Smileless the onus is on you to not reply to me, if you would.
if your recycling or rubbish collections days are Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday
It’s been a while so I will start us off…….whats for supper and why?
Hi, We would like to give a money gift/card to our upcoming GD birthdays however we have been estranged from our son and his partner and our 2 young grandchildren for the past 3 months. The youngest will be 1, the oldest 5. There were 2 reasons for estrangement:
1. I showed photographs to my 4 year old GD of her new cousin 3 months old. My son disapproved as he is estranged from our daughter following exchanges between them of nasty cruel texts. They have been estranged 6 years. He wants us to back him and have nothing to do with our daughter. I told him I have 3 children and 3 GC and love them all and am going to make sure they are all aware of the other when asked in my house. Son doesn’t like that.
2. Son and partner had arranged a night out. We were due to babysit offering to have children from 4 on Saturday and return them around 10:00 on Sunday. We were accused of depriving them of a lie-in!
Upto point of estrangement we have supported them by having our eldest GD one day per week for 4 1/2 years, babysat in their house, had GC at ours overnight, helped them financially to £thousands, taken them on holidays your expense.
I was hoping that things would have calmed by now. We have been excluded from FB and deprived of communicating with our GDs which is upsetting, particularly as eldest started school recently.
Would you buy gifts or try and send money or any advice going forward would be appreciated. X
Smileless the onus is on you to not reply to me, if you would.
There's no need to be rude Caleo. If you find me and my posts irritating then don't read them and don't bother to reply.
Smileless, you irritate me! That is what I have just written!
Perhaps that explains why they don't have much interest in you or keep in touch Caleo.
I did not pay much attention to my grandkids when they were children , so naturally there is not much of a relationship there.
I quite like them all and they are always welcome on the rare occasions I see them.
Smileless2012
It does make you wonder what the repercussions for some may be Allsorts, when there was never any attempt to try and sort things out and they just walked away.
Sounds like your GM and mine were very similar GSM.
That small distinction was appreciated.
In hindsight I wish I hadn't tried so hard though and I do appreciate that some people were trying during the relationship so when the last straw falls, they just cannot any more.
They are probably a lot stronger than me because I had a complete breakdown and I was desperate to fix things while knowing that I couldn't accept any less than a genuine attempt by the other side
Our boys were the same Allsorts, even living in Aus. didn't stop DS from being in touch with his paternal GM who he was particularly close too.
My mom used to knit outfits for dolls when we went to bed, to find them dressed differently next morning, she used to make little purses out of felt too, things didn’t cost much but meant a lot. Both my grandmas were opposites in characters but all lovely in their own way and very much part of our lives.,I feel blessed to have had such a lovely upbringing.
Smileless, my children were so loved, fabulous grandparents both sides, yet one turned away from them all.
It does make you wonder what the repercussions for some may be Allsorts, when there was never any attempt to try and sort things out and they just walked away.
Sounds like your GM and mine were very similar GSM
.
I meant Really amazing.
Smileless2012
It's such a shame isn't to think of those GC who will never know their GP's because they're parents are estranged from them.
My gran was a wonderful knitter and seamstress GSM. I still have every single thing she knitted for our boys when they
were babies.
She made matching dresses for me and mum and always one for my favourite doll Joanna. She was amazing.
That’s lovely Smileless. Really amWhen I was very small I had a tiny doll and my Granny knitted outfits for her. I don’t have the doll or the outfits any more except in treasured memories. I have so many of those.
Yes, and it's not what was wanted for me. I tried so hard but truthfully, if I could go back, I'd just walk away without trying because it was hugely detrimental to me to try to have a positive relationship for half a lifetime
But for some the estrangement is the resolution.
Disputes don't always get resolved. Sometimes agreeing it's over and walking away is for the best. It why divorce became accepted. Because forcing people to be in a relationship they don't want to be is wrong. Even without abuse.
Allsorts
With estrangement becoming increasingly popular instead of sorting out disputes, children from such homes will follow suit, if it gets a bit sticky cut off contact, no problem. What goes round comes round.
I hope you didn't mean that to be unkind towards those of us here who have rightly cut off an abusive parent, and those of us who did try and failed to sort out disputes anyway
With estrangement becoming increasingly popular instead of sorting out disputes, children from such homes will follow suit, if it gets a bit sticky cut off contact, no problem. What goes round comes round.
Caleo I'm glad you feel good about this, it's normal for children and grandchildren to grow up and there to be a distance between us where we aren't a priority any more. As long as they are always welcome and we are loving and proud from afar, I think eventually we will see more of them as they get older
I'm glad you don't feel sad Caleo but I still think it's sad when GC reach a certain age and can't be bothered with their GP's anymore.
"Oh that's very sad Caleo."
But I don't feel sad !
My little late baby doesn't know his nan and grandad and doesn't have his own experience of their behaviour to draw on like his older siblings. If he ever asks me why we don't speak to them I will tell him this, I read it somewhere recently:
Well, you know how in this family we don't disrespect each other, we don't try and control each other and we don't keep doing things to each other that hurt our feelings or annoy us? Nanny and grandad chose to behave that way towards us and are toxic. Spending time with toxic people damages our self esteem and we might eventually become like them. So we don't have contact with them.
It's such a shame isn't to think of those GC who will never know their GP's because they're parents are estranged from them.
My gran was a wonderful knitter and seamstress GSM. I still have every single thing she knitted for our boys when they
were babies.
She made matching dresses for me and mum and always one for my favourite doll Joanna. She was amazing.
I also miss my maternal grandmother, she died when I was small and my mum let me think it was my fault because... Abusive etc
I think about her a lot
She sounds like mine Smileless. She died in 1966 but I still think of her every day.
Oh that's very sad Caleo. I loved my maternal GM very much. She was my rock and I spent as much time with her as I could. I still miss her.
My adult grandchildren are not estranged they simply are not interested in me and never get in touch. I'd send them small tokens of friendship but do not want to embarrass them.
I agree AmberSypglass although I haven't seen anyone on this thread say they have or would introduce religion to a child without first discussing it with their parents.
A history of your D's partner's cold and nasty behaviour has been reinforced with this recent response Sallywally. It must be concerning that this has come from him rather than your D.
As her mum, I'd have thought this would be a conversation between the 2 of you.
Who knows what the future may bring. Your GC may well seek you out when they're older. Is your D in contact with other family members? If she and the children see your other GC it will be difficult for your existence not to be discussed at some point.
Our DS has told us of awkward conversations in the past with his brother, his wife and our GC. The eldest old enough to know that his uncle's parents are his dad's parents. The conversations are shut down by our ES which may prove to be counter productive in the long term, if that merely feeds his curiosity.
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