[PSY]

Here are my edits, combined with Chantal's. Important note to everyone: when you apply edits, please remember to remove your default font formatting (e.g., my default formatting is Georgia font with dimgray color, and this should always be removed when editing articles). It's very time-consuming for me to selectively remove default font formatting. The Articles Team guidelines and my thread should help clear things up, but if you're still confused, please let me know before you begin to apply edits! =)

(P.S. - I had to use two posts for the article because I exceeded the character limit. This shouldn't be a problem once you apply the edits, since the color tags will go away. =P)

A life with alcohol [Robin: This title may be misleading, as it sounds like you struggled with alcoholism. Perhaps "Life with an alcoholic parent"?]
Anonymous By Anonymous

Since about the age of 8 eight, I've watched my dad drink himself into a state night in night out [Robin: I'd like to avoid these sorts of vague statements... some users may not know what you mean by "into a state night in night out," so how about, "to the point of intoxication almost every night"?]. He would have 20 ounces while playing a game with us, and that would be the norm for a Sunday night while Mom cooked the dinner,. iIt never really bothered me that much when I was younger, as alcohol has always been in this house and always will be, but it was around the age of eight he started drinking heavily [Robin: This statement seems repetitive, so I'd remove it.]. During the day he is sober, holdsing down a job, and worksing from 9 A.M. to -6 P.M. in an office setting. He's not the a 'stereotypical alcoholic,'. Bbut he's still an alcoholic.

It wasn't just Sunday nights he would drink. It was and still is every night. [Robin: Again, this statement seems repetitive to me.] I can remember when his drinking would get out of control, and it still does.I have always felt different from my friends. - iIn school, most Monday mornings or days would start with sharing about what we did at over the weekend,. most Many people would say they spent time with their dad, or that they their dad took them somewhere,. wWhen it got to me, what could I say? 'Dad just drank'? No. Talking about dDad and his drinking isn't wasn't something we were allowed to do, and we still don't really talk about it.

It wasn't really untill my bed times got became later and later that I really began to notice how much my dad drinks. 20 to 60 ounces of beer a per night was all I saw up until the age of eleven aged 8. Once I got to the age of about 11 my bedtime had got later and it was then that I was seeing my dad drinking more and more and more (and still am). [Robin: Again, repetitive statement.] But iIt was about this age I was beginning that I began to notice my dad passing out on the sofa. and having friends round was getting hard as they would want to stay later and this would mean them seeing dad drunk! Inviting friends to my house became problematic, because the later they stayed, the more likely it was that they would see my dad when he was drunk! So if they came round or come round To keep this from happening, I usually would make sure they are were gone by early evening.I was going to school tired and exhausted from waiting up for my dad to either go to bed or pass out on the sofa, and trying to wake him up the following morning. I was getting angry in school, not just because of what was going on at home, but also because of I was getting bullied at school. it was like where Wherever I went, I was dealing with name-calling and abuse. It was like there was no escape from it at all. I was labelled as naughty and badly behaved. (behaved and threatened needed a space after the period, there wasn’t one) Threatened with suspension and isolation and put on report. I began to bunk (skip) class. Hang around in town and bunk (skip) school. [Robin: Perhaps "I was threatened with suspension due to my behavior, and I began to skip classes" to make those statements more concise.]

If I did attend lessons, people would irritate me and annoy me and I would get become angry. No one ever asked if I was okay and simply just assumed "that was how I was." The reality was at home that I was trying to juggle schoolwork and my dad's drinking with the abuse and arguments and avoid getting in trouble at school. Yet I could not tell anyone at school what was happening, I couldn't find the words to say and really didn't know how to actually word it and I felt like telling the truth would ruin the family and destroy the family secret. So I kept quiet. I'd fall asleep in classes, I'd get angry, yet most of the time I would act like everything was fine.

My attendance fell from 100% attendance to like 50% attendance, again this which was put down attributed to me being a troublemaker and me just not being bothered about education,. my grades slipped in year 7 and 8 (in grade 6 and 7) I was getting my homework in on time the majority of the time , aAs time went on, I missed deadlines, and didn't bother with handing it homework in,. iIf I did do homework, it would be sloppy, and rushed, sometimes done on the bus or the train (not sure if you would like to use something different for train or not) on the way to school. There were times where I was getting A* (do you mean As?) on projects in years 7-8. Years 9-11 (in grade 6-7. Grade 8-10) (I’ve changed this information to protect the location, see below for more information please) when I would get excellent grades on assignments, but overall, my grades were slipping. hHomework was not something I would considered to be important, nor did I have the time to do it. I would come home from school, and run up to my room, and just lie on my bed and cry,. After a while, I would calm down, tidy my room, and then I would watch TV, and have dinner. and bBy then, my dad was home, and then it was all about dealing with dad him. - arguments were a nightly event, sSometimes, we would have three up to four arguments in one night. If it was a ''good'' night and we only had one or two arguments, I would manage to get some homework done before having to deal with my dad passing out on the sofa and having to wake him up the following morning. and wake him up off the sofa etc