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Parents of adult children

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Adult Dd hates me and right now I don’t like her very much either. Very long, sorry.

220 replies

DDstress · 25/08/2023 17:18

She’s 22yo, just finished uni. Lives at home, lived at home all through uni. Still married to her dad. No other kids.

I really don’t know where it went wrong. We seemed to get on fine, days out, doing stuff, etc till she was about 16yo. Then she got more distant but thought well this happens, she’s out with friends, etc, it’s normal.

she’s always been well behaved and worked hard, done well at school, etc with no pressure from us.

I offered to pay for her to live in halls at uni but she declined, we let her do what she liked and never interfered with her life or gave her any house rules.

If I’m honest she’s been spoilt. Certainly financially. If she wants something she pretty much gets it. 2k laptop for uni (said she needed a high spec), expensive desktop, upgrading stuff on her desktop computer, driving lessons, 6k car. Pay all her insurance, tax, car bills. She has a part time job so didn’t need an allowance while at uni as she got wages plus her student loan.

we paid for her to go on a course to Italy which cost us 3k this summer, it was Paris with a friend the year before that. She said to me yesterday that she wants a new laptop for Xmas.

she had a boyfriend while at uni and they split up at Xmas. Her choice. From what I saw she was vile to him, but she said he was horrible to her beh8nd closed doors. She dumped him, I sympathised. Since then she seems in a foul mood constantly

If anything goes wrong she has a meltdown, rages, shouts at me and rages (dh keeps out the way).

she was dog sitting a few weeks ago and rang me at work saying she needed £80 now as she was booking her speed awareness course and had no money as she’d spent it all on food as was living at this house she was dog sitting at. At no point did she clearly say to me she needed money for food. I transferred the £80, told her I couldn’t buy food for two households but there was plenty of stuff here (5 miles away) she could come and get. She slammed the phone down on me. A few weeks before this I told her she needed to sign on for universal credit but she has refused.

so she went to Italy for three weeks. Came back and said she has sorted out an au pair job and as soon as she can is leaving. She’s having a nightmare sorting out the visa, I have been googling and trying to help and she had a meltdown today.

Said she is doing it “all on my own”. I pointed out I’ve been trying to help and have actually found out how to book the visa appt today and while she was on the phone to me with her encouragement booked the appointment. She is now raging at me for booking at . She then said she hasn’t booked the language course which she needs to do to get a certificate for her visa. I’d given her £500 towards an £800 course a few days ago and yesterday she told me she’d booked it. Turns out that was a lie. She doesn’t want that language school as she’s heard the govt have clocked that it gives out dodgy visa letter (she should be at the school for the whole year but £800 is about 4 weeks of lessons but they will do you a letter saying it’s a year). So she needs to pay 3k for a better language school.

I said I’m not paying 3k for a language school for her. She’s been shouting at me. Saying how much she hates me, that she’s leaving the country because she wants to get away from me. That I’m emotionally abusive. That I was emotionally abusive at Xmas. I asked her to give me one example and she can’t remember. She says we’re a dysfunctional fucked up family and she can’t wait to leave and she’s never coming back. I said fine, if that’s the way you feel then go. She’s screaming that she’s trying but can’t afford to.

She said her whole childhood has been emotionally abusive, that she’s always been unhappy. That I have never supported her. I pointed out all the stuff we’ve done, from paying for tutors, paying for counsellors, helping her write appeal letters when she was nearly kicked out of uni for failing a year, all the financial help. Or she can say is that I give her money so I can throw it back in her face. But I don’t throw it in her face, but I will defend myself trying to give examples of when I think we have supported her.

she was angry because I made a cake this afternoon as she wanted to make one, but she’d just got in after driving a 4 mile round trip to the embassy and not getting seen. So I thought I’d do something nice and that she wanted actual cake, not to be making the cake herself. She’d mentioned about cake yesterday so I was trying to do something nice for her.

my friends say she bullies me. She seems as nice as pie when she wants something, and angry and nasty when she doesn’t get her own way.

she works at the gym I go to and she told staff there that I’d kicked her out after Xmas (she went to live with friends for a few months ) and that her dad had hit her. Which is all lies. I confronted her about that for the first time today and asked her why she lied because it’s embarrassing as I know her colleagues and they asked me about it. She was backtracking and said that her dad did hit her (he smacked her when she was about 6yo and I said no more and he hasn’t). She reckons when she told work that she was referring to that. Which is bullshit. I told her I hadn’t kicked her out and she denied telling work that which I think is also bullshit.

She seems to like being the victim. There’s been minor examples of this with friends, etc where I think she’s said something about them which isn’t true. That they’ve done xyz to her. Im actually beginning to wonder if she has s9me sort of personality disorder. The friends she stayed with im sure she told them I kicked her out. She gets on very well with her (now ex) lecturers at uni and im sure she’s told them this. Her graduation is next week and she hasn’t invited us to it. She wants everyone to feel sorry for her and run round after her.

I to,d her im sad she feels this way but if it’s how she feels then she should go and pointed out I prefer it when she’s not here. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.

she’s stormed off now, im sure to go and tell someone how abusive I am to her and probably try and find somewhere else to move to. She has 24k in a bank account which I’d saved for her as a child for a house deposit. I told her if she needs money for expensive Italian language courses she will have to start using her money. Am I right?

OP posts:
DDstress · 25/08/2023 18:48

7eleven · 25/08/2023 18:43

It’s tough. I’m honestly not judging you.

No, that’s fine. I appreciate your perspective. I maybe wouldn’t get mum of the year award by any stretch. I’m not an overly emotional person, I don’t talk about stuff. I tend to demonstrate love by helping/doing stuff. And I have talked to Dd about this before.

but also as dh says if you talk to her /ask her anything she tends to respond by snarling “why do you want to know/what you asking that for” and I think we’ve both backed off from her.

OP posts:
SquirrelSoShiny · 25/08/2023 18:51

Do you have diagnosed ADHD? Your husband sounds weirdly passive and absent even though he's physically there. Does he have ASD traits?

I ask because your daughter sounds very like my friend's daughter and this was pretty much their situation. After some failure to launch things are finally improving now her DD is diagnosed with autism and repeating her final year at uni in her early 20s. There was a definite emotional immaturity plus too much time spent online with other self-professed 'victims'.

DDstress · 25/08/2023 18:51

Obviously you won’t say on here but I do think it’s very important that you think about whether you actually knew she wanted to make a cake or not

I genuinely didn’t think she actually wanted to make a cake, just that she wanted to eat one. She wasn’t waxing lyrical about cake making and doesn’t normally show any interest in baking. She just asked me to get lemons for it when I went shopping.

I have said to her she can feel free to make another cake if she wants and she can freeze /throw mine away. I don’t care.

OP posts:
Lifeomars · 25/08/2023 18:51

Patchyman1 · 25/08/2023 18:17

Why would she sign on for universal credit if she has 24k in the bank?

That went through my head too. Thought you had to declare any savings and that if you had over £16k then you are not entitled to any UC at all

TakeOnMe251 · 25/08/2023 18:52

Wil your husband step up now he knows more? Give you the chance to step back?
He needs too. You need to protect yourself from her verbal assaults and HE needs to starts protecting you.

DDstress · 25/08/2023 18:53

Do you have diagnosed ADHD? Your husband sounds weirdly passive and absent even though he's physically there. Does he have ASD traits?

i score very highly on an online assessment and am considering getting an official diagnosis but not really sure there’s any point. I wouldn’t want meds. Dh is very absent and unengaged in family life. Me as well as Dd. Yes, major asd traits.

OP posts:
Salsp · 25/08/2023 18:54

Have you considered that she could have a possible gambling addiction? These behaviours around money and extreme anger/mood changes are very familiar in addiction.

DDstress · 25/08/2023 18:55

TakeOnMe251 · 25/08/2023 18:52

Wil your husband step up now he knows more? Give you the chance to step back?
He needs too. You need to protect yourself from her verbal assaults and HE needs to starts protecting you.

I doubt it. Don’t think he’s capable

OP posts:
TheDogthatDug · 25/08/2023 18:57

I'm sick to bloody death of the ADHD/ND excuse being trotted out to excuse bad behaviour (not by the OP BTW). OP, you have created a spoiled brat.

1FootInTheRave · 25/08/2023 18:59

She is horrible.

I have a similar child (also now and adult) and it is soul destroying.

7eleven · 25/08/2023 19:01

@DDstress its so hard. I’ve kinda been there.

Don’t beat yourself up. We all do our best and none of us are perfect. I’m sure you have been a great parent.

Try to continue calmly setting that boundary, whilst keeping talking to her.

It’s possible to have a feeling without being able to name examples, by the way, so don’t dismiss what she says.

Don’t splash the cash around. Do splash the communication around.

Has something happened to her that you don’t know about? What changed when she was 16, I wonder?

SomeCatFromJapan · 25/08/2023 19:01

If I told my mum I wanted to make a cake and then I came home and she had made one then I’d be very upset as that’s something more than just cake.

As a 22 year old woman though? A child/young teen is one thing but not an adult.

Daleksatemyshed · 25/08/2023 19:02

Your DD is now a grown woman and you need to step back Op. Nobody learns to problem solve when there's always someone else leaping in to sort things for them and your DD will never be able to mature whilst you treat her as a child. Stop funding everything and let her make her own life or one day she'll be 40 and still relying on you for everything

Canonlythinkofthisone · 25/08/2023 19:03

Why. Does everyone jump on ND to explain mood swings?

OP. In the nicest way, 1. You've spoilt her and she's learnt to manipulate you.

  1. Sudden demands for money. Mood swings. Lying and pretending to be someone she isn't. (An abused child) I'd be suspecting drugs to be honest with you.
Give her no more money. She sorts her visa and goes, or she moves out. It's the only way. Time for some tough love.
JohnnyYenSetHimselfOnFireAgain · 25/08/2023 19:03

"If I’m honest she’s been spoilt." Understatement of the year right there. She sounds like a vile, overindulged, entitled, spoilt little bitch. The sooner you stop all the handouts the better.

sandyhappypeople · 25/08/2023 19:04

It sounds really difficult OP, I went through a similar thing with my mum when I was young and living at home, but she drank a lot and it was quite difficult living together at times.

One thing I did notice though, was this:

She said her whole childhood has been emotionally abusive, that she’s always been unhappy. That I have never supported her. I pointed out all the stuff we’ve done, from paying for tutors, paying for counsellors, helping her write appeal letters when she was nearly kicked out of uni for failing a year, all the financial help. Or she can say is that I give her money so I can throw it back in her face.

3 out of the 4 examples you’ve given are financial aid, are you sure you’re on the same page as to what she’s upset about? Have you asked her what kind of support she feels she’s not had?

It sounds like one of the reasons you are arguing is because every time she starts about something you immediately go on the defensive and blaze straight back at her about how you’ve always given her money, it sounds like you resent it to be honest. have you tried just calmly asking her WHY she’s starting on you in the first place, no need to bring up past history, just ask her in that moment why she is so angry?

in fairness her saying she wants to make a cake.. then you making it while she was out seems really odd, I’d be annoyed about that abit too, she didn’t say she wanted to eat a cake.. she said she wanted to make it.. so YOU made it, it’s like you didn’t listen to what she said, you just made up your own mind about what she wanted and did it for her.

I think you both need to learn to communicate better.. your DH is really copping out because he could help mediate here.. he’s just choosing not to bother.

Tiddlywinks63 · 25/08/2023 19:04

TheDogthatDug · 25/08/2023 18:57

I'm sick to bloody death of the ADHD/ND excuse being trotted out to excuse bad behaviour (not by the OP BTW). OP, you have created a spoiled brat.

Me too.
It seems to be the excuse for absolutely everything on here.
OP’s daughter is a nasty, spoilt brat and it’s a pity that her parents have allowed her to end up as a very unpleasant individual.

OhComeOnFFS · 25/08/2023 19:05

What would be wrong in saying, "Oh Mum, I wanted to make that!"?

She's blaming you for everything, OP. It's interesting that she doesn't seem to be blaming her dad for anything, yet he's not involved at all. From my experience, women with pretty useless husbands have to step up more and be the tiger mother, yet they get the blame and the father doesn't get any blame at all.

DDstress · 25/08/2023 19:05

1FootInTheRave · 25/08/2023 18:59

She is horrible.

I have a similar child (also now and adult) and it is soul destroying.

I’m sorry you’re experiencing it as well. It’s absolutely heartbreaking

OP posts:
Lonicerax · 25/08/2023 19:05

She needs tested for adhd and to try medication. This could sort out a lot of her problems -why don’t you encourage her to do that.
Deciding that you have adhd and don’t want medication is fine for you. But you can hardly make that decision for someone else.

DDstress · 25/08/2023 19:07

I certainly wish I hadn’t made the cake now! If she hadn’t driven a 4-5 hour round trip to Manchester I wouldn’t have. I just thought she’d come back and be too knackered to do it.

OP posts:
DDstress · 25/08/2023 19:08

Lonicerax · 25/08/2023 19:05

She needs tested for adhd and to try medication. This could sort out a lot of her problems -why don’t you encourage her to do that.
Deciding that you have adhd and don’t want medication is fine for you. But you can hardly make that decision for someone else.

I don’t really think I’d dare raise the topic. I’ve never broached it with her.

OP posts:
StaunchMomma · 25/08/2023 19:08

She's acting like a child half her age, OP.

It does seem like she's been incredibly spoiled and indulged and obviously that's on you and DH, but the poor behaviour in terms of the lies etc are 100% on her.

I think you're right to encourage her to leave. With any hope, she might grow up a bit while she's away.

I don't think I'd be handing over twenty odd grand to someone who tells dreadful lies about me, either.

Merlinsbeard83 · 25/08/2023 19:08

She is a spoilt brat. Nothing more nothing less . She is so used to getting everything she wants and will continue to expect it .
You sound like a nice mum . Hopefully she will grow up a bit and see how much you have done for her .
Please don't let her convince the world her bad personality traits are down to adhd or somthing similar.
It will just be used as an excuse for her to treat people badly .

Charlize43 · 25/08/2023 19:09

She sounds horribly entitled. You have created a monster!

If you haven't seen Mildred Pierce (1945), you should! Reading your post reminded me so much of that film!