My adult children despise me
Sounds pretty awful, and it feels worse. But in the last two years 3 of my 6 adult children have made it clear they want nothing to do with me, and have claimed horrific things I have done to them.
Still sounds pretty clear that I am as accused, right? Well, I wasn't so bad when I cared for their children so they could support themselves after a husband bummed out on her. And I wasn't so awful when one of them wanted us for their baby's first christmas. And I wasn't so awful when one of them wanted to go on a trip and needed their baby cared for, nor was I so awful when I was asked to visit repeatedly, to give one of them 'a break'.
And all this time I was feeling like a happy grandma, and my husband was feeling like a happy grandpa. Where were all the awful things we had done in their childhood then? Why is it now being thrown at us like manure on a wall, it never goes away. Nothing we can say, and no discussion accepted.
And now comes Mothers Day. The worst day of my life. I always felt like a poor excuse for a mother, my own mother was 'unattached'. But I tried so hard. And felt we were actually having a good relationship with them when 'wham', it hit like a train.
Other children who are not disowning us, 3 of them. One says, he finds them at fault, and not to listen to them. Another says she doesn't want to take sides. Another has been hurt by them himself, and doesn't want to talk about it.
How do I stop crying? I tried my best. And now three daughters and their 4 children seem to be gone from me/us forever. Can I get a hard shell on my heart and brush it off?
My husband and I cry about it often. He's angry, I am hopelessly and forever crushed.
So, how do I get past the pain?
Lynn