There are a few complicating factors in my case. Technically I was middle- to upper-middle class growing up (my mom was an attorney and my dad had a small print shop.) We also flipped houses as a side gig. My mom believed that whoever contributed the most money to the family should receive the greatest share of resources. We lived in a nice house (well eventually after we finished building it!) and my mom had a nice car, because she earned the most money and therefore got to spend the most. I grew up thinking I was rich because we lived in a good neighborhood, but in retrospect I'm not sure my childhood was as upper-middle class as my mom's life. I went to DC public school, never owned two pairs of pants and one pair of shoes at a time, babysat 3-5x a week by age 9, started in the family business at 10, and used to swindle food off my elementary school classmates in Texas Hold 'Em. I started having stomach problems at three but my parents never took me to the doctor, so it eventually progressed to the point where I'm 38 and now disabled. I share a one-bedroom with my best friend and live paycheck to paycheck because I can't work full-time. My mom recently bought a million-dollar house in a fancy California retirement community; when she offers to help financially, it's in an exasperated and threatening tone. She did this to my dad too- when his business collapsed in 2008, she bought herself a brand-new $45k Lexus while he drove an ancient rusted station wagon with standing water in the cabin. I feel like money and class are the biggest chasm between myself and my mom.