Reply to Nieces and nephews

Forum Index » Family Relationships

Reply to "Nieces and nephews"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Tbh I don’t think it’s the kids. It’s however their parents have taught them to view you over the years. [/quote]

Yes, that sadly might be true. My brother married young and built a family. I have not found anyone. I think they disapprove and assume I live a wild lifestyle when it's really not that way at all. I work, I hang out with my dog, I have a few friends. 
Unfortunately, several of my single friends have noted that they feel isolated by the rest of their family because they're unmarried. The sad thing is that most of us did want to marry and have kids, but it just didn't happen, and it adds insult to injury to cut us out socially. 
Luckily this hasn't effected my relationship with my parents. We're really close. [/quote]

I’m sorry, OP. You seem like a truly nice person. It’s wonderful that you love your family.  Hopefully at least one or two of the kids will appreciate you as they age.  As a twenty something, both my DH and I were close with extended relatives on both sides.  This might happen because being a real adult can be tough and you need encouragement and someone to listen.

Also I agree that this is largely due to the parents.  [b]I hate the American way of only seeing immediate family as real family[/b].  [/quote]

I hate when people make blanket characterizations like this about American families that are flatly untrue.[/quote]

This entire thread kind of makes the point. There are exceptions, of course, but many Americans aren’t really much into extended family.  I’d say the AA community is a definite exception.  
[/quote]

I agree. I saw my aunt as this distant person. This was also due to how often the families got together, and that was controlled by the adults.

The niece I see most often is close with one of my kids, and I helped facilitate their connection by staying in touch with a difficult sibling at the expense of my own mental health and a lot of money on therapy. My therapist suggested treating the sibling as a divorced ex which was helpful yet still stressful.

My sibling trashes people so I’m sure she has trashed me to her family. (She trashes them to me.) If left to my niece, I’d probably never hear from her just based on whatever my sibling has said about me.

My sibling wants control and a relationship with my kids but my kids have been insulted by that sibling and are old enough now to see the mental illness. I stopped shielding them from it.

After many years, I told my kids they had to forge their own relationships as I had kept a relationship with that sibling so they’d have access to their cousins.

My mind and body took a toll from the mentally ill sibling. I’m tired. I’m very low contact with that sibling now and that means little contact with the niece…for now at least.

My sibling dominates conversations and has to center themselves at all times, so I prefer to see all relatives when that sibling is not around.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics