tiggerspoohbear
Posts: 19141
Joined: 6/27/2010 Status: offline
|
Been there, done that. The best advice I got was from the counselor I was seeing at the time. Set boundaries with my parents and stick to them. By then I was in my late 30's, early 40's and had moved out when I was 17. It finally took me moving 4 hrs away. The city where we'd lived just wasn't large enough for the 3 of us. I'm now 48 and my dad still does it. I've had to "well-being" shows from the local police because I didn't answer the phone for 2 days. My dad makes it sound like I haven't called him in several days and I've had to make him understand that his panicking is making me anxious. He knows it's too much, but I also know it's done out of love and worry on his part. I've learned to deal with it and try to reassure him, but he's 75 and he's not going to change on a dime. So i breathe deeply and have to let it go. It's not easy for me, and I know it's not easy for him but I'm a grown-up now, not the 17 yr old he still thinks I am. This is a hard lesson for him to learn, but he's slowly starting to understand. He worries because I suffer from clinical depression and a host of disorders that go along with it. I'm still a daddy's girl but I also know I have to let him know when he says things I consider inappropriate. I hate to do it, but for my own sanity I have to tell him. My mom used to know every button to push to make me feel guilty, and I had to learn to let go of that too. She had 40 yrs to set up those buttons. Guilt can be an awful motivator and I finally had to set even more severe boundaries with her. She's been gone for over 3 1/2 yrs now, and I miss her every day. I loved her, she was my mom, but that doesn't mean I had to like her. Cutting her out of my life was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but for my own sanity it was something I had to do. Once she became very ill, I was lucky enough to be there for the last 2 months of her life, spent my time back home helping out and once hospitalized, time was spent there between my dad and me every day and she was never alone. I'm thankful I had that time with her and got to settle some of our differences. I wouldn't be who I am today without my parents upbringing. They did the best they could with trying to deal with problems I had that they didn't know how to handle. I always knew they loved me, of that there was no doubt. And I know how much my dad loves me now. He's become my rock, my cheering section, my support. There are still times when I want to run screaming, but we now work it out and are much more open with each other. I wish you luck, I know how tough it is to grow up when they still think of you as a child. You have to learn to deal with them on your terms, not theirs. Not easy to do, but it is possible.
_____________________________
"RABBIT IS GOOD, RABBIT IS WISE". "I'm a baaa-aaad pussycat".
|