It was my birthday recently. My daughter was staying at her dad’s because something else was going on which meant his was a better location for her. I was fine with that, it hasn’t really been mentioned. But, she didn’t remember to wish me happy birthday until I reminded her (nicely).
She has asked for a lift home later (it will be the first time I’ve seen her since the birthday) without reference to ‘hope you had a nice day’
or anything like that.
She has also refused to engage with any suggestions I have made about an activity to do together to mark both our birthdays (hers is coming up and we usually spend a day between them doing something nice together), nor made a single suggestion or request of her own. Trying to arrange this means she has had reminders that it was my birthday, plus it was on the calendar, and her dad usually remembers as well. For context, he had a serious illness some years ago and last week told her that he had feared a relapse- he is fine, been checked out and given the all-clear, but equally she didn’t appear that bothered about him.
It feels as if she is seeing me purely in terms of what I can do for her, and that is quite sad. We have always been close and enjoyed each other’s company. I was also surprised at how blasé she seemed about her dad.
She’s going to be 15 next month. Is this just how this stage is?