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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

parents - I just dont really enjoy spending time with them

192 replies

peaceout · 13/05/2017 16:59

and yet they just carry on inviting themselves over to see me.

I'm a very quiet unsociable person, I choose to spend nearly all my time alone, but they seem to feel entitled to my time and energy and I resent it.

I'm not looking for a solution, just offloading and wondering if I'm alone in feeling like this?
(I know I'll be flamed for being unkind/ungrateful etc )

OP posts:
MrsMcMoo · 13/05/2017 22:12

I hear you. My parents are very demanding and make aggressive scenes in my house. I dread receiving text messages from them. I spent my whole life thinking I was depressed, but when I reduced contact with them, I found my mental health improving by the day, and realised I wasnt instrinsically depressed, i just find them unbearably difficult and toxic. Sometimes you have to save yourself OP. Don't let people guilt you. Do whatever feels right to you.

memyselfandaye · 13/05/2017 22:31

Surely your children must pick up on that?

If you never saw again but knew they were ok would that not bother you at all?

peaceout · 13/05/2017 22:45

I certainly wouldn't choose to not see my children, but I don't want them to feel obligated to me

OP posts:
Fleshy · 13/05/2017 22:55

MN is ridiculous. 'You don't follow my specific social norms and obligations, are you mentally ill?' Hmm

Families are a burden that no one asked to be forced in to, for introverts, being around people absolutely drains them and is something to be endured. For introverts with shit families and/or anxiety, it's unbearable. No one owes anything to their parents for their choices.

peaceout · 13/05/2017 23:04

Of course I do worry about my relationship with my children I want to be a positive in their lives, if anything its that I feel I don't have much to give, I'm all out of caring and nurturing and what little is left i spend on my children
having called them into being I want to do right by them despite my seemingly unusual personality type
I don't want to feel obligated to my parents as well as my children, I need my energy for me!

OP posts:
peaceout · 13/05/2017 23:07

It makes me wonder about the fact that you found someone to share your life with enough to have children with them
Amazingly I spent 22 years of my life cohabiting in ltrs
Mercifully I live alone now which is waaaay less stressful 😊🖒

OP posts:
rubiq · 14/05/2017 02:13

you can always look forward to the day they pass away so you dont endure any more surprise visits.. :/

you should count yourself lucky as many people would love to have parents that loved them enough to want to come and visit and show interest in their lifes..

3luckystars · 14/05/2017 03:11

What does 'pathological' mean? You said it in your posts twice.

I don't think there is anything wrong with you, if you lived nearer your parents, you might feel more 'free.'
I don't like people 'stealing my time' or being forced to do things in my free time either. Maybe because they are travelling to visit you, you feel bullied into spending time with them during this window. I can see why this would annoy you!
Maybe they are very nice and you would get on fine if you had a chance to miss them.

3luckystars · 14/05/2017 03:12

Or they left you alone for a few months.

Do you ever visit them?

scaryteacher · 14/05/2017 03:28

Peace Yes, I am. We live in different countries, Mum has been on her own since my parents divorced when I was in my 20s (I am now in my 50s), and her best friend of 40 years died last year, so she rings me instead of her.

I am all too aware that she is the only parent I have left, and there will be a tremendous hole in my life when she dies. Some of my friends of my age died recently, and left kids younger than my ds. Those kids would give their eye teeth to have their Mum. I realise I am lucky to still have mine, but it won't be for that much longer as she is 77 this year.

DisorderedAllsorts · 14/05/2017 04:21

You do sound very self contained and thoughtful particularly when you mention not wanting to impose on your children. I can see why you feel your parents are imposing on your time. I suppose you're transferring those feelings onto the relationship that you have with your parents.

You remind me of an acquaintance who has ASD & extremely introverted and remote. She is finding growing old difficult to accept as she has to rely on others for certain things. This is causing her great anxiety as this is out of her comfort zone.
Have a look at the link below as it's a great resource for ASD women as they present differently to men. A lot of what you've posted seems to fit with the profile.

thegirlwiththecurlyhair.co.uk

deckoff · 14/05/2017 09:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

peaceout · 14/05/2017 10:01

I don't think I have aspergers I think I am an extreme loner who rarely enjoys time spent with other people
In particular people travelling to visit me makes me feel very stressed, I feel I ought to offer to put them up but I can't bear having anyone in my living space for more that a few hours, and I hate eating with other people.
The things that most people enjoy... I hate them, should I just suffer and do them anyway?

OP posts:
BigGrannyPants · 14/05/2017 10:06

No @peaceout you shouldn't but I do think you should look at why you feel this way

peaceout · 14/05/2017 10:13

I think it is just personality type BigGranny or maybe I would say that wouldn't I
I do have a vague concern that if I give in to my desires I will become more extreme and cut off.
Refusing to leave ones comfort zone can lead to an ever decreasing comfort zone ...I suspect.

I'm wondering if that's what happened to your remote and introverted friend DisorderedAllsorts?

OP posts:
HorridHenryrule · 14/05/2017 10:51

I understand having to entertain an extra few days can be very daunting. Maybe you could try and tell them you will visit them when they want to come and visit. You can be more in control then of how long you stay.

Capricorn76 · 14/05/2017 10:57

I understand OP. My childhood was dysfunctional in that my mother was cold and couldn't show love towards me and clearly preferred my sister. My dad was emotionally immature and would beat me for the slightest reason and was overly critical e.g. if I got a B+ he'd be disappointed because I hadn't gotten an A. He didn't talk to me when I failed my driving test because he was disappointed. On top of this my brother was a violent bully and my parents did little if anything to protect me from his daily abuse.

When they retired they mellowed out (well dad did, mum is still a bit of a martyr and still couldn't handle saying 'I love you and giving me a hug, NC with brother).

When I became a parent my dad suddenly became worlds best dad. He wanted to call loads, come over loads offers to babysit when he can. He's great with DD and is the dad I the dad I needed as a child.

Despite them changing for the better I find myself quite cold to them. I sometimes get flashbacks of stuff that happened to me. I get annoyed when he/they call. I try to limit the amount of time they spend here otherwise I begin to get anxious and cross. I try to avoid going to my childhood home as I want to put that phase of my life behind me. I'm very happy now. I try to maintain regular contact to make feel like I'm part of a normal family and to make myself feel like less of a psychopath and less guilty for not being a good adult DD but they annoy me and I don't need or want them but I do love them and wish I didn't feel like this. It's quite confusing to me.

I learnt from a young age that they wouldn't be there for me emotionally and I learnt to be very emotionally independent. I love having people around me and have loads of friends but I don't need them and I don't allow people deep in other than DH and DD.

I get quite cross when on the rare occasion I tell people that I'm not particular close to my family and they say crap such as 'you're so cold Cap, I talk to my mum 5 times a day and we go on holidays together'. It's totally insensitive and shitty. Some families are very complicated.

A friend told me she used to work in an old people's home and some of the old folk would never have visitors and would complain that their kids had abandoned them. After they'd die the kids would turn up and tell their version of events. Would often turn out that the sweet old lady or man was actually a pretty shitty parent. You're kids don't owe you anything as hey never asked to be born and if you don't treat them properly don't expect them to forget about it.

I sometimes find myself getting anxious at the thought that there may be expectations that I will help look after them when they're old and frail. Although I would help pay for their care and visit them I don't think I could offer much more than that. But I do love them.

scaryteacher · 14/05/2017 11:06

Deckoff Read carefully....I deliberately didn't mention my late father who died in 2001, and with whom I had a fractured and difficult relationship. I didn't say that the OP was lucky to have anyone, I was replying to her post about my Mum calling me up to 5 times a day, and explaining why I didn't mind.

The fact that I have lost friends of my age recently made me reflect on my own relationship with my Mum, and her loss of a friend of over 40 years (they went through their respective divorces at roughly the same time), makes me more tolerant to her calls.

We are NC with Dh's mother after some particularly spectacular crap after fil died, so been there, done that with parents on both sides. It doesn't stop me loving my Mum though.

peaceout · 14/05/2017 11:09

After they'd die the kids would turn up and tell their version of events. Would often turn out that the sweet old lady or man was actually a pretty shitty parent
We should remember that there are always other versions of events, everyone edits in order to be seen in a good light...just like Facebook

if you don't treat them properly don't expect them to forget about it
Ain't that the truth!

OP posts:
Iamastonished · 14/05/2017 12:14

"My childhood was dysfunctional in that my mother was cold and couldn't show love towards me"

Is there a possibility that your children might say the same about you peaceout? Or did you manage to find it easier to love your children?

keeplooking · 14/05/2017 12:50

I certainly wouldn't choose to not see my children, but I don't want them to feel obligated to me

I understand that completely, having been an only child who did (and still does) feel emotionally obligated to my Mum. I try not make any demands on my dc as far as their love/time goes (as far as I am aware/able - I suppose only they could say). I don't, for example say "hello stranger" if they haven't contacted me for 2 days! I don't expect them to contact me at all, if they're ok. I text, if I haven't heard from them in a while, but it is always in terms of "hope everything's going well", rather than "I haven't heard from you in ages", and it's because I want to know they are alright.

Did you have any feeling of responsibility for your parents' well-being, growing up, op? Were they dependent on you in any way, or do you think they worry about you?

Refusing to leave ones comfort zone can lead to an ever decreasing comfort zone ...I suspect.

I'm not so sure. It's probably a certain amount of self-justification on my part, but I always think that the ability/desire to move away from a comfort zone will only ever come from a feeling of complete security about where you currently are.

peaceout · 14/05/2017 12:55

Did you have any feeling of responsibility for your parents' well-being
Not really, I think it's partly that I feel as if I have no rights, they declare that they are going to visit and the fact that I don't want to be visited doesn't even occur to them

OP posts:
keeplooking · 14/05/2017 13:26

Apologies if this has already been suggested, but could you tell them the dates they mention aren't convenient, and give alternative dates (even if reluctantly), so that you start to take some control over when they visit?

I imagine that cutting out visits completely would be impossible unless you stopped contact altogether, which it doesn't sound as though you want to do?

GloriaV · 14/05/2017 13:41

They can declare that they are going to visit because you don't go out much (apparently) and will be there for them. If you start to imply (don't have to give detail) that you are not in on that day or it doesn't suit then they can't make that assumption. So their visit will then be to suit you all not just at their whim.

Or meet them for lunch or something. As it seems it's their invasion of your private time and space that you seem to dislike, having lunch can be a short and more bearable arrangement.

user1493022461 · 14/05/2017 14:03

Why don't you do your parents a favour and tell them you can't stand them and never want to see them again? #
At least then they wouldn't have the pain of seeing their only child twice a year who thinks they are "stealing her time" and wishes they would just disappear.