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View Full Version : Maybe wrong. Really don't care.


nachtspiegel
January 30th, 2009, 07:43 PM
So, back in the day, my dad was abusive and my mom was neglectful. She spent every minute that she could away from the house. Granted, at least she wasn't out whoring around. She'd spend all of the time she could at gatherings at the place that she worked. My dad used to beat the shit out of my brother, my sister, and I. I realized this morning that I still haven't gotten over it. I was watching him go into the garage, and he shot me an angry look and it sent me running across the apartment to hide. It took me hiding behind a door and starting to shake to realize what I was doing.

For years, it's been bad. Sometimes, I would leave for weeks, or even a month or two at a time because I was tired of the violence and the beating - and not get so much as a "how are you, where are you?" phone call - and they always knew how to get in touch with me. I started doing that at the age of 8 or 9. (It's not like I kept a record of certain dates.)

This time last year, my mental problems got really out of hand. My dad has always been stuck up his own ass and my mom turned her back on me. In February, we got into an argument about my dad's drinking and she told me to get out of her house. She told everyone that I left on my own, but I confronted her and she admitted - without anyone else around - that I didn't run away, and that she had told me to go. She never once asked me to come back, and when I called her about a month after I left, needing to go to the emergency room, all she had to offer was "it's Friday night and I don't feel like going. Call me tomorrow."

I took an overdose in May, plus I was getting high all the time and I couldn't get a grip on myself. My mom ended up finding out that I took the overdose very soon (like, no more than an hour) after I did it, though that night is blurry and I don't remember the details. All she said was "lock the door after you leave. I'm going to bed." After my friend's mom called her and threatened to call social services on her, she came and got me and took me to the emergency room. When they told her which facility they had to put me in, she got upset about the distance and said "I guess I'm going to have to sign him over to the state" - which she then tried to do.

In the facility, she never came to visit me. She only came to mandatory sessions (that my social worker told her that she had to come to or risk facing neglect charges.) And, she made it clear to me every time she came - even though she tried to act so peachy in front of the designated worker - that it was a huge time constraint and a strain on her to put gas in the car to be able to come. Not to mention that she "hated driving those winding back roads." She usually didn't try to make sure that the phone was left alone on the evenings that I could call, and many times, I'd lose my chance to have a phone call because she wouldn't answer. I even used to make sure that I kept my behavior in check so I could have a fifteen minute phone call.

Fast forward to the past month or so. They're both suddenly trying to act like they care, to a point. My dad is still adamant about his truck. One time, I asked if my sister's boyfriend could use it to drive me to therapy and I caught massive hell. They try to act concerned, and it might be genuine concern, but I feel like it's a little too late. I don't want their concern, I don't want them to act like the watchful eye, I don't want their sympathy. I, quite honestly, want them to stop scripting this bullshit and leave me the fuck alone. If they wanted to be such good parents, they should've tried when I was still interested. I am no longer interested in them trying to act the way they are.

That's not to say that I don't want anything to do with them. I've just gotten used to taking care of myself. It really throws me off how, all of the sudden, they are trying to act like they really care. If you want to criticize, that's fine - maybe I need some of it. Every time my mom says something like "you're my son, it's my job to care" or my dad says "I'm just trying to be a good dad" I'm fully prepared and strongly urged to reply with "shut the fuck up and save the bullshit. Stop talking to me. Leave me the fuck alone."

This is kind of a rant, and I'm not sure of the complete jist of it, but it's been on my mind, so I decided to rant in my favorite and most trusted place.

george
January 30th, 2009, 08:36 PM
I know it's hard but you could at least try and give them a chance to redeem themselves. They might have just now realized what they've been doing or actually what they HAVEN'T been doing and they want to make up for that. I'm not saying you HAVE to give them a chance but you could try and if they go back to their old selves, then I don't see anything wrong with doing what you're doing right now.

Did they just start acting like this out of no where or did something happen that caused them to start caring now? If they just started acting like this out of no where I really think you should at least give them a chance. You should always give someone a second chance but like I said before, if they do happen to go back to how they used to act then I personally don't see a problem with just telling them to "fuck off" and not bother you, but in the end it's your choice whether or not you want to give them another chance and see what could happen or just keep telling them to go away and stop bothering you.

You know I'm always here for you if you ever want to talk :]

nachtspiegel
January 30th, 2009, 10:22 PM
I really want things to be normal, but I feel like they're only fronting. I seriously think that part of it is that they got tired of the bad rep they had. They've had CPS on them multiple times. A social worker came to the house when I was eight and found the conditions - rats, the house covered in complete filth, kids running around unsupervised, dirty laundry everywhere, animal messes gone uncleaned - not to mention that my dad was so drunk that he couldn't talk to the social worker. I remember hiding in the recycling bin and then running to hide after she left.

Even now, the concern is limited. They don't show any concern as to what's going on with counseling and therapy. They don't ever bother to ask about appointments, and the upcoming psychiatry appointment is a huge bother to them. I tried telling my mother what's been going on recently, and I didn't even get as much as a "I'm here for you." The main overall reaction was "if you get too psychotic, I'm having you shipped off."

I've been sleeping in a room with no heat in it, and they were inclined to do nothing about it until my oldest sister caught wind of it and started bitching at them. That brings me to another reason... my oldest sister has been more of a parental figure to me than anyone. Emotionally speaking, I didn't have a normal set of parents growing up, and my sister is the only reason that I didn't become a full-blown drug addict. She's a big reason that I'm not dead and she kept me from sleeping on the street many times. I owe her everything.

I just don't feel that I have it in me to give my parents that kind of respect when my sister is the one that saved me from everything. Even though, when living with her back in the day, her house was hectic because of her ex-husband beating on her, and all kinds of other shit for another time, at least she showed me love. And she's the only reason that I know how to deal with other people.

I really feel better getting this out.

byee
January 30th, 2009, 11:27 PM
I'm glad you feel better getting this out, and I'm really glad you have your sister. Thank her for me.


Yours is a like a case history in family dysfunction, they really seem clueless about nurturing, it's an alien concept for them. Man truly is the only species that doesn't recognize it's own kind and often lacks the instinct to protect it's own. I'm sorry for you.

It's good you're 16, only a couple years to go, then you're done with them. As I've said, sometimes the best thing to do in situations like yours is to recognize that changing them is hopleless, and just make plans for tomorrow. So, do well, stay well, and plan for a brighter day when you can leave them for good and be done with them. Just be successful now so you leave and transition into adulthood in a good way. That means keeping your head clear (hope helps, with a dollop of planning), as well as succeeding in school etc.

Lastly, although you are justified in questioning the sincerity of your folks now, and your trusting them, whatever it is they're now doing sounds like a far greater improvement over what they used to do and how they treated you in the not so distant past, so although you can question it to yourself, don't do anything to sabatoge it now. It's better than it was, even if it's too little too late, and not trustworthy.