Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices June 26, 2023 | Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 10,122 |
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices June 28, 2023 | Registered: 19 years ago Posts: 9,257 |
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Woe is Me!
No one ever tells you how deeply unfulfilling raising a baby is. It breaks you and destroys your soul.
I had a life full of hobbies. Hobbies that would enrich me and challenge me daily. I had a job that I was just starting to be passionate about and excel in. I had a wife that I loved spending time with. We weren’t rich, but used money as a means to enjoy life. Travel. Go out to eat. I would learn and read every day. People would tell me they’re bored and I couldn’t comprehend. If I had five separate lives I wouldn’t be able to fill them with everything I wanted to do.
After the baby, that life disappears. Vanishes. You become a house elf. Your days consist of monotonous tasks. Never ending chores. The same checklist over and over to make sure your baby survives. And you’re sleep deprived. And you’re paying for this experience. And you hear people keep telling you that you’ll get through it eventually.
What they don’t tell you is that a part of your soul dies everyday. Until there’s nothing of your former beautiful soul left.
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 02, 2023 | Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 10,122 |
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What in the sick fucking-cuntery is up with this place. I mean that metaphysically of course.
My mother didn't like me, she wasn't good at hiding it. I don't particularly like my child either as it turns out.
He is a PDA autist and at 2.5 I've honestly run out of fucks to give. He doesn't like any of the shit that parents need from their kids in order to feel some kind of reward for raising the little demons. He doesn't like hugs or kisses. He doesn't particurlarly like eye contact. Doesnt say a single.fucking.word. Is contrary to the point of exhaustion - mine not his. If I want anything from him ever its a hard fast run in the opposite direction.
It just all seems like a cruel sick fucking joke at this point.
After 2.5 years of this relentless shit I can do philosophical cartwheels with the best of them, but I am sick of trying to gas light myself into believing the following shit:
we are only given what we can handle
every piece of mindfulness meditation/buddhist advice about anything at all ever
And like a million other pieces of advice that I have been precariously hopping from as if from stone to stone in a river trying intently to drown me at the tiniest mistep.
I am just so fucking tired all the time.
If you have a PDA child you know. They quite literally will do everything to suck the energy field and life force out of your body into their own to fill whatever fucking gaping hole that they have there.
It sounds deranged. Any rational person would deny this as a possibility and point out quite reasonably that it sounds like the sort of paranoid raving of a matricidal mother, not something that could possibly be true. But let me tell you (and other PDA parents I'm sure you agree) it is true.
Obviously the solution is not matricide. It is a continual, ceaseless, never-ending grinding away at trying to find the balance between connecting with your child and building an energetic fortress around your own inner being to make sure that you quite literally don't get the life sucked entirely out of you.
Anyway, thanks for listening, That is all. I feel better now.
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Children and young people with a PDA profile may use a number of strategies in response to demands, for example delay tactics, distraction, shouting, falling to the ground, saying body parts don't work, negotiating, escape, difficult or dangerous behaviour.
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 02, 2023 | Registered: 19 years ago Posts: 9,257 |
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“I really regret having a baby. I'm 39 and had my first (and last) child last year when I was 38. I waited a long time to have a kid because when I was in my 20s I really didn't like them and after I met my now husband at 32 I became undecided.
I decided to have one because I was almost 40 and figured kids aren't so bad. I was a high risk pregnancy due to my age and other factors and the pregnancy completely wrecked my body. I experienced heart failure and have had heart problems ever since plus now I'm seeing a neurologist for daily headaches and lightheadedness along with balance issues.
It turns out I can have either MS or vasculitis in my brain so I'm getting more testing done. Both are very bad and the neurologist thinks it's from complications from the pregnancy. Every single day I feel like crap and don't have the energy to take care of my infant son but I try to take care of him as best as I can anyway. Also I used to work and be completely independent. I became a stay at home mom and absolutely hate it. It's incredibly boring. Babies are so boring. I am a shadow of my former self and really miss the life I had before I had my son. In particular I miss my health. I never had heart or brain issues before I got pregnant and felt fine. I never even saw a doctor. Now I see doctors almost every week.
And my husband helps but only sometimes. Most of the time the childcare stuff falls on me because he works. And my son can be very difficult. He's always been a terrible sleeper and he cries a lot, more than I think is normal for a baby but what do I know because I've never had a baby before. He's also very clingy with me and wants me to hold him all day long. I can't even leave him in his play pen because the moment I do that he cries so I have to pick him up again. My favorite time is when he finally falls asleep for the night because only then do I get to have a few measly hours to myself. We have a few friends that chose not to have kids and I'm so jealous of them. They go on trips and go out whenever they want. I can't do any of that stuff anymore. We recently tried to take a trip with our son and booked a room for 5 days. We had to leave on day 2 and return home because my son refused to sleep and was fussy all day long. It was a terrible time. I honestly don't know why people choose to have multiple kids. I'm struggling with just the one kid and I definitely do not want more. If I ever get pregnant again I'm going out of my way to have an abortion. Either way another pregnancy could kill me (the last one almost did kill me). I might not even live long enough to see my son grow up so I feel like I gave birth to him just to give him life because there's a good chance I won't be around to see him become an adult. So I really wish I just never had him in the first place. Having children isn't all it's cracked up to be. Like good for people who want them but I certainly am not enjoying being a mom. And I really want to feel normal again like I used to before he was born. I really miss the way things used to be.”
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 02, 2023 | Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 10,122 |
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 03, 2023 | Registered: 19 years ago Posts: 9,257 |
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I never had heart or brain issues before I got pregnant and felt fine. I never even saw a doctor.
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 03, 2023 | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 3,947 |
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 03, 2023 | Registered: 19 years ago Posts: 9,257 |
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 04, 2023 | Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 10,122 |
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 04, 2023 | Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 10,122 |
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I'm just here to vent and this will be a long post.
For context my wife (33F) and I (33M) had been on the fence about having children. We had many disagreements in the past because at one point she wanted kids and I didn't and almost ended up divorcing over it (very long story).
At one point about 3 years ago I caved in and we decided to try for a baby, but she just wouldn't get pregnant. We started going to a fertility clinic, did a ton of exams, spent a lot on medicine and tried for about 6 months with no luck. The doctor said everything appeared to be fine but suggested our only option was trying IVF. We decided it wasn't worth the hassle and took it as a sign that we were not meant to be parents.
Fast forward to the present and I decide to schedule a vasectomy just to be sure. My wife wasn't on board with the idea, but we ended up deciding it was for the best. Due to life I was scheduled to get a vasectomy sometime next month. However, in the last couple of weeks my wife had been feeling under the weather, so she decided to go to the doctor just to confirm she was indeed pregnant.
I was devastated when she broke the news. I think I almost fainted. We had made so many plans in the last 6 months that revolved around us being childfree, such as selling our house and getting a smaller apt closer to downtown, switching our car to a convertible, travelling around the world, investing and retiring early, etc.
Even though she was a fence sitter at some point, she always leant towards having a kid so naturally she wants to keep it (abortions are illegal where we live anyways) and is now stoked about being a mom. I, on the other hand, feel like my world is over as I tend to lean more to the childfree side and I was kinda already imagining I would go my whole life without having kids.
I literally feel like a part of me has died as I have no desire to raise a kid and most things about children annoy me (I'm kind of the annoying childfree person). I've lurked this forum on my main account to remind myself about the reasons why I don't want kids and now I realize this will be my reality from now on.
It sucks because my wife wants to be happy about this but knows I'm just miserable and the whole situation is not healthy for anyone involved. She has suggested that we part ways if I'm going to be this unhappy about all this, but I really love her and while we've had our rough patches, I think we've come out stronger than ever and things were going extremely well for us in all aspects of life. Also, I'd feel like a really shitty person leaving my wife to rise a kid on her own.
Sorry for the long post but I really needed to get this out of my system as I haven't even been able to think about telling anyone about this without bursting into tears. I'll be doing intense therapy in the next weeks to navigate this situation and figure out my feelings.
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 06, 2023 | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 3,988 |
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Cambion
Fuck, I didn't know pignasty could cause heart problems.
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 06, 2023 | Registered: 8 years ago Posts: 309 |
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 07, 2023 | Registered: 19 years ago Posts: 9,257 |
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 07, 2023 | Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 10,122 |
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Edit: I filed a report. I’m quite tied up in knots about it. I know there is literally no way our courts will ever press charges or allow charges to be pressed, much less find him guilty. That is the last thing I want, I just want him to have proper care and adequate staffing if he needs 2:1 or more and as I’ve had it explained to me, it needs to be properly documented that he’s done this for it to be taken into account. I feel awful for my daughter and worried for him because I don’t want anything bad to happen to him, but I am just so upset at the caregiver for thinking it was correct to bring him to a park for small children when she clearly knew he has issues with violence.
I have no idea what to flair this. I’m extremely shaken up and distraught.
Today at the park a mum/caregiver with teenage autistic boy (although he was the size of a grown man) violently shoved my toddler off of a 4-5 foot high structure when she was upset and trying to get down. I am just so incredibly upset. His carer just inundated me immediately with saying ‘He’s autistic! He’s autistic! I’m sorry, he is too rough when he tries to help!’ and all I could do was snap back ‘OKAY OKAY OKAY!!’ In a frustrated and upset tone at her. My daughter has a black eye and is really upset and traumatized and I just do not understand the choice to bring your 200lb, 5’10” teen who has at least somewhat of pattern of hurting people when he tries to help them into a situation to help a toddler. Much less the logistics of bringing someone prone to acting out in a (intentionally or unintentionally) violent way to a park with kids that he could very severely injure. It just feels so neglectful and now I’m sitting here trying to explain to my child who doesn’t grasp these things why a grown man (in her eyes) came and basically assaulted her and none of the adults really reacted in a way that was appropriate.
Am I missing something major here? Please don’t completely annihilate me if I am, I feel like I am just gaslighting myself into believing that this situation is just normal or something but I’m just so upset not even at the boy but at this boys caregiver. I don’t even know. I keep crying about this for her. I’m just really really upset. I don’t know if my reaction to her, or my currently processing/conclusions is in any way correctly. I am feeling so fraught it’s making me sick think about.
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 09, 2023 | Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 10,122 |
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Kids are eight and ten. For the past few weeks, and it’s gaining momentum, there has been resistance about every goddamn thing.
Eat dinner? NO. Brush teeth? NO. Have a bath? OH HELL NO.
They will literally lie in bed with one eyeball peering out at me and shout “NO!” when I tell them to come have breakfast. Or brush their hair. Or do any of the very basic, very daily, very minor tasks that litter our everyday lives.
And it’s always the same formula. I ask nicely. Then I ask firmly. Then I ask with mention of a consequence if they don’t do it now. Then I tell them to do it and impose the consequence. They explode. I yell. They cry and finally, finally, do the fucking task, stomping and griping the whole time.
Not just once in a while. Every day. Multiple times a day. It’s like the only thing that will actually motivate them is my anger.
WHY.
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 12, 2023 | Registered: 16 years ago Posts: 1,998 |
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 15, 2023 | Registered: 19 years ago Posts: 9,257 |
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“I don’t regret having my 3 daughters but I have raised them all alone with no help from the fathers or family. Being a SINGLE PARENT is one of the hardest things in the world. I was married with my first two kids and still was a single parent during the marriage and after my divorce. But as they get older it’s a lot easier. Now I’m just raising the twelve 12 old alone. I see my middle daughter who’s in her twenties with two children boys and the father is always making excuses to not be there and support her. He doesn’t even provide emotionally or financially. I always tell my daughter don’t have any more kids because just like it held me back in life it’s holding her back as well. I really feel bad for her. I would also tell women to tell other women to STOP birthing children because it’s been the norm all way back in the 60’s and 70’s for women to be single parents and the father just gets to walk away with out a care in the world. I think more needs to be done to help single parents out in the world. Maybe centers can be open all around the world whereby single parents can bring their kids to for a few hours a week to just breathe and get a break maybe get a pedicure medicure and go to the hair salon. I’m hoping with other single parents to look into doing something to help single parents out one day.”
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 16, 2023 | Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 10,122 |
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How do you handle ugly things being said about your child by someone with autism?
My 4yo has so much energy. She hasn’t been officially diagnosed but I’m pretty sure she has ADHD. When we go to visit family the main place is my aunt’s house. She has an almost 18yo son who was initially diagnosed with Asperger’s back before that term was considered outdated. He does not like children and will be mean to her but also say ugly things. Today he was asked if he was joining us for dinner and he said “only if you have cyanide tablets for her.” He then later looked at me and said “and you’re going to have another one? You poor soul.” (I’m 35 weeks pregnant)
I hate visiting family because he always says ugly things and is just plain mean to her. Are my pregnancy hormones just raging or are my tears legitimate? How do I handle this?
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 17, 2023 | Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 2,727 |
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 18, 2023 | Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 10,122 |
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There is SO much context within this, but to sum it all up, and I’m paraphrasing the situation A LOT here.. we are dealing with a very unstable BM who is terrorizing our lives. SO (35m) has 2 young children with her (5m and almost 2f) who came about under very deceptive circumstances. Again, long story, but I can elaborate in comments. We also have an ours (~8 months) and another on the way early next year.
BM has had a VERY unhealthy obsession with my SO since they met. He was in his “bachelor stage” in life and she lied about falling pregnant when he wanted to cut things off with her. How she eventually ended up pregnant anyway falls under the above deception I mentioned. Anyway, not knowing it was a lie he tried to “do the right thing” by helping provide and giving her a place to stay solely because of the child, because if not for him she would be on the streets and would have no problem dragging the kid(s) along with her. For the past almost 6 years she has refused to work. So, he was very much stuck in that situation. Still is, financially he has to help her so much that I take on 80% of the expenses in our home.
When he eventually met me and told her about me, she didn’t take his relationship with me well at all, even though they had not ever been together. Ever since, it’s been her life mission to cause us misery and turmoil. She will show up any day and any time with the kids, pounding on the door yelling and screaming, sometimes at unholy hours- I mean 2am, 3am, late night, whatever. She will blow up his phone any and all hours of the day on a daily basis causing drama over any little thing. Sometimes it’s very psychotic, going off about how he “left his kids” even though we have them more than half the week. The kids live in filth, there is garbage in bags in the house, on the porch, maggots in the sink, rotten food in the fridge.. stuff like that. The kids NEVER sleep, they are hardly supervised so it is hell on earth when they’re over at our house. They are messy, up all night, scream and cry and whine all day long, sleep very little and very behaviorally troubled. Our house is constantly trashed the days they come over.
I have tried everything to get him to set some boundaries- at the extreme go to court, at the least stick to the days we get them and cut off contact with her during those days unless there is an emergency so we don’t have to deal with all the drama. I haven’t had much luck with that, because if he tries to minimize contact she will just show up at our house, screaming and causing a scene, and none of it makes any sense. She just comes over with claims he’s abandoning his kids for another woman (we have them more than she does) that he’s a terrible person because the kids cry for him all the time (probably because their home life with her is nothing but turmoil) saying horrible things about me, purposely losing jobs or saying she has no electricity, car trouble, literally anything to have his constant attention, guilt and support.
If he fails to give her the attention she seeks, she uses the children as weapons. Threatens to quit whatever job she has at the time, keeps the kids away, threatens to call the police, all kinds of crazy stuff.
When our baby was born, she dropped the kids off the moment we left the hospital and never came back for them my entire maternity leave. She purposely wanted to make sure he had no time to bond with the baby. They also had Covid which she knew, so our newborn baby and I were sick with Covid for an entire month, which killed my breast milk supply. She tells the kids that daddy has a new baby and a girlfriend and you guys don’t mean anything to him, so now when they are here they are SOO clingy, he can’t spend any time with me or the baby because the kids will scream and cry and jump all over him any moment they don’t have his undivided attention. We basically have to live separate lives in separate rooms of the house because of this.
I feel bad for these kids, it’s all very unhealthy for them, but my goodness.. the stress and frustration this all brings has me at my wits end. We can’t even try to give them stability on the days we have them, because even on those days it is ALL about her and constant damage control. Anything I say now he takes very offensively, like my trying to set boundaries is going to cause him to lose his kids and make things worse for all of us. if he goes to court, she will full on give up on them and there is no way we can have them full time. That much is true, we can’t afford day care for multiple children and we both HAVE to work.
I really don’t know what to do here. I guess I just have to deal with this and hope she eventually gets tired and goes away? That doesn’t seem likely though, and the imbalance it creates in our life is unbearable. I feel like I am doing it alone, while he is still very much stuck in the past only able to focus on her and their kids. I sympathize for him, but I would do anything for it all to stop. Any advice here?
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 18, 2023 | Registered: 8 years ago Posts: 309 |
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 18, 2023 | Registered: 19 years ago Posts: 9,257 |
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 19, 2023 | Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 10,122 |
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I struggle with anxiety and tend to “fawn” as a response so I may sound worthless and dramatic throughout this post. I’m trying to do little changes to be better but big things are already happening and it feels like it’s too late. I’ll still recycle but what’s the point if it’s methane from the cows or a million cars on the road at anytime? Our kids deserved better and part of me just wants to stick my head in the sand about it all just so I can get through the day. I’m going to counseling to work on my generalized anxiety but I’m hoping to hear from parents who are scared as well. Maybe you also have parents/in-laws that are climate deniers and just do the worst things for the environment and you want to stab them.
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices July 28, 2023 | Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 10,122 |
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So I took a test July 10. And probably 8 tests after because I didn't believe it and my period was not even late yet.
All positive. I have a Dr appointment for next Monday the 31st.
My first reaction, and my husband's, was not good. We didn't want any more kids and felt our only was our family.
God had other plans.
I turn 40 next week. My husband will be 55 when baby is born. Our son is almost 4, so not a giant age gap.
But y'all.... I'm middle aged!!! How can this be??
If you're an older parent, or your spouse is older, please share stories!
Re: Breakingmom Tales: Or A Collection of Stupidity & Dumb Choices August 01, 2023 | Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 10,122 |
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If your kids leave to go to, say, grandpas hoise for a week, do you miss them? Do you call them every day? Do you look forward to that call?
My sister's two girls are going to granpa's for a week and my sister mentioned she was going to miss her girls. Meanwhile when my kids went to grandpa's for a week in June it was like a party for me and my husband. We had so much fun. We only spoke on the phone with them a few times that whole week. Neither party (kids or us parents) really wanted to talk on the phone.
My kids are 8 and 10
Are my husband and I monsters?