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Relationships

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

Adult child

37 replies

Lost1967 · 22/07/2022 12:12

I have a son who is an adult he’s just got married. He didn’t invite my husband as he said he doesn’t like him all if a sudden Our relationship is getting worse the older he gets . He’s paranoid keeps on bringing stuff up from the past which has never happened . Accusing me of things that happened to him . He was jealous of his half brother when he was born . We take one step forward then five back . He’s angry all the time and is just mean to me . I have had enough of it all . I love him but I don’t like him very much . He’s suffered with his mental health and has counselling. He told me the counsellor blamed it all on me and his dad which I know wouldn’t happen , I don’t know what to do anymore I’m at a loss but it’s affecting my mental health .

OP posts:
KangarooKenny · 22/07/2022 12:31

You need to go low or no contact.
I have a child who doesn’t contact me, I was LC as texting them but thought they’d throw it back as harassment or something, so I’ve now left it for them to contact me. I’m here for them if they need me.

Namechanged444 · 22/07/2022 12:43

Is he really saying things that didn't happen? Are you sure about this? And are you sure he doesn't like his dad just 'all of a sudden'?
I'm not trying to be patronising but maybe these are things to think about.
Sometimes therapy can bring up a lot of emotions and he may still be feeling them

Blanca87 · 22/07/2022 13:12

I think you really need to hear him and listen to him. He has significant mental health issues? That could be a by product of his childhood, you seem to be really minimising his experience. How long has his stepdad been his life? What has their relationship been like? How old is his stepbrother?
there is a lot to unpack here but from your post it sounds like you are not ready to engage fully and more bothered about being blamed for his mh to strangers than really understanding where he is coming from.

Lost1967 · 22/07/2022 15:02

Let me explain I was a single mum met my ex husband when he was 6 . He brought him up and we got married and had a baby . He was happy we all lived together . When he was 19 when I got pregnant again and I found out he was having an affair so we split . Two years later I met my husband and moved to live with him . He stayed there and life carried on . He came to our wedding and we carried on as normal . These problems have only occurred in the past year or so . We don’t see much of each other because of distance . He didn’t want my new husband at the wedding because he said when he met him 12 years ago he told him something in confidence and he then told me . This was only recently as I asked him why he wasn’t invited to the wedding

OP posts:
Bananarama21 · 22/07/2022 15:06

So it's hus second step dad, the history sounds chaotic and I suspect there might be some truth in what he's saying

Lost1967 · 22/07/2022 15:18

he was 22 and lived in another city with his girlfriend. My husband had an affair I moved on and remarried . How could it be chaotic .

OP posts:
AnyFucker · 22/07/2022 15:58

Hmm. I am surprised you haven’t dug a little deeper into why he wants nothing to do with his stepfather (and you, by association).

Lost1967 · 22/07/2022 17:40

AnyFucker · 22/07/2022 15:58

Hmm. I am surprised you haven’t dug a little deeper into why he wants nothing to do with his stepfather (and you, by association).

I didn’t say he doesn’t want to know me I seen him a few weeks ago , as I said he only told me he didn’t like him when I asked about the wedding , he told me it’s because he told him stuff in confidence and then he told me , he’s a grown married man and think he should take responsibility for himself

OP posts:
Namechanged444 · 22/07/2022 17:46

He wasn't a grown married man when you introduced two new stepdads into his life and gave him two half siblings.
I wonder how he felt.
Was that your attitude then? That he'd just have to deal with it.

He has the right to disown you and your husband if he wants to and you don't have a right to say whether he should or not.

Kids are for life, not just for Christmas.

Greensleeves · 22/07/2022 17:53

My advice to you is to slow down, try and control the defensiveness - which is understandable - and really listen to what he's saying, about his childhood, his relationship with you and his hurt feelings towards his stepfather who broke his confidence.

You're minimising and brushing off things that are very, very real to him. I know it's bruising and difficult, but if you want any sort of relationship with him you will have to meet him half way and at least try to understand his perspective.

He can walk away and never look back, if he wants to. It doesn't have to be "fair", and he doesn't have to convince you of anything first - he can just choose to walk away. So if you're really invested in that not happening - pull your horns in and try to engage with him in a spirit of open-mindedness and compassion. Maybe he'll do the same, and you can move forward.

Justcallmebebes · 22/07/2022 18:02

Some bloody sanctimonious responses here. I feel for you OP. Adult kids can be just as difficult as the younger years.

I went through something similar with my adult DD a few years back when she started to rewrite history. I backed right off and although not totally estranged, we were pretty LC. It all changed when she had her first
child and we became closer. Now we are v close again and have managed to discuss and sort through her/our issues. I'd recommend backing off but making it clear you're there if he wants to reconnect. It's hard and you have my sympathy

Lost1967 · 22/07/2022 18:03

Namechanged444 · 22/07/2022 17:46

He wasn't a grown married man when you introduced two new stepdads into his life and gave him two half siblings.
I wonder how he felt.
Was that your attitude then? That he'd just have to deal with it.

He has the right to disown you and your husband if he wants to and you don't have a right to say whether he should or not.

Kids are for life, not just for Christmas.

He was when I met my first husband yes . He was 21 when I got married again . I have supported him all
his adult life and always been there for him so I fi t really get what you mean

OP posts:
Lost1967 · 22/07/2022 18:04

Justcallmebebes · 22/07/2022 18:02

Some bloody sanctimonious responses here. I feel for you OP. Adult kids can be just as difficult as the younger years.

I went through something similar with my adult DD a few years back when she started to rewrite history. I backed right off and although not totally estranged, we were pretty LC. It all changed when she had her first
child and we became closer. Now we are v close again and have managed to discuss and sort through her/our issues. I'd recommend backing off but making it clear you're there if he wants to reconnect. It's hard and you have my sympathy

Thank you so much . I have never said I have not been there or listen to him but he’s just being horrible lately for no reason

OP posts:
Namechanged444 · 22/07/2022 18:32

My comment was insensitive and I apologise.
Although I doubt your kids are deliberately trying to 'rewrite history'.. they're probably telling you how they felt and what way situations looked to them and maybe that wasn't your point of view at all.
I suppose it must be difficult to experience this from your DCs when it seemed to come out of nowhere or all of a sudden. It's my guess that these feelings aren't as new as they seem.
Maybe there are misunderstandings and miscommunications between you are you DS that you need to speak about. Sometimes they just want to heard, listened to and sometimes (you'll likely say it's not deserved) they might to hear you say you were wrong in x situation and you apologise.
If you go the completely defensive route, deny everything and refuse to listen or talk about anything, it might be likely to make him want to go no contact with you permanently.

madasawethen · 22/07/2022 18:45

Your posts are vague and all over the place.

What is he accusing you of?

Lost1967 · 22/07/2022 19:06

madasawethen · 22/07/2022 18:45

Your posts are vague and all over the place.

What is he accusing you of?

Sorry I’m just upset . He says that when he was a child that I gave my other child more attention and love and he feels like I loved him more . Nothing serious but he tries to make out that he was hard done by and that def didn’t happen . He was always jealous of my son as I had married his father.

OP posts:
Lost1967 · 22/07/2022 19:08

Namechanged444 · 22/07/2022 18:32

My comment was insensitive and I apologise.
Although I doubt your kids are deliberately trying to 'rewrite history'.. they're probably telling you how they felt and what way situations looked to them and maybe that wasn't your point of view at all.
I suppose it must be difficult to experience this from your DCs when it seemed to come out of nowhere or all of a sudden. It's my guess that these feelings aren't as new as they seem.
Maybe there are misunderstandings and miscommunications between you are you DS that you need to speak about. Sometimes they just want to heard, listened to and sometimes (you'll likely say it's not deserved) they might to hear you say you were wrong in x situation and you apologise.
If you go the completely defensive route, deny everything and refuse to listen or talk about anything, it might be likely to make him want to go no contact with you permanently.

I have listened and apologised but every little thing sets him off . He’s telling me he loves me then the next day he won’t speak to me

OP posts:
PeaceLillyWhiteFlower · 22/07/2022 19:16

This reply has been deleted

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Lost1967 · 22/07/2022 19:25

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

No he’s biological father wasn’t around . My husband had an affair was I suppose to not ever move on and love again . My husband now wasn’t a father figure as he lived with his girlfriend . He only had one father figure that was my ex husband

OP posts:
orbitalcrisis · 22/07/2022 19:26

I see what the problem is, you need to accept that how he feels is valid. How can you say it never happened when it is how he felt and still feels? Are you aware of every emotion he has ever experienced and when he experienced it? You need to listen to him, accept his experiences and feelings and show some understanding.

Holly60 · 22/07/2022 20:50

It's so obvious from your update. He has tried to tell you about the very real feelings he had a child as a result of having an absent father, a step-father and a half brother. You've dismissed this as 'nothing serious'.

It clearly is serious to him. You need to really listen to him and accept the truth in what he says

AnyFucker · 22/07/2022 20:54

He was always jealous of my son as I had married his father

when you say “my son” I think you mean his brother

Lost1967 · 22/07/2022 21:53

AnyFucker · 22/07/2022 20:54

He was always jealous of my son as I had married his father

when you say “my son” I think you mean his brother

Helpful comment thanks

OP posts:
DoncasterHombre · 22/07/2022 23:38

Here you go, OP:

www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48419/this-be-the-verse

Nobody expected you to not be able to find somebody else or be a saintly mother but you might sometimes want to recognise that it isn't all about you.

Crunchygrass · 23/07/2022 01:00

@Lost1967 I can see how this must be very hard for you, and heartbreaking, you must feel as though you’ve been trying your best, while still trying to also live your own satisfying life. It sounds as though you feel you can’t win, and with the added complication of his mental illness you might wonder if it has anything to do with your choices at all or if anything you would have done would result in the same sort of anger from him maybe?

I’ve seen this sort of situation a lot before so I am going to share a perspective which I think at least some of which could be true for your son. I’m going to do a translation of how your OP might come across to him if he were to read it, and may also come across to other people who are having a strong reaction against what you’re saying. Obviously this is just a guess, but it’s a somewhat educated guess, and I am not necessarily saying this is what you mean at all, but someone in pain could see it this way. T is for translation:

“I have a son who is an adult he’s just got married.
T -“My son should be mature enough to get over issues from his childhood, there must be something wrong with him that he can’t”

He didn’t invite my husband as he said he doesn’t like him all if a sudden
T ”he doesn’t like my husband for no good reason, this was essentially an arbitrary sudden dislike that does warrant me taking it seriously”

Our relationship is getting worse the older he gets.
T: “he’s bad, he is what makes our relationship bad and I have no hope that I will see him as a good person again, in fact, I predict I will like him less and less”

He’s paranoid keeps on bringing stuff up from the past which has never happened .
T:” his memories don’t match my memory of events, therefore I won’t take them seriously. There is something fundamentally wrong with him, that is why he believes what he believes. There is no possibility, that my memories could be wrong.”

Accusing me of things that happened to him .
T ”I don’t believe what I did, or let happen, hurt him in any deep way, so I’m not really sorry even if I say the words”

He was jealous of his half brother when he was born.
T “look, here’s more proof there’s something a bit wrong with him, I hope you see why I dislike him so much”

We take one step forward then five back .
T “he’s no good, I have no faith he will change and improve our relationship, him being better is the only way our relationship can improve- it’s nothing to do with me or my behaviour. He is the bad one”

He’s angry all the time and is just mean to me.
T “when he is hurting, it’s because he defective, immature and mentally ill; when I am hurting, it’s because he’s cruel and irrationally angry- the poison is in him”

I have had enough of it all.
T “I’ve made a good case of why I shouldn’t love him unconditionally, I have no faith in my son and will leave him in the darkness because it’s him that’s the problem. I do love his brother more than him”

I love him but I don’t like him very much.
T “I don’t love him, but I know it’s taboo to say that, it would make me look like a bit of a monster. I’m not wrong, he’s the bad one, not me”

He’s suffered with his mental health and has counselling.
T “he’s mentally ill, needed professional help, so more proof he’s the problem here. When he’s mentally ill it’s proof I don’t need to take him at his word, but when I’m mentally ill it’s proof he’s cruel to me”

He told me the counsellor blamed it all on me and his dad which I know wouldn’t happen,
T “when he tries to make his case that I bare a lot of responsibility for the pain he carries with him from his childhood, I think he’s lying to make me feel bad. He doesn’t want me to understand how he feel, he wants to hurt me, because he’s bad”

I don’t know what to do anymore I’m at a loss but it’s affecting my mental health .
T “I’ve given up on my son and want to discard him, I can discard people I say I love when they disappoint me. I have another child, another partner, I don’t need him to be happy. In fact, his pain is an act of aggression towards me that makes me mentally ill, because he is bad. Because of that, he not only lost his father figure(s), he will now lose his only mother to the family she likes better. He’s not entitled to love from me unless he’s good, and I predict he will never be good again”

Just one perspective. I may have it completely wrong, but when I hear people talk about these situations, from your son’s perspective, these are the sorts of things they say. Phrases like “I don’t know what to do anymore” or similar, sound innocuous, but they can cause a deep panic in people who have a deep fear of being left alone by the most important people in their lives. He loves you, he’s just stressed you will completely give up on him maybe, and is trying to push it forward a bit so he doesn’t have to live in fear of it. Maybe- the only way to know is to try talking to him, without defending and deflecting, and try to really hear what he’s telling you and accept it as real to him.

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