For the Latchkey Generation
When happily ever after fails
and we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers dwell on small details
Since daddy had to fly— Don Henley’s End of the Innocence, 1989
Generation X: The Latchkey Generation
According to Douglas Coupland, author of Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, Generation X was born during the single most anti-child phase in American history. In the early 1960s, the birth control pill became widely available, and in 1973, abortion was legalized. These are two factors that are said to have contributed to the generation’s low numbers.
According to Jeff Gordinier, in his recent book, X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything from Sucking, Baby Boomers number 76 million and Millennials, 80 million. Generation X is sandwiched between them with 46 million.
From the late 1960s to the early 1970s, divorce rates in the United States more than doubled. In addition, between 1969 and 1996, the number of working mothers in the workforce also doubled. Consequently, many households were headed by working single moms. It’s estimated that as many as 40 percent of Gen Xers were latchkey kids who returned home from school to empty houses. Their childhoods and youth were marked by a lack of supervision, and excessive household and family responsibilities.
What is a Latchkey Kid?
The term latchkey kid originates from the latchkey of a door. A latchkey kid — sometimes just called a latchkey — is a child between the ages of 7 and 13 who comes home from school to an empty house. The child is left unsupervised until a parent returns home from work. The unsupervised hours vary but typically take place during what law enforcement refers to as the “danger zone” of 3 to 6 p.m.
In the 1970s, the rise in divorce coupled with a high rate of mothers in the workforce gave rise to the term. I had many Gen-X friends who wore a key tied to a cord around their neck. (This would be great training for all those lanyards we’ve had to wear in the workforce. Ugh.)
Here’s a quote from Jack London, the American novelist, from his 1909 book, Martin Eden: “The one opened the door with a latch-key and went in, followed by a young fellow who awkwardly removed his cap.”
Latchkey Memoir, Childhood Sexual Assault
That’s just to say, latchkey kids have been around for generations. They didn’t start with Generation X, but they were a very big problem for Generation X. If you’re a former latchkey kid struggling with a painful past, particularly as it may relate to childhood sexual assault, it might help you.
Also, my faith has helped me. I recommend these books:
- Legacy of the Heart: The Spiritual Advantages of a Painful Childhood
- One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are
- The Broken Way: A Daring Path into the Abundant Life
Revenge of the Latchkey Kids
In 1998, Ted Rall wrote a book about Generation X being latchkey kids. He called it Revenge of the Latchkey Kids: An Illustrated Guide to Surviving the 90’s and Beyond. He said this about the book:
“Revenge is my Generation X manifesto. As Xers entered marriage, parenthood and, God forbid, responsibility, the book made a splash with its anti-Boomer argument that neglect and abuse of Gen X in its youth would create an unusually self-sufficient generational cohort in adulthood. This prediction proved accurate…”
And, then there’s this from Bad Religion:
…In this world today there ain’t nobody to thank,
just blame it on the kids and toss ’em into the tank.
and if they yell for justice we’ll hide them from the light
so that when they learn the truth they won’t be scared of the night.Put the key in the hole when you get home from school.
I’ll be home by 8:30, your father will too.
if you cause any trouble then I don’t want to see,
’cause you’ll go straight to bed and you won’t have no TV.
Gina’s Story: Latchkey Child
I think we’re alone now
There doesn’t seem to be anyone around.
–Tiffany, 1987
The consequences of the latchkey childhood vary from one person to the next. Unsupervised Gen X children and youth ran the gamut of those who watched too much TV and didn’t do their homework to those who fell into escalating levels of crime. For one Gen Xer living in Oklahoma, the pendulum didn’t just swing it spiraled downward into a heartbreaking tale of promiscuity, drugs, and alcohol. And, even though her story is not the rule, many Gen Xers had friends like her.
Gina (not her real name) was born in 1967. Her parents divorced in the early 1970s, and her father lived in another state. Eventually, he became estranged. She was a latchkey kid throughout her entire childhood and youth growing up in Oklahoma City.
“When I came home I did things I wasn’t supposed to do,” the 41-year-old store clerk said. “I had to take care of my younger sister. I cooked for us.
“It was very lonesome. I filled my voids with bad things, with things I wasn’t supposed to be doing. I got into drugs, into alcohol.”
“The whole cheerleader thing,” Gina continues, “I never had a ride. I never had the money for uniforms. Therefore, I never got interested in ball games. In junior high, I joined a softball team, but my mom never came to one game.”
Baby Boomers As Parents
According to Coupland, inwardly-focused Baby Boomers sometimes regarded their children as “obstacles to their self-exploration,” and thus resulted in permissive parenting of grand proportion. In addition, on top of spending many hours bored and lonely, Coupland also concludes that Generation X was “rushed through childhood.”
“If she would have been home, I wouldn’t have gotten into those things,” Gina said. “I would have been more involved, more interested. Also, I might have gone to Vo-tech, but my mom thought that was a blow-off.
“I wanted to go into nursing.”
Gina, who graduated high school in 1985, left Oklahoma City after graduation and became a dancer at a topless bar in a mid-size town about 100 miles away. Consequently, over the next 20 years, she endured multiple divorces, the heartbreak of infertility, and numerous run-ins with the law. Coming to terms with her childhood has not been easy, but she’s working on it.
“I’ve always been at the base of the tree,” she continues. “I didn’t want to climb it because I didn’t want to fall, and the sudden stop at the bottom. But, I’m in the mid-branches now and heading to the higher branches.”
Latchkey Generation to Helicopter Parent
Today, the number of latchkey kids has declined. In 2000, Generation X parents along with school administrators helped to get federal legislation passed, which provided seed money for after-school tutoring programs in lower-income schools. Unfortunately, Gen-Xers learned firsthand how dangerous the hours between 3 to 6 p.m. can be for children. In the end, the Latchkey Generation became the overprotective, helicopter parents of Generation Z.
Hi Jennifer, I am a fellow Gen Xer, born in 1967. I love your blog, because everything you wrote about Gen X and who we are, and where we came from, is spot on.
Thank you, Brannon. I wish I could gather everyone born in 1967 in a room and say hello. Thank you for writing. Do you take pictures? Asking b/c of your email address.
This is the first time I’ve visited your page. I was just surfing a bit on the latch-key generation because I think it is a least part of the reason I’ve always struggled with authority and have never been able to stay in one job for more than a few years. I just don’t respond well to being managed.
I was a very intelligent little boy, but after my parents divorced, I did terrible in school. I remember in 9th grade bragging about my 0.4 grade point average being the lowest of anyone. I thought it was funny that I could get all D-s and still pass. Besides, nobody looked at my report card anyway. I went to live with my grandmother for half a year and did much better in school, simply because she was home all the time and she insisted that I do my homework before being allowed to go out. Looking back, the experience was great for me and I wish I could have stayed with her throughout high school. But my mom was too proud to rely on her so we left and mom went to work managing a convenience store. I got into partying and grew my hair long (it was the 80s). I have no regrets or resentments about it. But I do wonder about how it contributed to making me the person that I am – who can’t seem to accept being told what to do, by anyone. So now I’m self-employed!
Very sorry to read that you lost your mom on Christmas eve. I loved my mom so, so much and lost her several years ago now. For a guy who was already sort of a loner, losing my closest confidant has left me with a void that will probably never be filled. But I solved it by getting married less than a year after she left… probably a textbook reaction for someone so resourceful.
Not sure why but now I’m feeling a bit sad… thanks, a lot! 🙂
And upon re-reading my comment, I definitely didn’t mean to sound so selfish. Was just trying share my experience. In time, things will be alright. But it does take time – there’s no way around that.
Love your note, TBone. Thank you for sharing. It made me happy and sad — and that last line made me chuckle. I need to laugh today as I am missing my mom so much. I took a big breath when I got to the part where you lost your mom. I was like, “Oh, he knows. This pain. He’s in this club with me.” Ugh. Not a good club. People who’ve lost their beloved mothers. I could picture your mom working in the convenient store. The sick sweet smell of candy and gasoline. That’s actually a line from the memoir I’ve been working on for so long…
Anyway, as far as being self-employed and not handling authority – I have read quite a bit about this as part of the collective persona of Generation X. Maybe it’s hard to submit as an adult when you had to be the adult as a child. I totally get it, and I suspect, most Gen-Xers relate.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately, now, about how Gen-Xers are losing their parents. I wonder how it changes our narrative; especially for all us former latchkey kids. Thank you, again, for writing.
I was a latch key kid my whole neighborhood was , this was in the 70s , the streets raised us and glad to be alive now cuz without God we wouldn’t be here I know we were protected , it was clearly evident, it isn’t good though for your emotional well being , ive had issues because of it , been working on it , I’m 51 now and still working on it . Grateful for the grace and love of the Father .. thank you for sharing
Oh, Michelle. Much love to you, dear one. God was there — for all who survived those years and who didn’t and passed onto the next life. Children are safer, now, for sure. I’m still working on all my stuff, too. I hope to hear from you again, sometimes. –jennifer
I often say, “Little House on the Prairie raised me right”. Half joking….half not.
Love to all my brother and sister xers….God loves us!
Great post. I’ve enjoyed browsing your site. Just a little error on the page: “The child is left unsupervised until a CHILD returns home from work.” The second child should be parent. Bless.
Thank you so much for pointing this out. I will fix it now. Thank you, also, for stopping by. God bless you today and always, Kim.
I’m one of the weird ones who is actually grateful for being a latchkey kid, because I’ve always been an independent type of person. When I was 7, my parents bought into a franchise and both worked almost 18 hours per day. My older brother worked in their warehouse, but I was too young to do anything except help clean the office on Sundays. They tried sending me to babysitters, but it always turned out to be a disaster: either it was me not wanting to be “managed” by someone, or the cost just got too be too much.
When I was 8, my parents gave me a key and told me the basics of latchkey kid-dom: come straight home after school, don’t answer the door, and don’t go out anywhere. As far as anyone was concerned, there was no 8 year old girl in the house by herself until 11:00 pm. Being an introvert, I didn’t mind it at all. I used to sit and watch my mum cook when she was home, so I cooked my own supper. I’d then watch TV with all the lights off, and then go to bed when I heard the car approaching the driveway.
By the time I was 13, I would get home in time to answer the 4:30 pm phone call from Mum, wait about an hour and then go off exploring the natural area not far from home. I’d go to the convenience store, and then hang out at the video store for a couple of hours before going home. My parents did not allow me to go to the corner store and had absolutely no idea that I was doing it at least twice a week.
At 13, I went out and got my first job at a used book store as soon as the school year was over. I liked my independence and I wanted to take it further by earning my own money. To be honest, I hated childhood, so I was quite happy to “grow up too fast”. My parents weren’t too happy about it, but what could they do? I wasn’t getting into trouble, I was working. I started doing all the cooking at home in the evenings, even when Mum and Dad were home, because my mother hated cooking. (Dad liked my cooking better too. Ha ha.) I did my own laundry because Mum kept mixing up my jeans and shirts with my brother’s. (I was not a girly girl.)
I went to a high school that was quite far from home, so my friends and I would hang out at a coffee shop downtown for a few hours after school. My parents hated it at first, but had to learn to live with it. Sure, I could have gotten into all sorts of trouble with the law, drinking, drugs, etc. Sure, I smoked cigarettes outside of the house, and I tried weed a couple of times (I didn’t like it); but all in all, I just enjoyed my freedom.
When I finally moved out in my late teens, I knew how to cook, budget, do laundry, and do all of that stuff most people are still trying to figure out when they move out. I had already bought all of my dishes and such from the thrift store that I worked in, so I had no need to find any. On weekends, I went to the club with my friends. They drank, I danced and got free pop because I was always the designated driver. (I was the one with the car and a dislike for the taste of alcohol after getting drunk on home made moonshine at a friend’s house in high school.)
I couldn’t afford university, so I just kept working and moving on when I needed to increase my skillset or felt like I was going nowhere. Dad always told me not to get comfortable in a job because jobs were not like they were when he was growing up. My education mostly came from professional development courses and my volunteer work in nonprofit management. I worked in a number of industries: medical, funeral, IT, and nonprofit. I did some university courses in psychology when I was 35, after getting married and buying our house. Ass-backwards, but it all worked out in the end. I’m 41 now and am the CEO of a nonprofit.
Unlike most people in my generation, I did not have kids and never will. I know that I’m a lot like my mother. She did not want kids and was not a nurturer in the slightest. (If we got sick as kids, she banished us to our rooms, left us with some medication that we had to give ourselves, and told us not to come out until we were better. How many six year olds can dose their own cold medication? I could, like a boss!) My dad was the one who wanted kids, but was never home because he had to work to support us. I do not want kids. Period.
I am grateful for my experiences and I know that my strength, leadership and problem solving skills come from how I grew up. I wouldn’t trade it for the world! However, I am not about to put a child through the negative side of what I went through, and there’s no way that I would want to have a child in this day and age where childhood independence is frowned upon. I work with kids and teach them the principles of critical thinking, taking charge, and learning how to become independent leaders. That’s good enough for me.
I enjoyed reading about your growing up years. The exploring in the natural areas around your house sounds great. The older I get, the more I try to remember good parts of my Gen X childhood. I did have a tremendous amount of freedom that my kids will never know. I ran all over the place by myself with no supervision. That started in about 2nd or 3rd grade. It was normal and nobody thought anything of it. My son is going into 6th and hasn’t known the freedom I had in 2nd! Anyway, thank you for sharing your wonderful story. It is refreshing to hear a different take on the latchkey years and how good can come from it including resourcefulness, independence. Godspeed!
I am glad to see people explaining why they just wanted their parents to give a crap. I was seven years old, I remember begging my father to take my mother to the doctor. She was acting bizarre. My father just sat there with a blank expression on his face. I begged him to at least answer me! He just sat there silently starring ahead. I gave up. I acted like it did not happen. Then, my mother was drunk driving us around town so much …I snapped! I told a teacher. She drove me home. My mother talked to her. she left. My mother was very angry she had to leave work to come home to my weird feelings. I was 12 and had better language to confront her. I kept asking her “why!? this and Why that?” SHE would not answer. She kept staring straight ahead and saying she “had to work”……you wonder why I’m protective of my kid?
My goodness – you’re lucky to be alive. I bet you weren’t wearing seat belts either. I’m glad you survived and now get to be a mother. Blessings to you on this sometimes rough-and-tumble journey of life.
We can’t point at one aspect of a person’s life, such as their upbringing, and say that’s why they got into drugs or went down the wrong path. Many people go through terrible abuse as children and still end up with very successful and happy lives, while other people have happy and loving childhoods and end up very messed up and unhappy. There’s no way we could ever know all the different factors that have made us who we are or led to us making the decisions we did, everything we do is effected by things like genetics, personality, brain chemicals, lifestyle, familial compatibility, social relationships, stress, thoughts and beliefs, etc.
According to statistics drug use among teens has also stayed very steady since the 1970’s, it’s only the type of drugs being taken that has changed. This is despite the fact that parents today are much more overprotective and disinclined to leave their kids home alone. So I’m not sure your assertion that the latchkey generation was involved in more illicit activity or had a lifestyle disadvantage compared to other generations really stands up to scrutiny.
Personally I think it’s unfortunate that kids today don’t have the time to be alone by themselves, having time alone to learn who you are and discover your natural passions and interests is a very important part of childhood that this generation seems to be missing out on. Loneliness is not the result of being alone, it’s the result of thinking there’s something wrong with being alone.
The disadvantage was the same as other children raised by people who consider the pursuit and attainment of their individual rights, their individual needs, and their individual desires the highest good. Kids understand when they are ultimately an afterthought. The Latchkey generation are intimate with those that place “personality before principles” and believe feelings are facts..their feelings, at any rate. There is nothing at all wrong with being alone if that being alone is the result of self-agency, not the convenience of economic and cultural pursuits.
Your argument isn’t true at all. Everything we are stems from childhood. People who turn out o.k. and successful do so despite the abuse. They just got lucky that someone paid attention to them along the way. For me it was my music teachers who showed me how adults were suppose to behave. For my two brothers who did not go into music they had no one to talk to and so, they became more messed up. I’m successful despite my crappy parents. However, it’s been an incredibly difficult journey of night sweats and anxiety that no one on the planet would know I’ve overcome. Read They F*** you Up by Oliver James to all books by Alice Miller. We contain only about 20,000 genes, not that much more than a fruit-fly so yes, everything we are goes straight back to childhood and our craptastic parents. There are plenty of successful people who keep a steady pace at life until they hit their 40’s and 50’s when they haven’t addressed their childhood and everything comes crashing down. I blame the Baby-Boomers, look who they elected.
Thanks for your comment. I wrote this post in 2009, so I’m not sure what the “argument” is that you disagree with. Either way, I do believe we can succeed despite abuse. I will check out the book. 20,000 genes does seem like a small amount!
I guess ” M” would have preferred Hillary to gave been elected. The ” progressive” with the most big business connections in decades. Boomer hypocrisy personified.
I was born in 1969. I have a Twin Sister, and a Sister who was almost two years older. My Parents divorced when I was 6, and it was very ugly. So the three of us went to live with Mom, who suddenly had to work now. This left us at home from 3-7 during most school days. We stayed out of serious trouble for the most part, other than fighting amongst each other. Which did get nasty at times. The year I turned 12, I couldn’t take living in a house full of women anymore and my Father stepped up and offered me some solace. As in my own room in his house. 6 months later, my Mom and Sisters moved 3-4 hours away, leaving me behind. In those 4-5 years since my Parents had divorced, Dad had become a swinging bachelor and wanted nothing to do with parenting. He would go to work an hour or so before I left for school, and would come home around 6-7 at night. So I always ate alone. MTV and reading were my escapes. He would then take a shower and go out, every single night. When he was home, he mostly ignored me and did his own thing. He NEVER ONCE went to any of my school functions. So it was a very lonely existence for me as well, I used to sit back and dream of the day I would become an adult, just to get away from the loneliness of living with him. I think he just took me in to try and get back at my Mom, who had the sense to leave his sorry ass.
Steven,
Thank you for sharing your story. It mirrors a few others I have heard — all very tragic. I am very sorry all this happened to you, and am grateful you would be willing to bear witness to what you went through here in this humble space on the Internet. It will help others. This post gets a lot of visitors – I think because Gen Xers are still trying to understand the impact of being a latchkey kid — and why the wounds from childhood never seem heal. I still struggle with some of my own and await a miracle of healing. Having my own family has helped me write a new story for my life. Much love to you. 1969 was a very special year! It was the year you were born. I hope you will stop by again or join the Facebook page so we can keep in touch. –jen
I must admit the “tough love” approach bothered me deeply. How could any parent threaten to throw their kids on the street? The constant physical and emotional abuse was criminal. And the lies are what really pissed me off, “get a job so you can have your own spending money”. only to get the job and have the conditions changed to, ” now you have to pay rent”. Both my partner and I had to endure this type of upbringing, she had it worse than i did, but i can say without hesitation that we have or never will treat our children like our parents treated us.
I understand more than I can probably publicly admit. God bless you. I know the trials you endured and the fire you walked through refined you and you will be a loving parent. Godspeed, my friend.
This is truly amazing as I read on these stories as I reflect upon my childhood. The latchkey kid and the experience of having to wait alone until my dad would come home. Yes the divorce experience was part of it and working as a kid for my own spending money to play at the arcade. Having the responsibilities to walk ten blocks to school in all kinds of weather everyday. Take the laundry to the laundry mat which was a few blocks away…I was less than 10 years old doing all these things plus more.
Yet today the kids are spoiled rotten, expect everything and are oftened for everything…. Pathetic when I see and hear of these things.
Gen-X we are a core of survivors and achievers.
Thanks for the stories… I did appreciate reading this… Stay strong and continue forward…
Perhaps we can fix the current shitty generation that has divided our world.
I’ve raised kids who would be shocked to spend one day in my childhood, and yet, they face their own unique challenges, I guess. Thank you for leaving a comment. I do hope we can fix the current situation. What a hellish world it’s become. Have things always been this bad?
Also, your reference to the laundry mat reminded me of those memories, too. I always loved to go. It was one of the most peaceful places I frequented as a kid. Nobody talking. Everybody folding. The smell of Downey. And me, wishing I could hop in one of those square carts and have someone wheel me around like a merry-go-round.
I was born in 1972. My parents also divorced when I was 13. Then my father died when I was 15. He was verbally and physically abusive, hence, I can’t blame my Mom for wanting a divorce.
After school, my brother and I had to walk home uphill approximately two miles. That sucked for sure. However, having a respite from the authorities(parents) was also empowering to a certain extent. I was a straight A student and never got in trouble with drugs or alcohol until I entered my mid 20’s. My brother and I watched the newly formed MTV and played video games on our commodore 64 and Nintendo to occupy our time. .
We both would tremble with fear when we heard the gate open from the alley signaling that our Father had arrived home from work. Man, he truly was a mean SOB. We never knew what would set him off. Overall, it was a tumultuous and rough time for me. I wouldn’t want to have to go through it again at any cost.
Thank you for sharing a bit of your story. I’m sorry you went through all that. A lot of Xers have similar stories. It’s hard to imagine missing someone who was so cruel, but I’ve managed to miss cruel people before. Do you ever miss him?
I agree – there was freedom in being latchkey. I enjoyed that more in high school than elementary school. When I came home to an empty house in high school, I’d just stand at the sink talk on the phone forever while I did the dishes and cooked dinner for my parents. Please note, my kids have never made me dinner. I have great memories of pulling that long, curly phone cord all the way around the wall and into the kitchen. I had to stretch to rinse the dishes, but I loved talking to my friends with nobody around.
Bless you on the journey, Reid. Thanks for stopping by. –jen
Im a fellow Gen-Xer. I was born in 1967. My wife is an early Gen-Xer. She was born in 1964 on the cusp. All this talk about latch key kids, is right, because I remember being home by myself a lot(and my parents did not divorce), but it did not bother me at all. I watched tv, even went outside and actually talked and played with my friends in the neighborhood. Rode my bicycle, my skateboard, etc. My childhood in the 70s for the most part was great. Not all a bed of roses, but as a whole, it was really good. I think all everything that went on in the late 60’s-70s’ really defined who we are today. The independence that we had, the freedoms that we had back then really shaped us, molded us into the adults we are today. Im proud to be a Generation X er.
Hello Brannon – Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I’m proud to be an Xer, too, in case you couldn’t tell. Ha! Always seems so strange to be that we’d be sidebarred/sidelined. I have the best childhood memories roaming free hither and yon. Just glad I never got abducted…I miss the old school days.
Hello GatherYeAcornXers. I hid behind a tree once or twice myself. Tell me the significance of your name. It’s interesting. Bless you! 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. – still vexing for me in some ways.
I never even thought about being a latch key kid when I was growing up, until I started reading articles about being a Gen Xer (I was born in early 1970s)just a few years back. All those years that my dad stashed us away from the country or to my relatives ticks me off to this day. I remember my dad bringing us to a family party one day that my relatives were throwing and he left me and my little brother in our family van for hours (late night hours) while he had a good time at this party. My cousins at the party wondered why we didn’t show up!! Oh, the hours from 3pm to 6pm are truly dangerous for kids. I was walking home from elementary school one day back in 1981 and some crazy dude followed me home trying to get me to go with him. I ditched that motherf… when I rounded a street corner and hid behind a tree.
Families are changing now, and society is adapting to it. Where you used to get commercials featuring two parents and two kids, you might now get a one child family with the parents who have split up. I’m not a Generation Xer but I have heard my cousin, who is, say the same thing.
I hope those two in the top left are teachers!
Kat
I was lucky I turned out the way I did. Both of my parents worked and I was rarely saw them. They were not bad parents, just very trusting I would stay out of trouble.
I am the age of the very beginning of Generation X and I am not a Don Henley fan but Leonard Cohen fanatic-
Closing Time-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrPEM2qc-j8
Hallelujah- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJTiXoMCppw
or Tom Waits my absolute favorite- The piano has been drinking- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gwUtEEjZJ8&feature=related
Chickee! I love you for how much you bring back my youth. Many things I have long forgotten! Much love & appreciation, ang.
I knew a number of girls raised by their grans too – that was a drama filled mix of emotion and love/hate … so many arguements were had …. dearie me – childhood is fraught ! le xoxo
your blog has had some wonderful reads lately -great writing! I love they way you can find/remember such appropriate snippets from songs too, to illustrate what you are saying.
That is an awesome post. I was a boomer son to boomer parents. My siblings went through that genx deal. It’s real.
I’m glad you were nominated for the OK blog award.
Another great read!
Gina sounds like several girls I know, but not all of them were from broken families or had moms that worked outside the home. Drugs and alcohol, and lost dreams, have a way of finding many a young girl.
your blog has made me so curious about what Generation i was. sadly i missed being an Xer by one year (according to one site). but it looks like my hubby is an Xer (born 76), but i like to think of him as an XYer
you are and were adorable!