Stress & Chaos Don't Mix

I can remember growing up in a home where my mother became a single parent after years of fighting with my dad and they finally decided to separate for good. Those were some good times as well as bad times. There were times when my brother who is the oldest would have to make sure the other 3 of us were ready for school and our hair was done, and that we ate breakfast and got on the bus and a similiar routine when we got out of school. There were times that the lights would get cut off and we had to use kerosene heaters because there were more bills due than money available...but as I said it was good times too. We all were very close, we made games out of it and my mother not one time allowed us to go hungry. She turned those times into adventures! Now as a parent, I am able to see the severity of it, but it sure didn't look like it when we were going through it. She worked through it and did what she had to do! Now out of her 6 children...5 have gone to college and gotten degrees or still working on their degrees!! So we evidently made it through it! I don't think that there is a country on the earth that is not dealing with these types of situations. I believe that a child's biosocial, psychosocial, and cognitive developments are based on the way the parents handle chaotic situations! I truly believe that a child will respond the way in which a parent responds.