Chapter 13 - Diane’s house rules
Child services did not find a dungeon.
No starvation.
No hidden beatings.
What they found was a family culture of obedience that had been applied unevenly to Emma.
Diane’s informal rules:
Children eat at assigned places.
Ask before leaving table.
No crying to get out of consequences.
Older children share with younger children.
Younger children must apologize when they disrupt older children.
Reasonable pieces.
Then distortions.
If Emma asked to call me during conflict, Diane sometimes said:
“Later. You’re not using Mommy to escape.”
If Emma cried, Vanessa called it manipulation.
If Lily defended Emma, Vanessa accused Lily of being disloyal.
The adults had created a hierarchy:
Vanessa decides Lily.
Rachel decides Emma.
But when Rachel is absent, Diane decides everyone.
Except Vanessa increasingly acted as if she also decided Emma.
That was the fault line.
No one had clearly told me the rule.
May you like
Because they knew I would reject it.
Secrecy was the clue.
