My mom and I have never been very close and I have a lot of complaints. I do have a few positives. One was we weren't a house where you had to eat everything on your plate. It was, you don't want it? Good, the adults would like a second helping and whisk! whatever it was went away and you were thinking wait, maybe I want to change my mind but it was too late.
When I was around 4th grade or so I started pestering for a microscope or chemistry set or something like that for my birthday or Christmas, but it was like Ralphie and the bb gun, just wasn't going to happen. But my mom said that I could go into the kitchen and mix things around and then eat the results and it was chemistry too. Which it is!
Because we didn't get along well, I left home right after high school. Because my father had died, I had enough social security to put myself through college with room and board and not much else. After college spent a few years spending more out in the clubs and on my fashion sense than on my food budget. Been through economic ups and downs, and I have learned how to cook from the basic ingredients and using time in my favor because it can be cheaper and if I'm feeling down about the world around me and no money in my pocket, I still want something good to eat!