Originally Posted by
9Iron 
Too much exposure for them, like letting them see a very real and scary PG-13 movie. What does everyone think?
Probably depends on how much exposure they've had to real life scary stuff going on in the household. And that's where the kind of honesty that most of us can't see comes in.
When I was drinking, I didn't think I was hurting anybody but myself. There weren't big fights, no yelling or things breaking in front of my son. I wasn't out at the bars. So, no exposure to scary stuff I liked to think.
The truth was, though, that I resented my son. Ouch. How's that for scary from the perspective of a 5 year old? I would watch the clock, wishing it would move faster so I could put him to bed. My nights were consumed with hiding out, being physically present, but emotionally absent, waiting for the time when I could 'relax' and get back to my real interest in oblivion.
I'm pretty sure that my veiled resentment came through loud and clear. These are not fun things to look at, but the damage done didn't start healing until I took the steps suggested. 'Warped lives of blameless children,' AA's Big Book calls it.