😶🌫️ What it means to have grown up with neglect of your basic needs
Growing up with neglect meant learning to survive on scraps while other children had their basic needs consistently met—teaching you to become resourceful beyond your years while never quite believing you deserved care.
You may have discovered early that survival was your curriculum while other kids learned math and played games. You learned which neighbors might feed you, how to dress wounds yourself, and when to hide your family's struggles from the outside world. You became a tiny adult who cooked meals you could barely reach the stove for, signed your own school forms, and diagnosed your illnesses via library books. This premature independence gave you incredible resilience and problem-solving abilities that most people never develop.
You may have learned to shrink your existence to fit what felt available, developing an almost supernatural ability to sense when your needs might be too much for others to handle. Now you find yourself hoarding resources like a squirrel preparing for winter that never comes, feeling genuinely surprised when people show up for you without expecting payment in return. Basic care from others still feels suspicious—your body tenses waiting for the catch, because kindness feels like a language you never fully learned.