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Grandparenting

Apologies

(332 Posts)
LiveLaughLaove Wed 07-Mar-18 08:53:43

LIVE - LAUGH- LOVE-

I see a lot of hurt mothers on here, and I wonder where all went wrong. It’s quote unfortunate, and as much as everyone’s story may be different, the vast majority of conflict and estrangement seems to evolve between mothers and their adult sons. MILs and DILs can’t see eye to eye. Grandchildren cut off over adult fall outs. Sons being blamed for not having a backbone. Or being under their wives control. There’s obviously a disconnect somewhere. But where? After reading many of the responses, the common theme amongst 90% of the responses seems to be, “I’m estranged but I don’t know what I did wrong.” Again on a very case specific basis, do we all really not know what we did wrong, or are we too embarrassed to admit our faults to our estranged child? How many of sincerely apologize? When do we stop blaming others and reflect more on our own imperfections? Are we totally without blame? Were we respectful of other people’s choices? Are your apologies sincere?

An apology is an acknowledgment of one’s fault. An admission of discourtesy; followed by an expression of regret or remorse. An apology acknowledges the harm your actions caused. Irrespective of whether or not you think they were harmful. An apology is sincere. Its sincerity is self-spoken. Sincere apology open platforms for dialogue. Insincere apologies effectively add locks, to previously locked doors.

Was your apology sincere? Did it show that you’ve taking responsibility for your actions? Did your apology show you taking ownership? Taking ownership helps rebuild trust with the estranged individual. Apologies that lack sincerity, further function to jeopardize your overall integrity, and cause the relationship to be more toxic. Yes, apologizing is hard work. It means that one has to accept that they were wrong, admit to fault and shun their distasteful behavior. But at times our egos cloud our better judgment. Pride, family/social status. stubbornness, and embarrassment etc. further impair our better judgement. These are factors that inhibit our admission to fault. Start by expressing remorse, admitting responsibility, empathizing and making amends. Don’t offer excuses, never apologize when angry, don’t apologize repeatedly. Promise it will not happen again.

If your apologies sound/have sounded anything close to the ones listed below you to step back, rethink and re-offer a sincere apology to your estranged child. Remember an apology though necessary isn’t always sufficient, so allow for time to heal the wounds you caused. As you allow for time to do its job, remember integrity: its not in your place to dictate, control or question the victims healing time, or whether or not they choose to forgive you.

Examples of apologies that may be ignored on a lack of sincerity basis.

1.The power struggle apology. (Ok. I’m sorry. Why should I apologize first?).

2.The entitled apology. (I’m sorry. Remember, I’m your Mother/Father/Spouse etc)

3.The fake apology - (I’m sorry you/she/he, felt that way).

4.The assumptive apology. (I think I may have hurt you. I’m sorry).

5.Apologies that excuse the abuser’s bad behavior. (I’m sorry, but I only acted out of love).

6.Victim blaming apologies. (I’m sorry, but no one has ever made me so upset).

7.Victim shaming apologies. (I’m sorry but he/she shouldn’t have done that).

8.The evasive apology. (I’m sorry but I don’t know what I did wrong).

9.Apologies that dispute the abusers’ offence. (I’m sorry if that happened).

10.The controlling apologies. (I’m sorry but we need to move on).

11.The insincere apologies (Sorry but we’ve both made many mistakes).

12.The abusive apology. (I’m sorry but I’m hurting because of you)

13.The sarcastic apology. (Fine! I’m sorry).

14.The gas lighting apology. (I’m sorry, it’s all in your head – a very dangerous apology).

15.The expectations apology. (How many times have I said sorry?)

16.The reverse apology. (I’m sorry I hurt you, but you hurt me first).

17.The accusatory apology. (I’m sorry I called you lazy, but everyone thinks you’re lazy).

18.The mind game apology (I’m sorry but none of this would have happened if you’d listened to me).

19.The defensive apology. (I’m sorry, everyone knows it’s not in my character to act that way)

20.The manipulative apology. (I’m sorry, just trust me).

21.The treacherous/vengeful apology. (I’m sorry, but she/he needs to go).

How sincere are you when you apologize?

MawBroon Sun 18-Mar-18 19:29:50

Took you a while ourKid1
I commented on this back on 9 March grin

OurKid1 Sun 18-Mar-18 19:12:18

Just realised that LLL's name is (presumably) misspelt - 'LAove'! I, guessing that he/she will tell me off for saying that using a lot of psychobabble/long words which few of us ever use in everyday speech/patronising rubbish in their own unique and special way.

OurKid1 Sun 18-Mar-18 19:08:00

Crumbs ... is this thread still being unravelled? Like someone said above, I'm just browsing and can't resist having a quick peek ...

Chewbacca Sun 18-Mar-18 16:48:56

I suspect that LLL knew they'd been rumbled; couldn't back up any of their assertions or "advice" and scarpered! grin

Yogagirl Sun 18-Mar-18 16:39:58

Think we grans can have a nice long nap Madgran whilst waiting for OP to answer zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Madgran77 Sun 18-Mar-18 13:40:43

Stansgean its not so much being at the cocktail party as genuine interest in getting an answer to specific questions! I think the OP should take responsibility for explaining that OP .....I was genuinely interested in having those questions answered ...they have now partially been answered but still waiting to see if the rest will be!

Luckylegs9 Sun 18-Mar-18 13:24:08

Did you have a spare afternoon to fill?

Stansgran Sun 18-Mar-18 12:39:12

The thing I love about gransnet is how polite people are. Someone wrote "loquacious"when I thought "verbal diarrhoea "and then wrote "armchair psychology " whereas I thought"transatlantic psychobabble" and we are still giving op a grandstand. We are the ones cornered at the cocktail party aren't we?

Gigi57 Sun 18-Mar-18 12:19:22

Wouldn’t matter if I was the arch angel Gabriel my DIL wouldn’t like me. Because my son was with me first...
It’s just MIL and DIL...
Every apology u der the sun wouldn’t work she would find a hole in it so I just give up and enjoy my DDS children

Yogagirl Sat 17-Mar-18 09:00:58

Snowing hard here shock

Yogagirl Sat 17-Mar-18 09:00:29

Me too Oopsadaisy having a good laugh, first thing in the morning, is a good way to start the day grin

Blinko Sat 17-Mar-18 08:52:32

Me too, Oopsadaisy. can't resist a peek now and then.

janeainsworth Sat 17-Mar-18 08:34:19

Lemongrove
Is ‘do no harm’ a Wiccan thing
I’ve stopped reading the lengthy witterings on this thread but noticed your question.
‘Do no harm’ isn’t a Wiccan thing, it’s a medical ethics thing, from the Latin ’primum non nocere’.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primum_non_nocere
Thought you’d like to know that grin

Oopsadaisy12 Sat 17-Mar-18 08:17:13

I’m sorry I ever started reading this thread, now I can’t stop having a quick peek every now and again.
I’m going back into Pinterest and find some scathing quotes that I can’t use on here.

Yogagirl Sat 17-Mar-18 08:12:30

I'm getting a bit dizzy, scrolling up and down for the apology no's 10,18,20 etc confused-take that as a dizzy grin

lemongrove Fri 16-Mar-18 21:49:57

That would explain a lot.

lemongrove Fri 16-Mar-18 21:49:34

Is ‘do no harm’ a Wiccan thing?

Chewbacca Fri 16-Mar-18 21:43:03

And apology number 20 would be fairly appropriate too!

and still no sign of telling us what qualifies him/her to share the fount of all this advice hmm

Madgran77 Fri 16-Mar-18 21:41:13

LLL Thank you for replying to my questions - I am unsure why it has taken so long!
LLLQuote "In response to your question: “1. why saying "I think I hurt you" is on your list as inappropriate.” - and taking the above statement into consideration, would mean that one has been informed in detail on their actions that were deemed harmful. After being told what you did, an apology in the form of "I think I hurt you,” shows a lack of ownership. This again would be different if one had not been informed of their wrong doing (which was not the case in my original post)."

I don't think your original post made clear that you were only talking about apologies that are inappropriate if one had been told what one had done wrong! (although I acknowledge that you did refer to that scenario within your OP.

LLL Quote^" Again I’ll reference my original post: “An apology is an acknowledgment of one’s fault. An admission of discourtesy; followed by an expression of regret or remorse. An apology acknowledges the harm your actions caused. Irrespective of whether or not you think they were harmful. An apology is sincere. “^

In your OP you gave specific examples of words used in a list of "Inappropriate apologies". I am asking if you can give examples of words to use in "Appropriate apologies"! Your reply referencing your original post, does not do that!

LLL Quote " “What about parents CO because an AC's partner is controlling them ....does that make the parent in the wrong for wanting to maintain a relationship?”..... Is this an assumption based analysis? Has the parent "maybe" considered the fact that maybe their own AC may share the same NC views as their spouse, but chooses not to confront them about it? Did the parent ever offend their AC spouse and as a result both spouse and AC immediately went NC?

You appear to be ignoring the possibility that in SOME cases an AC may be being emotionally abused by their partner (a recognised syndrome!!). Mine was not an "assumption based analysis" any more than you would say yours are "assumption based analysis"!! My point was that in some cases, it may well be that the parent is reasonable in trying to maintain a relationship/be available to an AC if they ever manage to get themselves out of that emotionally abusing relationship!
You are answering my valid questions with questions linked to an alternative scenario which I agree could be a possibility. But it is not answering the question I asked! Do you acknowledge that the scenario I described could be a possibility and in that scenario a parent may be reasonable in wishing to try and maintain a relationship?

Jalima1108 Fri 16-Mar-18 21:00:35

grin

trisher Fri 16-Mar-18 20:40:21

I think he/she will go for apology No. 18

Jalima1108 Fri 16-Mar-18 19:57:31

ps Apology No. 10

Jalima1108 Fri 16-Mar-18 19:55:46

aka drivel?

rafichagran Fri 16-Mar-18 18:36:04

How do people have the time to think, let alone write such rubbish.
Too much overthinking there.

Chewbacca Fri 16-Mar-18 12:42:24

And we're still no wiser as to what credentials or qualifications LLL possesses that enable her/him to offer so much in-depth and unsolicited advice. drums fingers and waits some more