must have read that book at least six or seven times.  It is still one of my favorites.

Not much was hidden in my family and that probably contributed to my personality.

Peace be with you.  And may you have some privacy.