Trading Places: Living with an Alcoholic, Drug-Abusing Parent

The young girl had to wake up two hours before her alarm clock was set to go off just to make sure that their mother had come home the night before; there were many times when they've started their day without their mother, and sometimes they would go days on end without even hearing from her, nor seeing her. By now, the young girl knew it was she who had to raise her younger brother and sisters. It was she who had to make sure they were up and ready for school, had breakfast, and sometimes a lunch to take with them. But she was only twelve years old, and she knew this wasn't how the rest of her friends lived, but she did.

Her life had been this way ever since she could remember. She always had the role of the parent in their household; she made sure the house was clean, dinner was prepared, the schoolwork completed, and even had a few times where she had to wake up and alert her mother to prevent the fire from falling from her cigarette onto the floor....and this was done more times than the young girl wished for. Oftentimes, the young girl wished that she never had a mother; at least not the one she had.

The warnings signs of parents who are falling short of their responsibilities by alcohol and drug abuse are quite evident. You can find these signs in the appearance/characteristic behaviors of most of their children; children are generally very independent-they have learned this from having to generally take care of themselves while their parents are 'binging' or left with hangovers from the night before; the children tend to have a sense of anger against the world, this being because of the weight that they generally are carrying because they are holding up the responsibilities of an adult and not that of a child; most of the children are tired, with a sluggish appearance and attention span-simply due to them having to stay up late nights for whatever reason, and some are just plain tired because they have so much on their plates as far as life is concerned.

Records and statistics have shown that most children living in homes where there is/are a alcohol-drug abusing parent(s) are those who mature quicker than most. These reports come as no surprise; especially when one witness this firsthand. You have a mother who is hung-over from the night before, not able to get up and get her children ready for school; leaving them to fend for themselves: eating whatever they chose for breakfast, putting on whatever clothing they desire, and possibly leaving the house with a still-sleeping, hung-over mother, who doesn't know they even left the house....And when they return from school, the mother is still sluggish, therefore leaving them to prepare dinner for themselves.

This is going on in plenty of households today, but what can be done about it? Even though there are places, institutions and programs to help people with problems such as these-are people really taking advantage of the help?