The more time passes, the more I realize how much lower the score actually was.

Why would being spoiled rate highly? It's a bad thing.

I'd rate mine a 10 but because of independence. My parents gave me both the trust and the skills to do what I wanted to do. I biked all over town, didn't need to check in outside of mealtimes, read the whole library, went to museums and concerts and dances. I taught myself to type and then to program. It was fantastic.

I wasn't spoiled, though. We didn't have any spare money, so anything I wanted to do I had to pay for myself; I was babysitting and mowing lawns from a young age. I had my chores at home including taking care of my brothers. I had food, if not my favorites, and clothes, though mostly hand-me-downs from cousins. Any electronics in the house were shared, and either bought used or received as gifts from most distant relatives. But stuff isn't what makes childhood great: friends, freedom, and family are.

5sh

Other than my parents being kids (17 when they had me, 5 kids by the time they were 28); it was pretty idyllic. Spent my childhood between England and Belgium and teenage years in America (on the same street Einstein used to live on!).

I wasn't really spoiled as such, but certainly extremely privileged compared to most.

Deduct a few points for the undiagnosed ADHD throughout my family.

Honestly I'd have to say a solid 5. I wasn't spoiled, but definitely supported in all my ever-changing interests. I had freedom like simply doesn't exist anymore, but I had rules to follow. I was super independent, so maybe others would have felt neglected, but I never wanted for attention or things. I was taught to think for myself, actively, by my parents, how to hobby, how to do basic life shit like cleaning, and laundry. I still have a strong relationship with my folks. I could and can talk to them.

Hard to condense this to an integer. There were times of feast and famine. I was given a lot of freedom that I knew most parents my age would gasp at, and I had some perks. That said, I did come from a broken home and I was the product of people who probably shouldn't have had a kid. They have their own circumstances and issues with their parents as well, so the brokenness really is generational. I've done everything in my power to break that pattern and it's working so far.

I will not say I was spoiled, but I was certainly given too much to eat and not often enough sent outside to play. I was always going to be an oddity and a misfit, so it would have been nice to at least not be fat.

All of that and I still was extremely privileged. The overall number needs a context. If we're framing this against global childhood, I'm at least a 4. If we're zooming in to kids in my immediate cohort, probably closer to a -3.

Like, between 0 and -8 or -9, mostly trending worse.

The best time of my life is working casual at a servo two or three days a week.

It was certainly mostly negative, but there were hints of spoileriness. I always had the newest Gameboy, but fuck having clean clothes that fit me. I barely talked to my parents after I left their home, at least willingly. My mom passed a few years ago and it put a huge strain on me since there was no one to care for my father, so being a decent human being, I stepped up and tried, but ultimately couldn't.

He passed earlier this year, and I did what I could to do right by him, even though he didn't give me the same treatment.

In my mind -9 and -10 are resserved for sexually exploitation... so I'd say -8 as that contains lots of beatings, emotional abuse and tons manipulation back than and attempts to manipulate today...

I would rate it a 0 or -1. My therapist would rate it a -9 or -10.

When it comes to financial stuff, probably a 7/10. I had piano lessons, riding lessons, summer camp, etc. I honestly have a lot of fond memories of all that stuff. When it comes to abuse, probably -7. Lots of physical violence, screaming and yelling, threats to kill my animals, threats to kill me, threats for them to kill themselves, constant criticism about literally everything, and having to walk on eggshells my entire childhood and living in a constant state of extreme stress because I never knew when things would blow up and I would get my ass kicked for something random like not setting the table correctly.

Lucky enough to be a 7 or 8

2, most of what I remember is negative. It was probably better than I remember though. I tend to remember the bad times more than the good. There were some good times though.

My mom is kinda like the poem "there was a little girl, with a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good she was really good, but when she was bad ^drunk she was horrid."

My dad was a great guy though.

4 with ambivalence. One parent was no good. The other was good but didn’t defend us much.

I’m comfortable saying 0 at this point. I actually don’t really have many memories of childhood. We were just very poor. My parents spent what money there was on cheap can beer and something you need rolled up dollar bills for. We did do fun things, during the good times we had stuffed crust pizza from Pizza Hut and a video. I ended up being really short just from my diet of kool-aid and flint stones vitamins. I remember food things the most. We were spanked, but only occasionally, and this was the norm for the very rural area of Florida I grew up in. I remember mom’s ongoing grudge with the neighbors. She didn’t like them, apparently, because they gave us food when we played. It took many years to piece all these things together. What living family I am related to I am NC with, and have been for decades. I feel like this was textbook neglect exacerbated by poverty.

+3 or so, benign neglect, with unavoidable trauma. My dad died when I was a teenager and that sucked, my mom fell apart, also she was diagnosed bipolar and I didn't enjoy being a child at all, but do honestly believe my mom did her best, and we were fed, housed, schooled, (ETA including sports! She was big on physical fitness, and that is something that absolutely ended up improving my adult life, once I recovered from my own disordered/restrictive eating) and not interfered with much beyond that.

What score would the over-involved helicopter parents of my kids' friends land on this scale, though? Those kids aren't spoiled exactly but certainly not neglected.

Fact that might be useful... research varies on whether psychological abuse or sexual abuse is the most destructive in childhood. Psychological changes how you think, how you attribute meaning to events and you're ability to regulate your emotions. It's not just words

Damn, that's a good question. Like a 6 or 7 on this scale, all told? Parents were good, wasn't spoiled but didn't want for much, some tension with my dad at times/impact of necessary absences due to military lifestyle, but he was generally a good dude.

Idk - I look back on my childhood fondly more or less.

-5. I had one parent that was not great, and one that was a doormat. It wasn't any of the usual suspects, and I would say that that parent is eccentric and oblivious more than a bad person, but in the end I think I came out with some trauma.

School was really hard early on (because I'm also weird), while the parental issues grew more severe later on.

I would not rate it. My childhood, like myself, is not a product or a service, it's not even a homework, waiting to be rated ;)