My mom confiscated my gaming stuff on a couple of occasions. When she treatened to burn them, I told her I would have no qualms about burning her books in retribution. So they remained in storage until I and my brother located them on one of many scouting missions.
Later on, I earned some money working for my step-dad. I was told I could spend my wages on whatever I wanted. My mother was afraid I was going to carry through on the blue hair dye concept, but instead I purchased a copy of GURPS. When I showed it to her, she looked downcast. She started to protest, but I said firmly, "You said I could spend it however I wanted." I was, oh, 13, I think. That was the end of the argument.
I have no idea whom my mother had been talking to. She and my father actually gave me the Companion Set for the Christmas after my 11th birthday. But after my parents divorced, my mother became convinced D&D was satanic, and once that became an unsupportable assertion, said that it would warp my mind and cause me to commit suicide. Eventually, I think my mom realized D&D was my only regular source of friends.
My younger brother followed in the trail I blazed. My youngest brother got into D&D for a while, and my mother actually started giving him D&D books as presents. My step-dad even made him a special gaming table with a 1" grid and pockets for miniatures.
