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Adult Children

(78 Posts)
showergelfresh Sun 19-May-19 12:41:17

You love them but do you like them?
I’ve been thinking about this recently and wonder what others felt about their AC.
Do you like them?

Savannasnan Sun 19-May-19 19:00:49

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

tinaf1 Sun 19-May-19 19:11:29

Perhaps ignorance really is bliss CrazyH ? bit off thread but when you see your adult children doing or behaving in a way the really gets your goat does anyone think and say to themselves I can really see myself or my other half there

kittylester Sun 19-May-19 19:42:05

I love all my children. They all have character traits that I like and some I dont. I expect I have too.

Their political views leave a lot to be desired but we did bring g them up to think for themselves.

lemongrove Sun 19-May-19 19:54:12

showergelfresh an interesting question!
We all love our AC, but liking is sometimes a bit harder.
Lots of honest posts on here though ( refreshing).
The tiptoeing around AC is at times very wearing and most of seem to have to do it.
The one thing we will never know is what our AC say about us to each other or their spouses, even when we think everything is hunky dory.

Sara65 Sun 19-May-19 19:56:12

Oh, Lemongrove, it’s probably best we don’t know!

sodapop Sun 19-May-19 20:08:16

I love my children but don't always agree with what they do and their life styles. Small potatoes really as they are both caring adults who are doing their best under trying circumstances. I count my blessings after reading the problems encountered by other
Gransnetters. They don't hold back when they think I've done something wrong, tables turned.

Sara65 Sun 19-May-19 20:12:57

I agree, when I read some of the heartbreaking stories, I consider myself very fortunate

Gonegirl Sun 19-May-19 20:40:16

I love all three of mine dearly, and of course I like them. I love and like my grandsons too.

showergelfresh Sun 19-May-19 21:01:55

What - all the time Gonegirl?
Do I believe all is so hunky dory for you? No!
Never the less I'm pleased for you if that is so.

Had to look up the meaning of FFS! Oh dear. Not good at all.
Maybe not all is as fab as the poster tried to have us all think as angry folk tend to have trouble at large.

I think pretty much as kittylester wisely said - that her AC have traits she likes and those she doesn't like and they probably think the same about her.

I love that - very balanced which is what I shall try to adopt. Thank you for the voices of reason many of you have shown.

I have learned much from you all.

Ginny42 Sun 19-May-19 21:23:59

Well showergelfresh, I was about to write a short post on your thread about my lovely daughter, but it may have sounded 'suspicious' to you. So I won't bother, to save you the bother.

maryeliza54 Sun 19-May-19 21:30:49

showergel your posts are really bloody nasty aren’t they? No wonder you have problems with relationships with you dc. Fortunately some of us are much more emotionally intelligent and mature,

FlexibleFriend Sun 19-May-19 21:39:11

I never get fed up treading carefully cos I don't ever feel the need to tread carefully. My eldest son and I have quite an argumentative relationship. We both tend to say what we think and end up arguing but arguing doesn't bother us. We don't fall out although we might not contact each other for a few days but that's as bad as it gets. We're very alike and not necessarily in a good way. I never argue with my younger son and never feel the need to either.

SalsaQueen Sun 19-May-19 21:55:45

My sons are 37 and 35, and I like them as well as love them.

Son no. 1 is kind, sensitive, caring, polite, and a brilliant father. He's very much a home bird.

Son no. 2 is funny, generous, ambitious, confident, well-mannered and thoughtful.

Both sons live 1/2 a mile away from me, and 1/2 a mile from each other too. They have got completely different lives (one has children, the other son is single, never wanted children). I am immensly proud of them both.

Chewbacca Sun 19-May-19 22:15:04

showergel your posts are really bloody nasty aren’t they?

Oh the irony! grin

Tangerine Sun 19-May-19 22:28:34

I love all of my children equally. Most of the time I like them but they do make me very cross sometimes. None of them are bad people.

Gonegirl Sun 19-May-19 22:56:03

* showergelfresh * what are you talking about? Of course my children have their faults but I know them well enough to understand where these faults come from. No one is perfect. I'm not and of course they are not. But I still like them.

If the "FFS" thing is aimed at me, I vaguely remember using that term fairly recently on GN, but can't for the life of me remember where. Sorry if it upset you.

moon

showergelfresh Sun 19-May-19 23:24:17

Don’t worry gone girl - it was someone else earlier on in the thread who said FFS and I had to google it to see what it stood for.

Anyway we have a good mix on here - some perfect AC some not so perfect and lots in between as is to be expected really- the law of averages!

So there we are.

showergelfresh Sun 19-May-19 23:26:13

And some lovely helpful posts and one or two insults!

?

maryeliza54 Sun 19-May-19 23:37:18

No Chew no irony at all- just a statement of fact. Damn nasty of the OP to basically accuse those of us who like and love our dc of lying. And you’ve joined in the nastiness - well done. Bless.

Buffybee Sun 19-May-19 23:45:18

and one or two insults!

Yes! From you showergel to anyone who did not answer in a negative way about their Ac.
Not all of us have dysfunctional relationships with out families.
Hard as that is for you to believe!

Starlady Sun 19-May-19 23:47:01

LoveOc, have you thought of suggesting that DS and DIL go to Relate? If not, the next time he complains about DIL, perhaps it would be a good idea to say, "We hear you, and we're sorry we don't have the answer. Perhaps going to Relate would help?" Even if he says, "No,' maybe he'll think about it.

Sara65 Mon 20-May-19 06:42:42

It’s not dysfunctional Buffybee
I love and like all my children very much, but they are not perfect, and sometimes you do have to tread carefully, so as not to rock the boat.
You’re very fortunate if you never have to do that

Scentia Mon 20-May-19 07:01:24

I love my AC dearly. I consider my daughter my best friend. I think if I spent a lot of time with my son we wouldn’t get along too well, we are far too alike! But I like him and he is a very hard working, loyal husband.

Laurely Mon 20-May-19 09:43:47

I have a DD, but also three step-DDs, acquired when all were adult. It took me some time to learn to love the steps, though I liked them from first meeting. I see one very often, because she lives closest and we help with childcare regularly, and she now feels almost like a daughter. But only almost.

I wonder if the tension around deciding if we 'love' or 'like' our ACs isn't caused partly by the term itself? Our expectations of unknown As are very different from those of unknown Cs. But our feelings for and expectations of our own ACs are mixed; perhaps we can never experience them fully as adults because they were once our children. I love my DD, though she sometimes annoys me - generally because she disagrees with me!

What would be a less emotionally-charged term? 'Offspring' perhaps? We can't use the biblical term 'issue', because that word has changed its meaning to be synonymous with 'problem'. Or perhaps that makes it ideal?

Alexa Mon 20-May-19 10:04:25

I have to be careful not to idolise mine.