Thanks Denise.

I guess most parents really do want the best for their kids, but often their idea of “the best” may not be great for the individual kids.

My father had a horrible childhood, brought up by unpleasant and sadistic governesses, in a wealthy household which was rife with domestic upheavals (my grandmother used to throw the good china down the stairs at my grandfather who kept a large number of mistresses.)

He was brought up in a post Victorian society and really could not get his head around women doing anything but getting married. He definitely believed in Spare the Rod, having been relentlessly beaten by governesses and teachers alike, the result was I was a spoiled obnoxious brat, the fruit of a second marriage.

My step sisters and brothers did badly under my Dad’s ideas and the two eldest left home under a cloud, one would never speak with him again — the other maintained strained relations until he died.

The two youngest became photo journalists and went to Germany to work for the U.S. army. Although they remained mostly civil, there was always strain.

With all of us, my Father insisted we had to learn a trade. He was in both WW1 and WW2 and was quit sure there would be a WW3 and we needed to be ready for it.