Dear Care and Feeding: I’ve tried to shield my kids from all the craziness.
I grew up in a very dysfunctional home with an addict for a father that my mom enabled. There was physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. After years of therapy, I have done my best to raise my four kids in a stable, loving, and supportive home. I haven’t talked to my dad in over two decades but still talk to my mom daily. My mom and sisters never had therapy and feel like everything is “fine.” They are all single, live alone, work from home, and have no friends or social outlet.
We got into a big argument after I asked her to stop yelling in front of my kids. The argument spiraled down to where I told her she could only see the kids after school on Wednesdays for a couple of hours so we don’t have to communicate regularly but she can still have a relationship with my kids, who she loves dearly and spoils. She came to my house today screaming that I’m “keeping her babies from her,” shoved me, and said every horrible thing she could think of.
My sisters are all on her side because they say I’m “playing games” by limiting her contact with the kids and just being “passive-aggressive” and trying to “control” her. In my mind, I’m just trying to stay sane. I never wanted to be a parent that uses their kid as a pawn or involves them in drama in any way.