Article by Rena Goldman and originally posted at PsychCentral.com
A reminder that you don’t have to put up with toxic behavior, even from your mother.
When your childhood wasn’t exactly ideal, Mother’s Day can bring on some complex emotions.
Each year, there’s an endless barrage of ads, gift roundup articles, and sappy social media posts.
If, like me, you have a complicated or nonexistent relationship with your mother, seeing representations of how American society views mothers can bring feelings of deep sadness and even rage. You might be left wondering why you drew the short straw when it comes to mothers.
I’ve had no contact with my mother for over 15 years now, so there’s been a lot of time to process. Honestly, I don’t think much about Mother’s Day at all because I view it as something that doesn’t pertain to me — sort of like Christmas when you’re raised Jewish.
It wasn’t always this way. There were definitely years where the mention of Mother’s Day brought anger, jealousy, shame, and feelings of inadequacy.
Reading, processing, talking with other unloved daughters, and practicing different types of self-care have helped me get to where I am today.
Here are my tips for tackling Mother’s Day as an unloved daughter.