I agree that the poster should not compare his growing up to others experiences growing up in the WT. Maybe he is a poser. But I have to say that while I thought I was missing out on celebrating the holidays, school functions and sports as a kid, I look back and am ok with it. I was still allowed to play with the neighbor kids, but also had friends that were witnesses. My parents did not have much growing up and celebrating the holidays would have put a financial strain on them. I was actually ok with going to the school library or walking home while the other kids had the holiday parties. The school library had this super cool covered wagon in it that I would have all to myself to read while they were in the classroom. And being able to walk home and spend time there was cool cuz I was the only kid that could do it! I actually liked getting up on stage and giving talks, even though I was a girl and had to do it with a householder. As I got older, I would volunteer for a talk if someone cancelled at the last minute. I also liked going out in service. Not because I liked talking to people about God, but I loved going with friends and family in the car so we could sit and talk! Not to mention going on breaks to get coffee and donuts!! It was especially fun when someone would get stuck at the door for a long time, cuz that meant that we could sit in the car and talk. It was purely a social thing for me!
When my kids were younger and we were taking them out in field service, we would make it fun for them by just hitting laundry mats and gas stations. They didn't have to talk to anyone, just grab a couple of watchtowers and awakes and leave them on a counter. We usually cut the mornings short and would go out for lunch with our friends and family, sometimes hanging out with them for the rest of the day. When it came to the days that they would have holiday parties, my kids would stay home all day and we would plan something fun for them to do with other witness kids who attended the same school. Halloween would be spent in the basement of our house with our close friends and family watching movies and eating pizza, popcorn and apple crisp. OR we would all go out to dinner. Thanksgiving and Christmas were spent with family, eating and playing games, as usually it was the only time off during the year that we could all get together cuz everyone had the day off.
I guess we tried to make it less awkward for our kids. They still had neighbor kids and kids from school over. So, we were not the uber strict witnesses that some of those in the hall were. I get it that not everyone shared my experiences growing up, but I certainly won't tell you all to just get over it and grow up!!
I am not bitter about being raised a witness when it comes to missing out on the holidays and what not. I ended up doing the same for my kids, because I THOUGHT that I was doing right by them from what I was taught to believe. I AM bitter however about never having a choice as to what to believe in for fear of losing my witness friends and family. Getting baptized at 16 when I had NO clue what I was in for, doing it because it was the thing to do, not because I believed in it 100%. Being wrongfully disfellowshipped over a fun night of going out with my adult witness friends who turned their back on their friends, to save their own ass. I am bitter over the way the WT has such a firm grip over their followers and the tactics that they use to keep you in. Which is why I will never go back. I love my life, my friends, my boyfriend and the fact that my kids don't want to have anything to do with it. And you know what?? They are great kids, even though their witness friends are taught to think differently about them.
Rambling over...must be the 10 hours of sleep that I had and the 3 cups of coffee!! lol BTW...I really have enjoyed reading about everyone's personal experiences on this thread. It is interesting to me to read how each of us being raised as witnesses have had different stories to tell about their childhood and their thoughts as to how it has affected them as adults.
