Hell no!
I had a horrible childhood after my mother passed away. My dad's wife treated me like utter shit and made me do everything around the house while she sat on her ass and did nothing. I was her maid. I did EVERYTHING while she lays around the pool and does nothing. It was all work and absolutely NO play allowed at all, ever. From sunrise to late at night I was doing everything that I was required to do around the house, I had to bow to all of her countless demands, and I was never paid one single cent ever. I may have been a child, but a child normally has 1 or 2 simple chores, that's sensible and normal and does help teach responsibility. But I was doing EVERYTHING while she did absolutely NOTHING, she did NOT lift even one single finger around the house, ever. For me, it was everything that she could think of that would be "work" for me. She did this so she wouldn't have to pay for a real maid, and also because she hated me for being of a different race than her and her daughters (they're white - they viewed everyone that is not white and perfect as inferior) and also for being Deaf - she has even told me I was not worth shit. Everything you can think of that is done around the house, I did it. I could never ever say no because if I refused to do what she tells me to do, she beat me. If I didn't want to get hurt, I had to do everything she told me to do, no matter what, because when she hurt me, she HURT ME PRETTY BAD! I wasn't allowed to play, ever. Play wasn't allowed at all, ever. It was work, work, work, and then go to bed, and then when I wake up it's work, work, and more work! When I wasn't in school, I was always working around the house doing everything. I don't remember ever playing. I don't remember fun. And she also beat me whenever she was in the mood to do so, and she also beat me if she hears something from my school that she did not like, even if it was just for being 2 seconds late to a class, or something just even dumber than that. No matter how dumb and no matter how minor it was, she doesn't care - it was good enough for her to get into a rage about. Or even for things that were NOT my fault, like the day she exploded because my yellow bus did not come to our house on time (in the morning, before school - I was waiting for the bus to come pick me up), and she kicked the living crap out of me, she got so mad at me because the driver was late...she got mad at the wrong person. The yellow bus showed up just as she got done kicking me. I was innocent. Then I went into foster care hell. When I left, she turned on to my own younger sister (not her daughters) and it was the same thing all over again. Now I and my sister will not talk to her, we will not even talk to our dad, and we also refuse to go back home. Our dad and his wife was NOT invited to her wedding when she got married, and they also are NOT invited to my wedding when I do get married (I'm engaged). But I'm inviting my entire mom's side of the family though because they have been wonderful to me.
Now that chapter of my life is over, I do not wish to go back to that kind of hell ever again. I really like being an adult and doing what I want, and making my own rules to fit my life and my needs and wants. I like not having to worry everyday and analyzing how my day at school went to figure out if my dad's wife would beat me up today or not. No more spending the entire bus ride home over-analyzing my day at school to try to think of even the slightest thing that would send my dad's wife into a major rage and get beat up (usually there was always something, even if it was extremely minor - it's always good enough for her to get angry about - she expected me to have 100% perfect behavior at school). The butterflies I always had on the bus ride home everyday is gone. I like being independent and being able to do what I wanted to do and not being held as a prisoner in my own home (I was never allowed to go out except to go to school, in fact I was not allowed out of my room at all ever except when I was doing all the work around the house, and to use the bathroom, and also to eat - and even then I was never allowed to eat with the family, EVER - I always ate alone - I wasn't considered part of the family) and not being a maid like my dad's wife had me be. She broke child labor laws, and she did not care. I could list all the things she made me do in a typical day, and it would be several pages long. Also, being an adult means I can stand up for myself now because if she tries to hurt me today all I have to do is call the cops and she would be arrested. I could not do that when I was a minor - I wasn't allowed access to phones and also when you are a minor your parents can do whatever they want to do to you - and the state always looks the other way. The only reason I even ended up in foster care was because one day my dad's wife decided she didn't want me around anymore, like I was garbage, and told my dad to get rid of me "or else". Basically, he was forced to choose between me and his wife, and he chose HIS WIFE without even thinking about it. He turned me over to the state. I had no say in the matter, and I ended up in all kinds of hell that foster care is known for. Why I wasn't sent to live with my cousins on my mom's side for good, I don't know. They offered to take me in, but my dad would not allow it...doesn't make sense if he was getting rid of me. I guess he and his wife wanted me to keep on suffering in foster care hell. If I had been allowed to go live with my cousins (who were already adults - they were in their 30s) in Ewa Beach, I would have had a very nice childhood in a very nice and warm place, and I would even have had the opportunities to live in several different countries due to my cousin's service in the military. But no, I stayed in foster care hell.
So, no, I wouldn't want to be a child again - to be a child means I would have NO defenses at all - I could not defend myself - I was taken advantage of - I had no say in any matters. Being an adult means that I can prevent this from happening during my adult life - I can defend myself from my dad and his wife now by calling the police if needed, I can even get a restraining order against them if needed based on my childhood child abuse/child labor violations. Basically, as an adult I had more power over my own LIFE. I did NOT have any power at all as a child. Despite what people say, child rights does not really exist except on law books. If child rights did really exist outside of the law books then why did the state look the other way and not do a damn thing even when I had more than enough damning evidence for the state to take me away - I always had tons of bruises, scratches, wounds, and other injuries, etc. I have had teachers and school psychologists call the CPS on my parents but none of the social workers that had come to my house would believe me because they came to my house while I was AT SCHOOL therefore they did not see the bruises, the scratches, wounds, and other many injuries and lots of damning evidence - they should have met me in person - because if they actually met me and saw the way I looked, they would have automatically taken me out of that environment, but no. I looked like utter shit. They went to my dad's house, saw how nice the house was, and decided that I was lying without even meeting me and looking at my body, just because my dad and his wife are well off and has a huge house doesn't mean that there was no abuse - child abuse can happen even in the wealthiest families, it can happen in ANY family. Aren't social workers supposed to look at children and their bodies when there are reports of child abuse? The state also would look the other way most or all of the time anyway because their social service's cases are overloaded, and the foster care system is 100% messed up. And being an adult now means I now have rights. I had NO rights as a child. I like having my rights, and would never give my rights up in order to go back to being a child - no way. I quite like being an adult anyway. I am happier as an adult than I was as a child.
Bottom line - I am an adult now - therefore I have the power to defend myself and to keep myself out of such situations - and I also have the power to say NO when someone tells me what to do. No one can tell me what to do anymore. No one can control me anymore now nor take advantage of me anymore. That's the beauty of being an adult. I have power now. I had NO power as a child. Best of all, I now have rights now that I did not have as a child.
At least I know what NOT to do to my own future children.
