Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Mothers and Daughters

Mothers and daughters ...
And daughters and mothers.

Two of the people I love the most in my life. And yet two of the biggest stressors in my life. Hands down. Do they even know? Do they have a clue?

Well, my mother certainly doesn't realize it. Rather ironic that, considering that she was the one always advocating that I must make my life less stressful. Do less.

But my daughter?
Does she ever even think about it? Or is she simply too wrapped up in the drama which is her life?

I can honestly say that for years, she has begged me to get her help at school. After a constant struggle, this year, finally, I am making progress. And she .... she fights it. Tooth. And. Nail.

Mothers and daughters. And daughters and mothers.

Lord help us all.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I believe the mother/daughter relationship to be the most complex of any.

I had a terrible relationship with my mom for most of my life until I started setting boundaries over the past 10 years or so. My mom is very competitive and that went right down to competing with me for my dad's attention when I was younger. She's forceful, a typical Type A personality.

She's 72 now and we have both mellowed over the years. My relationship with her now is the best I could possibly hope for. We are very close, but ironically it took her moving 7 hours away for that to happen.

I do worry as she gets older. She does live far away and while she's in excellent health right now - I fear what will happen in the coming years.

Michelle Morgan-Coole said...

Complex and challenging, no doubt about it, Kris.

But what I find *interesting* at the moment is that although I have been both a mother and a daughter at the same time for the past 15 years, now is when I most strongly feel the pull (and the pain) from both sides. Perhaps this is what my mom meant when she said "Someday you will have a child of your own..." On second though, no, she would never wish this on me.

Ah well, life goes on. And on. And on.