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CROWS EVERYWHERE
Dec 17, 2012

CAW CAW CAW

Dinosaur Gum

BrigadierSensible posted:

I see this as a version of "the only moral abortion is my mistresses abortion" thing that Conservative Christian politicians do.

Insomuch as it is "I estranged from my parents for good, real and important reasons. My kids estranged from me because they are mean and disrespectful."


In an unrelated thought. How many of these parents just have kids that they aren't particularly close with? As in, for all the performative wailing about estrangement and cruelty the parent does, the kid just goes, "yeah, I'm not really that close with my mum. I see her at Christmas, but that's about it. I hold her and my family no ill will, it's just the way things are." and is oblivious to the 'pain' they are inflicting.

Given how many of the parents are having regular brunch meetups with their "estranged" kids or being upset that they don't phone literally every week, I would guess the number is high.

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SpaceViking
Sep 2, 2011

Who put the stars in the sky? Coyote will say he did it himself, and it is not a lie.

BrigadierSensible posted:

I see this as a version of "the only moral abortion is my mistresses abortion" thing that Conservative Christian politicians do.

Insomuch as it is "I estranged from my parents for good, real and important reasons. My kids estranged from me because they are mean and disrespectful."


In Psychology we call that the Fundamental Attribution Error. People have a hard time understanding how situations might affect other people, and tend to assume that anything a person does is only a reflection on their personality and not any other factor.

Rockbear
Sep 11, 2001

Milady, 'tis the clobbering hour.
Karen for Others

Welcome once again to Karen for Others, the advice column where hard-earned wisdom is served weekly with a side of down home comfort! My pain is your gain!

quote:

Karen,

My mother-in-law passed away last month very suddenly. She was in many ways the center of our family, strong and sensible and beloved. It's been very difficult for our entire family.

I'm writing because my son, who is 7 years old, is struggling especially hard with the loss of his "Grammy". They were very close, and I often catch him quietly crying in his room. He rarely laughs or smiles since the funeral.

My husband says that he's just processing at his own pace, but I feel like my son is stuck and we should involve a professional.

Should I give this more time, or is time for outside help?

Still Mourning in Milwaukee

First, I want to congratulate you on your healthy relationship with your late mother-in-law. My own mother-in-law was a cold woman with little to offer, and my daughter-in-law is far too controlling for us to have that sort of closeness. You had the maturity to recognize the value of your MIL and that's commendable.

Regarding your son, I think a "professional" will do more harm than good. You, as his mother, are an expert on his needs and feelings. To bring in an outside party will only complicate that bond and cause you to second guess yourself.

No degree can compare to carrying your child within your own body for nine months. Trust yourself! You're his mother!

I dealt with a similar problem when my own MIL passed away. I allowed my son time to grieve, but after the funeral, it became clear that he was clinging to his sadness. I think sometimes children like to milk these things to feed their endless need for attention.

In short, he's acting like he's missing his grandmother, but what he's actually doing is using her death as a way to demand your attention. That's unfair to you and deeply manipulative.

(Side note: I would think hard about who in your child's life is modeling this sort of abusive behavior. It doesn't come from nowhere.)

Regardless, there's an easy fix, though it'll take a little prep work.

Pick a closet, preferably one that locks from the outside (in a pinch you can always jam the door with a chair). Empty out that closet, and inside place a chair, a flashlight, and a few pictures of your late MIL. I call this a "Room of Rememberance".

The next time your son is sad about his Grammy, take him by the arm and guide him to the closet. Say to him, "since you miss your Grammy so much, go spend some time with her." Then sit him in the chair and close and lock the door.

If he's actually missing his Grammy, this is an opportunity to meditate on their time together and process his loss. If this is actually a ploy for attention, he'll knock or even pound on the door and ask you to let him out.

It's important that you leave him in the Room of Rememberance for at least fifteen minutes. I guarantee that after a few sessions, the crying and moping will end.

It's a lot of work but I know that you're up to the challenge. Us mothers will do anything to make sure that our children are happy and healthy.

Karen is an artist, writer and entrepreneur who transformed the pain of her abandonment by her own child, alchemy-like, into wisdom. Please mail your questions to sonic_mama@gmail.com

RoboRodent
Sep 19, 2012

Oh, I hate it.

Mx.
Dec 16, 2006

I'm a great fan! When I watch TV I'm always saying "That's political correctness gone mad!"
Why thankyew!


Rockbear your posts are so outlandish and so real

Rockbear
Sep 11, 2001

Milady, 'tis the clobbering hour.
I think dealing with my boomer parents my entire life and reading every single post in this thread has created some psychotic parent tulpa in my head. :ohdear:

Herstory Begins Now
Aug 5, 2003
SOME REALLY TEDIOUS DUMB SHIT THAT SUCKS ASS TO READ ->>

BrigadierSensible posted:

I see this as a version of "the only moral abortion is my mistresses abortion" thing that Conservative Christian politicians do.

Insomuch as it is "I estranged from my parents for good, real and important reasons. My kids estranged from me because they are mean and disrespectful."


In an unrelated thought. How many of these parents just have kids that they aren't particularly close with? As in, for all the performative wailing about estrangement and cruelty the parent does, the kid just goes, "yeah, I'm not really that close with my mum. I see her at Christmas, but that's about it. I hold her and my family no ill will, it's just the way things are." and is oblivious to the 'pain' they are inflicting.

Honestly I doubt it's very many. People generally don't cut out loved ones unless there's some really serious poo poo there and it's very rare that people let healthy familal relationships just fall away in the manner that these people are complaining about. To them it's not about the loss of face time or a bit of distance, it's about the changing power dynamic and the withdrawal of the unlimited emotional placating and attention they've come to expect and demand. How often they see their kids is probably tertiary, at most. Hell most of these people probably would be fine almost never seeing their kids as long as their kids kept the dysfunctional poo poo going unchallenged.

Like a reasonable parent has a kid who is busy with their own life and thinks, 'it would be nice if I'd get to see them more, but I understand they're busy and they just got a dog and their kid is starting school and I'm happy they've got their own life.'

These parents in the same situation stew for months about how they're the victim and their kid's SO is stealing them away and they write a thousand words without stopping to realize that every single sentence is about them. Their adult kids are still just instruments to make them feel better, not like independent individuals with their own lives and realities. They don't feel happy when their kids are healthy and independent, if anything explicitly the opposite because the healthier and more independent their kids are, the less they are needed.

Herstory Begins Now fucked around with this message at 13:40 on Mar 2, 2020

jemand
Sep 19, 2018

trickybiscuits posted:

This is interesting.


So how do they respond when it's one of their own?


quote:

I’ve only just seen this post and wanted to reply. It seems to me that you had very good reasons for distancing yourself from your birth family – not at all like most of the AC we discuss here. I sympathise because for several years I too estranged myself from my parents, in order to protect my son from the risk of the kind of sexual attention from my father that I and my brother received.

When they were dying, I did go back and took over care of both of them, so we did get the chance to reconcile to a certain extent. It’s one of the ironies of life that I sacrificed my relationship with my parents to protect a son who now doesn’t appear to want a relationship with me – funny, eh?



Some day one of them will get it. Someday.

No, probably not.


Going to guess the emotional priorities that ranks temporary estrangement from sexual molesters as one of the big sacrifices of parenthood, an action which was not worth it ultimately because the adult child doesn't constantly and performatively display gratitude for such deep sacrifice, is at the heart of this estrangement.

And this person will never figure that out. I think this is common. Someone survives severe and deep abuse, but remains quite broken and refuses therapy. Then they raise slightly less abused and broken children who are capable of having boundaries. Since the broken mother cannot have boundaries and doesn't really understand them, this explodes until estrangement occurs.

It's really sad. They did better than their parents but not well enough to cut the cycle of abuse in one generation.

Poo In An Alleyway
Feb 12, 2016



jemand posted:

Going to guess the emotional priorities that ranks temporary estrangement from sexual molesters as one of the big sacrifices of parenthood, an action which was not worth it ultimately because the adult child doesn't constantly and performatively display gratitude for such deep sacrifice, is at the heart of this estrangement.

And this person will never figure that out. I think this is common. Someone survives severe and deep abuse, but remains quite broken and refuses therapy. Then they raise slightly less abused and broken children who are capable of having boundaries. Since the broken mother cannot have boundaries and doesn't really understand them, this explodes until estrangement occurs.

It's really sad. They did better than their parents but not well enough to cut the cycle of abuse in one generation.

This is one of the main reasons I'm happy to remain a biological cul-de-sac. I can't be the mother I didn't have, I know I'm not capable of it, and never will be, even with hours of therapy already behind me and more to come. I'm never going to be capable of ending the abuse cycle while raising a family; I know that some of the worst aspects of my mother will end up coming out of me if I had children, and I'll end up hurting them like she hurt me.

purple death ray
Jul 28, 2007

me omw 2 steal ur girl

With no other way to end the cycle, we end it by not having kids at all. This coastal shelf isn't getting any deeper on my watch.

Rockbear
Sep 11, 2001

Milady, 'tis the clobbering hour.

quote:

I’ve only just seen this post and wanted to reply. It seems to me that you had very good reasons for distancing yourself from your birth family – not at all like most of the AC we discuss here. I sympathise because for several years I too estranged myself from my parents, in order to protect my son from the risk of the kind of sexual attention from my father that I and my brother received.

When they were dying, I did go back and took over care of both of them, so we did get the chance to reconcile to a certain extent. It’s one of the ironies of life that I sacrificed my relationship with my parents to protect a son who now doesn’t appear to want a relationship with me – funny, eh?

jemand posted:

Going to guess the emotional priorities that ranks temporary estrangement from sexual molesters as one of the big sacrifices of parenthood, an action which was not worth it ultimately because the adult child doesn't constantly and performatively display gratitude for such deep sacrifice, is at the heart of this estrangement.

In a thread full of vile poo poo, this one still managed to shock and upset me. It's a stunning lack of self-awareness.

It's like sending a sound wave into the earth to map what we can't see; that single comment told me everything I will ever need to know about the writer.

Rockbear fucked around with this message at 20:38 on Mar 2, 2020

Play
Apr 25, 2006

Strong stroll for a mangy stray

trickybiscuits posted:

Narcissists (and borderline people) can't deal with their own emotions so they project like crazy. What a great segue into what I wanted to share!

Hahaha this one's great. Instead of the simple explanation that the poster THEMSELVES is the narcissist, instead it's literally every other person in their lives. How strange

Saint Drogo
Dec 26, 2011

i forgave the pedo who molested me, you should forgive me anything. family is about passing on the enabling.

SulfurMonoxideCute
Feb 9, 2008

I was under direct orders not to die
🐵❌💀

I didn't even get that luxury. My uncle molested both my mom and my aunt and the whole family swept it under the rug and kept him around. Then I showed up.

She still keeps in touch with him today and thinks I should go visit him because he's dying of cancer. loving GOOD. Let him ROT.

She also thinks I should reconcile with my dad, the man who beat us for 8 years then tried to kill her in front of me.

I don't understand any of it. At all. Their concept of family is strictly limited to blood. My concept is that of chosen family, like my in-laws and my closest friends. Being related to someone doesn't make them "family". I fuckin reject that.

purple death ray
Jul 28, 2007

me omw 2 steal ur girl

"family comes first" is the same exact sentiment behind "bros before hos" - the only people who invoke it can't get people to be around them without making up a rule that says people have to be around them

Mr. Lobe
Feb 23, 2007

... Dry bones...


Picnic Princess posted:

I didn't even get that luxury. My uncle molested both my mom and my aunt and the whole family swept it under the rug and kept him around. Then I showed up.

She still keeps in touch with him today and thinks I should go visit him because he's dying of cancer. loving GOOD. Let him ROT.

She also thinks I should reconcile with my dad, the man who beat us for 8 years then tried to kill her in front of me.

I don't understand any of it. At all. Their concept of family is strictly limited to blood. My concept is that of chosen family, like my in-laws and my closest friends. Being related to someone doesn't make them "family". I fuckin reject that.

These attitudes about family are the product of years of grooming and brainwashing. They didn't need to be rational, they just need to be reinforced harshly and consistently enough. The only thing to understand is that your mother believes these things because she is a deeply damaged person. You are fortunate in that you have managed to avoid this kind of programming yourself.

Dirt Road Junglist
Oct 8, 2010

We will be cruel
And through our cruelty
They will know who we are

purple death ray posted:

"family comes first" is the same exact sentiment behind "bros before hos" - the only people who invoke it can't get people to be around them without making up a rule that says people have to be around them

Reminds me of a bit from a Lingua Ignota song, "FRAGRANT IS MY MANY FLOWER’D CROWN":

quote:

What will you say of the bond we had
Tender comrade?
For I have learned that all men are brothers
And brothers only love each other

The whole album is like that. It's great, but heavy as gently caress.

trickybiscuits
Jan 13, 2008

yospos

quote:

This weekend ED called saying she would be up to see grandma at nursing home. I had told ES about grandma and he did not respond at all and so I let it go. Like ya said No response is a response. Well ES did show up after I left him alone.

ED called to go to an expensive restaurant (No, I did not pay this time) Son showed up. I was thinking about how they were. I said that waitress has not come back, I need more water and a straw. ES took up for the waitress saying she had been back a couple of times, acted irritated with me. No she hasn’t I said.

ED brought up her Stepmom(woman who cheated with my husb) and took up for her when I said oh stepmom would probably go see my Mom (she always butts in where she is not wanted, especially my Mom. I said I hope not and she said well you went to Dad’s cousins funeral. It was like she wanted to be critical. I said we were good friends and she said well Stepmom and your Mom are good friends. I just said well you can have your opinion.

My parents and my ex-husband were chummy even though he was a terrible abusive husband (alcoholic) can you believe that? They are also chummy with his wife he left me for.

Anyway I learned me lesson, when these EC give me some crumbs I really think they might be a bit better. No, they are just like my parents and their Dad. From now on I plan to Keep Quiet as possible, Escape as soon as I can, ignore them for the most part, that is what they do to me. Accepting Them As They Are.

Plan on going on a little trip with husband and some people at our church on a bus trip. Nice to go with fun people that I enjoy. Family is just not enjoyable to me, now get that thru my head!

Fatkraken
Jun 23, 2005

Fun-time is over.

These children do not sound very estranged...

ohnobugs
Feb 22, 2003


My family is just no *fun* anymore now that they won't put up with any of my poo poo.

I feel bad for all the bingo ladies about to be stuck with her on a bus for hours.

Poo In An Alleyway
Feb 12, 2016



AuntBuck posted:

I feel bad for all the bingo ladies about to be stuck with her on a bus for hours.

I feel bad for the two fuckbuckets that were stupid/lonely/horny enough to marry her.

CROWS EVERYWHERE
Dec 17, 2012

CAW CAW CAW

Dinosaur Gum
States how ridiculous and not true it is that her mum is friends with her ex husband's new wife. Two sentences later, so my mum is good friends with my ex husband's new wife.

Daikloktos
Jan 1, 2020

by Cyrano4747
I freaking hate my abusive parents, I continue the cycle foisted upon me in my constant lust to beat things with hammers

Splicer
Oct 16, 2006

from hell's heart I cast at thee
🧙🐀🧹🌙🪄🐸
She types like Grampa Simpson telling a story

Clitch
Feb 26, 2002

I lived through
Donald Trump's presidency
and all I got was
this lousy virus

Splicer posted:

She types like Grampa Simpson telling a story

"I constantly called my daughter fat and belittled her every accomplishment, which was the style at the time."

teen witch
Oct 9, 2012

Clitch posted:

"I constantly called my daughter fat and belittled her every accomplishment, which was the style at the time."

Mods is this too long for the title

Pigsfeet on Rye
Oct 22, 2008

I'm meat on the hoof

Clitch posted:

"I constantly called my daughter fat and belittled her every accomplishment, which was the style at the time."

ABBAB: Always Be Berating and Belittling

Boywhiz88
Sep 11, 2005

floating 26" off da ground. BURR!
ACAB: All Children Are Berated.

trickybiscuits
Jan 13, 2008

yospos

quote:

I got to the house and after she was dressed getting boots on and began to cry like she didnt want to come with me…. I felt myself choking up and was getting ready to say to dil and son look what you have done we we close …es walked us to my car and told her if she wanted to be picked up just call him…she got into the car pouting i felt like i was the divorced parent taking unwilling kid for a visit..man did that feel like hell!! I talked to her and she only wanted to come to my house for xmas gifts..so she opened the gifts what do you buy a kid that has everything well she said the things i got her would replace thing s that broke ..we played with the dolls that i have in a room just for her ,got lunch played with slime and a board game ..the weird thing is she doesnt want to go anywhere but es came to pick her up said thanks ..she didnt say anything but good bye …

This is a seven-year-old kid who she last saw less than six months ago.

Poster who recently wrote about ending her life ("Ready to take that pill!"):

quote:

Today the husband said, I was not fit for a conversation.
He said he always found me screaming or fighting
Or nagging.
He never thought highly of me and I know it but now the father and son gang up and make me feel
Irrelevant.
I don’t know what to do. I just want to run away
stay away from everyone. Not talk, not discuss.
I want to give up on both of them but have no place to go. My siblings dont care how I deal with life and my friends are his friends too.
I want to walk away from it all and just soak myself in happiness…where I am relevant and matter.
Where I am more than my weaknesses….
Where I am loved

How can I do that…..

Pope Corky the IX
Dec 18, 2006

What are you looking at?
My ex-wife was a loving nightmare and I still wouldn’t have referred to her as “the wife”

Beachcomber
May 21, 2007

Another day in paradise.


Slippery Tilde

Pope Corky the IX posted:

My ex-wife was a loving nightmare and I still wouldn’t have referred to her as “the wife”

What is this responding to?

Pope Corky the IX
Dec 18, 2006

What are you looking at?
The post above mine where she refers to her spouse as "the husband" it's so loving weird.

meat glitter
Nov 12, 2019


this thread is so nice to have around. i'm estranged from my parents and went full no contact (or tried to anyway) about a year ago and whenever my mom pulls some crazy poo poo like calling my property manager to try and get my current address from them or calls the police to do a "wellness check" on me it helps to be able to come read all these stories about how there's so many others just like her and so many others just like me! what a world

Beachcomber
May 21, 2007

Another day in paradise.


Slippery Tilde

meat glitter posted:

this thread is so nice to have around. i'm estranged from my parents and went full no contact (or tried to anyway) about a year ago and whenever my mom pulls some crazy poo poo like calling my property manager to try and get my current address from them or calls the police to do a "wellness check" on me it helps to be able to come read all these stories about how there's so many others just like her and so many others just like me! what a world

Is there any way to prevent the police from doing those? It's like a tamer version of being SWATed, but people still get killed.

meat glitter
Nov 12, 2019


Beachcomber posted:

Is there any way to prevent the police from doing those? It's like a tamer version of being SWATed, but people still get killed.

if there is, i havent found it yet. they wont just NOT do a wellness check - because what if there might actually be a problem? best case scenario is the officer who responds is chill about it, checks my id and leaves after explaining im fine and my mom is a crazy person...repeat again in a few months. im lucky that im a normal looking white woman; would probably be a whole different nightmare if i werent.

and of course in true estranged parent fashion "its my own fault she had to resort to this - i stopped responding to texts and calls so naturally she only thought the worst!!!!"

cinnamon rollout
Jun 12, 2001

The early bird gets the worm

meat glitter posted:

if there is, i havent found it yet. they wont just NOT do a wellness check - because what if there might actually be a problem? best case scenario is the officer who responds is chill about it, checks my id and leaves after explaining im fine and my mom is a crazy person...repeat again in a few months. im lucky that im a normal looking white woman; would probably be a whole different nightmare if i werent.

and of course in true estranged parent fashion "its my own fault she had to resort to this - i stopped responding to texts and calls so naturally she only thought the worst!!!!"

Could you get a no contact order and then at least the mother in question would have to suffer whatever consequences come with harassment at that point? Seems like a lot of work for something that is only partially effective and doesn't stop the police from doing a needless wellness check, but what else is there besides doing nothing?

meat glitter
Nov 12, 2019


cinnamon rollout posted:

Could you get a no contact order and then at least the mother in question would have to suffer whatever consequences come with harassment at that point? Seems like a lot of work for something that is only partially effective and doesn't stop the police from doing a needless wellness check, but what else is there besides doing nothing?

this is getting more into e/n territory then "ahaha estranged parents so quirky" so ill leave it here with this but ive been advised (by a friend who is an attorney, off hand, for whatever that is worth) that if i can prove they are crossing over into harassment territory i would be able to get some kind of court order, and to prove harassment it will be helpful to have a paper trail. i started with a text and email saying do not contact me and blocked their numbers then when they sent letters i sent THEM a letter saying "hey i mean it do not contact me" and if they keep escalating my next step is to pay a lawyer to send a more official letter with letterhead and poo poo saying HEY STOP IT. i really do not want to go through any more hassle than i already have though if i can avoid it (i moved halfway across the country, changed my phone number, got off of all social media like come on), i just want them to leave me alone. i also dont really want them to end up in legal trouble/pursue any kind of action against them. a huge ask, i know, to deprive my mother of HER RIGHTS AS MY LIFEGIVER!! free reign to continue making me miserable until the end of her life or mine. :)

all that aside it's probably moot anyway because anybody can call in for a welfare check anonymously so like you said, im not sure the problem would actually be solved. i guess i just kind of hope eventually "doing nothing" will work and they will go away because i dont want to give up any more of my time/life/attention to them than i have already. this thread is proof that that rarely works though - but maybe MY estranged parents will be different! they will be the chosen ones, the ones that finally take the hint and move on with their lives you know? :colbert:

teen witch
Oct 9, 2012

meat glitter posted:

this is getting more into e/n territory then "ahaha estranged parents so quirky" so ill leave it here with this but ive been advised (by a friend who is an attorney, off hand, for whatever that is worth) that if i can prove they are crossing over into harassment territory i would be able to get some kind of court order, and to prove harassment it will be helpful to have a paper trail. i started with a text and email saying do not contact me and blocked their numbers then when they sent letters i sent THEM a letter saying "hey i mean it do not contact me" and if they keep escalating my next step is to pay a lawyer to send a more official letter with letterhead and poo poo saying HEY STOP IT. i really do not want to go through any more hassle than i already have though if i can avoid it (i moved halfway across the country, changed my phone number, got off of all social media like come on), i just want them to leave me alone. i also dont really want them to end up in legal trouble/pursue any kind of action against them. a huge ask, i know, to deprive my mother of HER RIGHTS AS MY LIFEGIVER!! free reign to continue making me miserable until the end of her life or mine. :)

all that aside it's probably moot anyway because anybody can call in for a welfare check anonymously so like you said, im not sure the problem would actually be solved. i guess i just kind of hope eventually "doing nothing" will work and they will go away because i dont want to give up any more of my time/life/attention to them than i have already. this thread is proof that that rarely works though - but maybe MY estranged parents will be different! they will be the chosen ones, the ones that finally take the hint and move on with their lives you know? :colbert:

This type of talk I’m cool with, this is kind of a GBS-E/N joint.

purple death ray
Jul 28, 2007

me omw 2 steal ur girl

Dad's dead and mom moved states. My wife's dad is still alive and living in the general area but her mom was the major abuser in her family and she died like 5 years ago so we're pretty secure where we are now.

We won, fuckers! It's been 20 years, yall are dead and we're still together! This is are town!!

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ElGroucho
Nov 1, 2005

We already - What about sticking our middle fingers up... That was insane
Fun Shoe

purple death ray posted:

Dad's dead and mom moved states. My wife's dad is still alive and living in the general area but her mom was the major abuser in her family and she died like 5 years ago so we're pretty secure where we are now.

We won, fuckers! It's been 20 years, yall are dead and we're still together! This is are town!!

Hell yeah

Get in the urn

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