Childhood: From Divorce to Dairy Queen to Double Holidays

Most of this morning's discussions on our show were about the mom staying home and raising the kids. A lot of folks agreed. A lot didn't.

It all reminded me of my parents' divorcing and the toll it took on me and my sister.

My folks got divorced in the early seventies when I was only 11 years old. Back then, kids didn't get to ask questions. We just knew that Dad hadn't been home for a few weeks. One day, he came and got us and took us to Dairy Queen. We got ice cream cones, and he said, "I'm not going to live at your house anymore." That was it.

Shortly thereafter, we met our new stepmom. She was really nice. The package also came with an old stepsister, and she was awesome.

Even being that young, my sister and I knew that both families were now trying to outdo each other when it came to birthday and Christmas presents. Sure, there were some logistics issues, like travel. Christmas Eve at Dad's, go to Mom's Christmas morning. Then Mom got a new friend, so we had Christmas night at his relatives' place.

That was fine at the time. I believe that the damage comes years later because we didn't grow up in a "normal" family situation.

Fast forward to today, where I spoil my kid rotten because I'm trying to make her childhood better than mine was.

She knows that I'm always there, and I'm very proud of that.