Hi there. So I'm almost 17 and my mom and I have a terrible relationship. Whenever I'm around her I feel awful. Like she does not make me happy whatsoever. And I told her this when we were having a heated argument after she asked me stuff like "why don't you love meeee?" etc etc. And I should add that my step-dad recently moved away for a job so it's just been me my mom and my sister who's 10. [Part 1] (please tag lily2895)
[part2/2] (lily2895) So then my mom guilts me by saying what am I doingwrong u should love me because I drive you to school & work andgive u money and take care of you. But I just don't. She makes mefeel bad about myself by calling me a slut based on what I waswearing (which she has apologized for), she's not a feminist (or shesays she is but she thinks women are superior), among other things Ijust don't like. Basically, she makes me feel like s**t and I don'twant to be around her. Help?
I’m sorry to hear you and your mom don’t have a good relationship!I’ve lived on my own for 6 years, but when I was living with myparents, I had a terrible relationship with them as well. It’s hardto know what to do, especially when you don’t have another option.
You are not obligated to love anyone. No matter what they do for you,they should not hold anything over your head in exchange for love.It’s also not something you can force yourself to do. I have wantedto love someone before but just wasn’t able to force myself to lovethem.
As much as possible, I would try not to engage with her. My therapisthas told me several times that people engage in disruptive behaviorsbecause they have been able to meet their needs with them. If youstarve out that behavior, it will change.
There are a few ways you can do this:
Refuse to interact with her. I know this is hard when the behaviorbothers you, but by refusing to engage, it will hopefully show herthat what she is doing is inappropriate.
Adopt a mantra and repeat it every time she asks you these things.People generally ask the same question multiple times in the hopes ofgetting a different answer. If you show her that she will not get adifferent answer out of you no matter how she phrases the question,that will show her that continuing to ask will not lead anywhere.
I know these ways require a lot of patience and can be difficult tointeract with. But I’ve found from experience that they are actuallyhelpful. I hope you can find the strength to stick to it, no matterwhat happens. The best thing you can do is get out of there as soonas you can. Try to find a job now and start saving up so you can moveout when you graduate high school. If you start now, by the timemoving out comes along, you’ll be ready and equipped to do so.
Good luck in dealing with all of this. I’m sorry that your mom is nottreating you well. Please know that we’re here for you no matterwhat!
“What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.”