Childhood Fleeting

My parents were not rich, we actually lived very close to the poverty line but we always had enough. My dad fixed our vehicles and my parents were frugal shoppers. They gave us as many experiences as they could. My siblings and I went to summer camp every year, we went camping as a family, we had bikes to ride, books to read, etc. We were frequent users of the library. We had a lot of spare time with home-schooling since homework was, well just work. I would read until my eyes hurt. I read mysteries, historical fiction and Calvin and Hobbes. I could zone out completely and get lost in the story. I read so much, I would delay my chores. I would have books taken away because I wouldn't do what I was told haha. My parents didn't let us watch very much TV, we were allowed an hour a day. Being at my grandma's for the day meant we got away with watching a little but more. She would cover for us if my dad came to pick us up and the TV was on. We were supposed to watch educational shows which meant a lot of Discovery Channel and nature shows.

After my mom finished her diploma, she had to find a job. Unfortunately there weren't any jobs that paid well enough to support a family of 6 (my dad was still finishing his Grade 12). So my parents decided that she would have to find work in a city 3.5 hrs away. This was not an easy choice to make. I remember the day she got a job offer and my parents were discussing it and told us the plan. I'm pretty sure I cried and that my mom had tears in her eyes because she had already spent a year away from her children. She was able to rent a room in the from her old high school best friend. She came home on the weekends. I cried every Sunday night when she left. We called her nearly every night on the phone. After all of us kids had a turn to talk, my dad would take the phone to his room and talk to her. He would often end up yelling. We didn't know what was wrong but my dad soon told us. He didn't like her  friend, first off her friend was not a Christian, her friend was single, my mom didn't find a church to attend, he didn't know what she was doing there. Basically, he was paranoid. His wife was in a big city alone with her best friend so who knows what kinds of shenanigans they could be getting up to. I learned later on that my dad was controlling and he didn't like that he was losing his control over my mom.