Growing up, whenever someone wanted to be hurtful with their words, the solution was to shut their mouth with your fists — this included siblings. I would much rather get punched in the face than have someone tell me I’m worthless, or a b!t(c)h, or a pu$sy, or make fun of something I’m insecure about. It was the only way I knew how to keep the hurt from coming at me.
My wife grew up in a home where being hurtful verbally/emotionally was the norm. That’s how fights were fought. Something hurtful gets said to her, she says something hurtful back. Even if nothing is verbally […]