Perfection was expected in my home, always under the guise of “We just want you to do your best. As long as you do your best, we’ll be happy.” The problem is that “my best” was frequently insulted, and on those occasions I was able to live up to “my best” as my parents saw it, I was told I shouldn’t expect praise because those levels of accomplishment should just be my norm. One of my earliest memories is coming to my parents with excitement because I had not only achieved a perfect score on a project but also received bonus points, and my parents scoffing and telling me “We’re…