text: Your father's experience illustrates the point I have made several times. Choose your partner wisely or don't get married. One guy I worked with would change his baby's diaper and feed it in the morning, then leave for work wondering when his wife would get out of bed and start looking after it. 
  
  Both my parents were neglectful and abusive. I don't favour one over the other, neither of them got my home address and neither of them got told what motel I was staying at when I was in town to visit my siblings. I had to do that to avoid having my parents show up at the motel and screw us over. Dear old mom banging on the motel door at 6:30 AM and waking up our kids when we were trying to let them sleep in to be rested for the road trip home.
  
  Imagine being suddenly dumped on a street far from home by your mother, at age 10, with a squalling infant and 3 other young children and being told to find your way home with them by bus. That was one of the milder incidents.