Finally confronted my mother...

by Caedes 12 Replies latest jw friends

  • Jankyn
    Jankyn

    I've deliberately avoided this confrontation for the last 22 years. That's because when we had it the first time, my mother didn't speak to me for two years. She became convinced that I was "demonized" and was trying to lead her away from the Truth.

    It's a decision we all have to make for ourselves. I decided that I'd rather have a part of her in my life, as long as I could set some boundaries, than to simply cut the relationship off. Not everyone can make that decision, and sometimes I'm still not certain if it's the healthiest one for me. But it's what I did. One of my therapists told me that, for a child, it's better to bond with an emotionally abusive parent than to not bond at all. I guess that means the lesser of two evils is, waddaya know, less evil.

    However, I've worked very hard to set boundaries in the intervening decades. For example, when one of those strange blind spots she has about reality comes up, I just say, "Well, Mom, you know we don't see this the same way at all, and if we keep discussing it, we'll end up with hurt feelings. Let's talk about something else." Sometimes she ignores that and plows ahead, but then the consequence is that the conversation is over and I stay away for awhile. She's slowly--as in, slower than Pavlov's dogs--learning not to press me. And I try to return the favor.

    This won't work for everyone. As I noted above, I'm not even sure it works for me. But it's the best I can do right now, and if it seems like it might be a helpful approach to you, feel free to give it a try.

    Jankyn

  • momzcrazy
    momzcrazy

    Good for you!!!

    My mom doesn't even know her grandkids and I have left. I tried to bring it up and the subject changed.

    Please keep showing your mom love, we should pity the blind ones. They don't have it as good as we do.

    momzcrazy

  • PoppyR
    PoppyR
    It's a decision we all have to make for ourselves. I decided that I'd rather have a part of her in my life, as long as I could set some boundaries, than to simply cut the relationship off. Not everyone can make that decision, and sometimes I'm still not certain if it's the healthiest one for me. But it's what I did

    It's a tough decision, one I'm facing at the moment. I've had that conversation with my mum, it went badly, and ended up with us both crying and her saying she feels like loving me is like loving a cancer sufferer, she knows she's going to lose me, but not when so she doesnt' want to get too attached. She later denied saying that!

    Frustrating, but we have to try and see it's not a personal rejection. Under it all I'm sure my mum still loves me. How could she not

    Poppy

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit