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Part of doing this successfully is being fully aware of the fact that your kids know exactly where to poke to get the desired reaction. You have to know what the buttons are, and sever the wires in advance. That doesn't mean not feeling the thing that the action elicits...that's not possible...but not giving the reaction that's expected.True, and like Trix said, there is no growth without pain.
I'm going to have to be firm with them. I'll let them know that I love them, but I have to be firm. I am still young. I'm only 55. I still have time left to start over and actually enjoy life. It's hard to do that with all this hanging over my head.
I have my own little horror story that I'm not going to share...for my own reasons...but as difficult as it was to sever that type of toxic relationship, I would never go back to the way things were. Not for twenty million dollars.
And just for the record, I'm not coming at this from a "Your kids are bad" angle, any more than a veterinarian would tell you that the reason your dog barks at night is because "he's a bad dog, just a real piece of shit."