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Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Insanity - keep doing the same thing but expect different results

7 replies

DespicableMa · 01/07/2013 20:24

Long story short, not sure whether to go non-contact with the small family I have.

My mother has always been very negative (couldn't think of a better word to describe physical and mental abuse) in all her dealings with me, no father on scene. Very small gap between myself and older sibling, he was golden child so much so that his nickname then, and now, totally reflects this - you'd piss yourself laughing if I told you it, don't want to put on here as its very distinct. I was told from a young age that I was an accident and that my mothers real daughter was blonde and brown-eyed (I am brunette with blue eyes) and we were switched in the hospital. Obvious differences between my sibling and I were things like me being woken in the middle of the night to tidy room, whilst sibling left sleeping (regular occurrence), always ready to hit/belittle me at any given opportunity, I was never as good as sibling (got 99% in exam to be asked by her "why didn't you get 100%),sibling got to go on numerous school ec trips, not even one for me. Never any positive contact like cuddling, hugging etc. and to this day I am very particular about personal space and can't stand being touched. No friends of mine were ever allowed back and any friends I did have were slagged of to the nth degree.

Large gap between us and youngest sibling, who at the age of 26 still lives with mother and has a ds (age 6). Again, youngest sibling was treated as you'd expect any child to be treated - hugs, reading, trips etc. I was used as baby-sitter from age 11 and had to take sibling with me if I wanted to gout to friends houses etc. strangely, not too many girls are that keep to have a 3 yo as an extra visitor when they are 14/15.

I went off the rails a bit, no more than any other teenager - underage sex (wonder why?!), drinking but not massively. Was battered with a walking stick and chucked out eventually.

Met DH, huge backstory, and eventually moved some distance away. Now have 4 dcs of my own, and since living here mother has visited 3 times. Once on her way back from visiting older dc (this was just after the birth of her first grandchild), once when visiting another relative and during/after the run up to our wedding where she behaved horrendously.

Anyway,I have stayed in touch mainly for the benefits of my dcs as we don't have a large family, but have recently seen various messages from my mother and older sibling making reference to my brats (who my mother enthused about during our last visit and couldn't believe how lovely they were [maybe if she was in touch more often she'd fucking know]), saying they should send a gift to my awful neighbours, running down my DH,who has put up with various shit from her for 15+ years, and basically slagging me off for not being "normal" and basically being a cold-fish as I don't volunteer much info about my life to them.

Over the last 8 years I've hoped that she'd eventually show some interest in my dcs, but it's become blatantly obvious she prefers my siblings child (who lives with her). During calls (she phones me when she wants something, I don't tend to call her) all I hear about is my siblings child and the is never ever any queries as to her other four gc,literally none. I've even taken to saying "all the children are fine, thanks for asking" at the end of calls now to highlight the disparity in the way she treats them. I try and try to forge a relationship but what's the point if underneath the conversations she thinks her own gc are brats, my husbands a dick and I'm some sort of cold unemotional bitch? Which, I'm sooo not, I just try to limit what I tell her so she can't ruin/slag off what I'm up too.

Not really sure what I want from this, but I'm so fucking angry at seeing those messages (don't ask me how). Why the fuck would you be hell bent on ruining your children's relationships with each other, especially when you have a life limiting illness, and what sort of a fucking monster openly admits to anyone, including people she's just met that she prefers one grandchild over the others.

Feel like phoning her and giving her both barrels or changing all my numbers and contact details and sending her a letter to tell her she can have all the favourites she wants and I hope they fucking choke her make her very happy.

Sorry for the ramble but am in angry tears over this - and they are well overdue!

OP posts:
myroomisatip · 01/07/2013 21:06

I really think you would be well within your rights to cease all contact :(

Your post reminds me of my own mother who used to constantly extoll the virtues of my nieces children but whenever I mentioned my own she would just clam up! I think this was a punishment because I moved away.

This did not affect my children because of the distance but if there is a chance your own children will pick up on this then even more reason to end this now.

CurlyFox · 01/07/2013 21:20

She sounds toxic. Stay away and enjoy your lovely dc's. it's her loss

DespicableMa · 11/07/2013 22:58

Thank you and apologies for the delay in replying, it's been a busy couple of weeks. I've had no contact with any family since the date of my first post, although I did get FB messages from my mother and younger sibling today which I haven't replied to. I suspect I'll get a few phone calls this weekend, but may not be available to take them - will be out enjoying the lovely weather Grin

OP posts:
CogitoErgoSometimes · 12/07/2013 11:02

Just taking a step back and looking at it from a detached psychological aspect, that's utterly weird behaviour isn't it? Is your younger sibling male? Do you all have the same father? Were you a difficult birth? You've got to wonder what exactly pisses her off about you specifically (and I mean some accident of birth that you could never influence rather than some alleged fault in your personality) , when she can be so 'normal' with the others. Maybe it's just that you've always seen through her ..

I can't even see why she keeps contact with you when, in her eyes, you're such a disappointment. I'm normally a 'both barrel' kind of person but, in your case, it might give her a perverse satisfaction to now she's rattled you. Then again, it could be therapeutic to paraphrase this line... she thinks her own gc are brats, my husbands a dick and I'm some sort of cold unemotional bitch ... and deliver it calmly.

LJL69 · 12/07/2013 13:04

I am angry on your behalf. Read back your post and imagine while doing so that I had written it and not you. What would you tell me to do?

You have given it your best shot apart from really laying it out cold and on the line. And I agree with Cogito that by doing that you maybe giving her a twisted pleasure so i wouldnt bother. Defriend on FB so you dont have to see anything that will upset you and move on. Speak to someone in order to sort it all out in your head and get rid of the bitterness that you would be perfectly within your rights to feel.
AND REMEMBER - depite the role models and experiences you have had growing up you have raised a lovely family so therefore in my opinion you are something special. You broke the cycle and gave your kids something that you had no training on how to give. Well done

DespicableMa · 12/07/2013 19:48

Thanks both, I've read some of the other toxic parents threads previously and thing I've still got a smattering of the "fear" part of FOG which is why I haven't closed off completely. Occasionally, when I'm stressed, I'll have nightmares about her coming to the house and battering the doors and windows to get in (maybe I am crazy Grin)and I didn't want to tell her about a newer car we bought in case she started going on about how poor she was etc.

Cogito - personally I think it was due to me being unplanned (well more unplanned than my siblings). Dunno if she blames me for the break up of that relationship (which was the cliched teenage babysitter affair) or just that I was unexpected. Oldersib is male with same dad and younger sib is female different dad.

On an adult level, I'm the only one married with kids, older sib has said he'll never have any and younger sib had a surprise (concealed) pg, not long after my second. I work ft, in a pretty good job, which my mother takes no interest in despite knowing the intimate details of both my brothers job/income and sisters degree. I earn over £60k pa, which is incidentally probably more than sibs earnings put together despite my lack of degree compared to them, but no smugness on my part, yet she asked me a couple of weeks ago if I would be better off working as a CM. I love CM (have used more than one) but I have never been a huge fan of other people's children (lmao - I have one thing in common with her then) or shown the slightest interest in childcare. My current job is legal/finance related, although she things I'm some kind of data entry admin person because she refused to believe what I actually do.

LJL - you may be right, although two separate friends who have met her and know me very well have both commented that she's jealous of me - own house, steady relationship, kids who like me (at the moment lol), nice circle of friends, whereas she's very volatile and drama driven, no steady relationship for over 20 years (she's late 50s), two of her children live a great distance away, friends get dropped regularly for various misdemeanours, and has struggled for cash (as she's a spendthrift who has always lived a life of caviar on a fishn chips budget, never stopped her buying 20 fags a day though).

I'm just so fed up of the take, take, take shit have bought numerous things over the years for her, washing machines, driers etc. paid for car repairs and vets bills and flights (wtf was I thinking on that one) as well as a shitload of other stuff, yet my youngest sib (who has had one job for six months and sponges off my mother) had a go at me just after my wedding for not sending money regularly to my mother Shock. I did highlight that I had a mortgage plus children to provide for an mibbe she should pull her finger out of her arse and earn some cash for her and her child, but again I was made out to be unreasonable. Apparently all the other stuff I provided has been conveniently forgotten or rewritten, like 98% of my childhood. I seriously don't think either of my sibs have any idea that their childhoods were poles apart from mine. This is upsetting as it plays into the whole middle child scenario which she has perpetuated, but I KNOW that I am not prone to over-dramatising things and all of those horrible things did actually happen.

Again, I'm not sure what replies to expect, but it's a bit bloody wonderful (in a way) to see it in print. Off for another drink now...thanks for reading!

OP posts:
DespicableMa · 12/07/2013 19:49

Sorry for the epic post Blush

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