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My mom has not been a good parent and I feel bad for acknowledging it [Long rant]

Cinco

Well-Known Member
I should say that I do not wish any harm or hate towards my mother, I love her but I just wish she would have been better. I just wanted to write this now because I've been spending so much time with her now and she is really getting to me so I just have to vent about it.

Mom has had 6 children with 4 different men, she have had custody over all of us and we grew up with steps dads or the dads of our siblings. None of us have gotten a good or healthy childhood.
Mom and my dad had been together since their teens, my dad sounded like the guy any woman would want, he was handsome, interesting, funny and strong. He came from the farm just across the road from the farm where mom grew up, they were neighbours and known eachother since they were kids. When dad was 19 his mother died and after that he drafted in the airforce and after a year or two joined UN forces in Lebanon. He partially stayed in contact wit mom via letters, what he wasn't aware of was that mom back home seeing another man. She had moved in with a guy she met at school while she was studying, they quickly got engaged and mom got pregnant, when she got pregnant she left him and returned to my dad as he came home who luckly chose to forgive her. They raised my oldest brother together and had 3 more children including me, they had their own house, dad and a well paying job and everything was almost perfect. During the 7 or so years they spent together, dad gradually lost his trust in mom to the point where he didn't even believe that I was his child, the reason for this loss of trust I do not know but I assume it had a lot to do with how mom was seeing another man while dad was stationed, maybe something happened that tore up old wounds but I don't know.

Soon after I was born she left and moved accross the country where she eventually met another man. He tok us in, helped us with everything and was such a great step dad, it's almost hard to believe how good of a person he was, not only that but he was a really talented carpenter and overall very handy. After being together for maybe 4 years they got together and bought a property, he got some friends together and we built a house for us all to live in. A year or so later things started going south, he felt like he had too little control over us kids, like he never felt like he was a part of the family. I don't know the whole story but they ended up splitting and selling the house. My mom then found another man, he wasn't really compareable to to the previous but he was kinda cool for us kids because he had lots of videogames and such. They had a kid together and after 3 years they split.

Mom then moved back home again, after some time living with us children alone and going through a very depressive period she met up with a man she had known from her childhood. We all moved in to his place, and after some time they had a kid aswell.

This is probably the worst relationship my mom has had and it affected us all because this is when all the fighting and drinking tok place. The guy she was together with was already a heavy drinker, and my mom having history of drinking quickly picked up on his habbit. Their relationship was on and off all the time, they were even married once but split only after some months. We moved at least once every two year and one year we moved a total of three times. During one of their "off" periods mom started dating some other guy, she moved in with him along with us but after a month they broke up and we were back to our old house again. This disaster of a relationship lasted about 10 years.

There is so much happening in between all of this but it would just be too much to write, but I hope this gives you a general understanding of what me and my siblings had to go through and especially how these experiences affected our young and developing minds.

What bothers me most is that I feel bad for my mom, when I see her sit in the sofa 50% of her day drinking beer and watching netflix I do honestly feel a bit sorry, but I know I shouldn't. She's been single for probably close to 10 years now, we children don't want to really be around her much anymore. She's annoying and constantly nags about things, like we're suppose to help her with every single aspect of her life or that we're suppose to just know how to do things etc. she's act so entitled and ignorant. If she wanted good children she should have raised us as good children and taught us things, not just dragged us around from man to man hoping we'd raise ourselves. But most importantly she should have taken care of those who tok care of her. Mom had at least 2 good men willing to be her husband despite her past mistakes, but she blew it. Something I bet every woman in the world could ever dream about and I feel like she threw it all away and for no real reason. I wish she would just have realized sooner that good men don't grow on trees, and there is only a limited number of dumb things you can do before it's enough for any man. She should have just married dad, then they would have inherited the farm and our family would have been good and healthy productive members of society, but no. I guess sleeping around, having untalented lazy children and living as a poor person was more important than a proper family, strong, talented children, an actual home and a career.

But it's too late now, she's too old and we're already grown adults trying to get ourselves back on lives track. Mom threw away all the oppertunities and privileges she got in her life for absolutely nothing, and it has ruined her and everyone around her.
I feel sorry for her but I don't know what to do and it makes me feel bad too
 
we're told by society that we need to hold our parents in high honor merely for the fact that they birthed us, fed us, and didn't kill us. i'm a human being though, not a dog!

a failure is as a failure does.
 
That sounds like a very difficult childhood. The kids experience the collateral damage of parents choices. It also sounds like you learned a lot of life lessons early. Hopefully they will be useful to you. We are our parents children, but not our parents duplicated.
 
You and your siblings must have had a really rough time with so little stability in your life. It sounds like your mom herself wasn't someone who knew how to get by on her own so she went from person to person.

In terms of how you feel now, I think just know that you don't have to reconcile with what you went through, and you definitely don't have to "fix" your mom now. That's not your job. That's nobody's job but herself. She is an adult and has made her own choices. It's hard to see people we care about having a bad life, but we can't be martyrs for them. Look after yourself first. Hope you're okay.
 
It seems as of if your Mother searched for love her entire life. Never being able to settle on one person, for any length of time. And never really finding it. At least, she didn't abandon you and she could have if she had wanted to. She kept her children close. That in itself says much about her character, she cared about her children no matter what.
 
Ugh, so many bad parent problems in this forum, huh. My mom was/is not like your mom, but I can definitely attest to feeling mistreated, neglected, abused, etc. as a child. Hell she messed with me up until my early 30's.

It's OK to feel bad for her. Family relationships and conflicts and emotions are such complex things. It would be easier if we could just say to these people, "Screw you forever, I am not wasting anymore of my life thinking or caring about you." But of course we can't. Things aren't that simple. You can feel bad for her while not feeling like you are responsible for helping her out of this mess. She got herself into this and never sought help for her own problems. You are all grown now, with your own responsibilities, problems, goals. You shouldn't have to be burdened with helping her out if you already have so much on your plate.

Again, it's understandable that you feel bad for her. In fact, it shows that you have a really good heart. You're responsible for yourself now, and any dependents if you have any. No one else. Of course, if you end up feeling really bad for your mom, perhaps you can just check in with her sometimes if that is not something that really puts you off or makes you feel on edge. But always have the appropriate boundaries (I keep talking about boundaries. I feel no one uses boundaries enough, especially with other family members!!!) in place. I cannot stress that enough. With boundaries in place, the better you feel about yourself, and you can find the best approach(es) on how to manage your emotions. And, should you decide to be of minor help to your mom, figure out how to be there for her without sacrificing your happiness, comfort, or safety.

You can show you still care about her from a safe distance. It is possible!

Take care, and best of luck to you.
 
I hope you feel better soon, it's a tough situation you've been up against. So sorry. Sounds like you have some useful ideas.
 
Your mum reminds me of my mum. I avoid mine now. She wants me to call her and I'm dreading it.

The pain of this kind if childhood runs deep. I hope you and your siblings can find a way to support each other or that you already do.

It's time to look forward, forge your own life and identity and put in healthy boundaries with your Ma, as Jo Jo wisely said. Good luck.
I feel for you. Finding some therapeutic support might be in order, to help you process and heal from your troubled childhood.

This kind of formative experience can be very demoralizing, so it's important to find a way to build morale.

You sound a lot wiser than your mum already.

Take care, it's time to put yourself first and build a life that you can thrive in.
 
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Sorry to hear this. My mom has always been pretty good to me. I can see how hard though growing up and seeing your mother having kids with different men could be.
 
I can tell that the number one failing of you dad is that he's chose to be a family man and have a career in the military at the same time. This is a BAD! BAD!!! combination. Serving full time in the military can wreak all kinds of havoc on family life. What your dad should've done is hold out on having a family until he was done doing full time service and went to part time or reserve service before having a family..
 
Sorry your mom has commitment issues.
IMO she should have stuck with Air-Force dad.
The military looks after it's own (post Vietnam anyway)
Gotta say though at least 3 guys got Jodie letters while I was in basic (it's only 9-10 weeks, seriously?)
 
Thank you all for the comments

I can tell that the number one failing of you dad is that he's chose to be a family man and have a career in the military at the same time. This is a BAD! BAD!!! combination. Serving full time in the military can wreak all kinds of havoc on family life. What your dad should've done is hold out on having a family until he was done doing full time service and went to part time or reserve service before having a family..

I understand what you mean but my father was never stationed after his tour in Lebanon. He worked as an engineer at the air base, he studied and earned the rank as captain then later became chief engineer.
The air base is right next to where we used to live so he was rarely absent from the home for long periods except for maybeexercises now and then.

Sorry your mom has commitment issues.
IMO she should have stuck with Air-Force dad.
The military looks after it's own (post Vietnam anyway)
Gotta say though at least 3 guys got Jodie letters while I was in basic (it's only 9-10 weeks, seriously?)

Yeah I guess she does
If it were up to me I would have stayed with my dad, things would have been stricter but at least I would have had a possitive role model
 

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