rachel_rob wrote:I don't understand why everyone keeps making a huge deal about her mom, and sticking up for her. It really bothers me when people stick up for ADULTS and put all the responsibility and burden on the CHILDREN. If anyone should be responsible to make an effort, it is the parent. It's not, and never should be, the child's responsibility to make things work with a parent. Her mother made certain choices in life that seem to have put a strain on their relationship, and not is not Kyra's fault in anyway. As some of you have said, it is not a belief that her mom was happy about her choice to get pregnant again, so why would she want that around her daughter? Yes, some people come around, but some parents have a warped view of what life should be.
Instead of starting a family, my mom thought that my time should be spent "Going clubbing and drinking and going to parties, and being a 'normal' 21 year old".
Which clearly is not something you encourage your child to do. I love my mom, but the thought of visiting her, gives me anxiety. She has 0 filters, and doesn't think before she talks, and has very little respect for my spouse, and has a very short fuse. My daughter is almost 1 and has never met her. And although I am in no hurry to visit her, and barely talk to her-- if I were a vlogger- I would NOT go saying how I feel to the world about my mom. And I wouldn't expect Kyra to do that either. And honestly, the fact that she hasn't done that is great! If she had, that would show a very high level of immaturity, and clearly she knows how to keep private things private.
My point is, it is not up to the child to make things right with their parents. So I don't understand why people are expecting for her to make all the effort? It seems like if there was a simple explanation, she would have mentioned something like, "My mom is really busy with work but is coming out this summer." But she has ignored it completely which shows that it's not something she wants to bring up.
Expecting a child to be the one to mend things with their parent, is like implying that the CHILD did anything wrong. As if the child is the one at fault for all of the parents mistakes. And that's not true.
You guys make your points and put out your complaints, but this one I COMPLETELY disagree with.
But then again, we know NOTHING. She could have a great relationship with her mom, and maybe her mom is already planning on coming out!:)
I respectfully disagree. Once a child reaches their late teens and then adulthood, it is their responsibility to work towards a good relationship with their parents. Parents are people and they have flaws. Children have their own sets of flaws. Recognizing that and being mature enough to recognize that there are issues and trying to resolve them is part of growing up. I'm not saying that adult children have to take on the burden of a toxic or abusive parent, but for most family the tensions are less extreme.
ALL relationships need bilateral work, regardless of who you think is at fault for what. Starting a conversation with "you know, I felt isolated when you sent me to love with dad and didn't stay in touch when I was a teen" can lead to understanding the other side and their perspective better (maybe they thought it would be best for you, or we're struggling with addiction or depression) and work towards a solution. Putting all the onus on the parent to fix a strained relationship demonstrates that the adult child has not shifted out of the power dynamic of their childhood and still expects to be treated like a child. They are not approaching the problem as adults. If your boss does something inconsiderate you go and try to fix things even if they don't seem to understand that what they did was wrong. It's on you to fix it if they don't get it on their own. If you don't, you only strain the relationship more. With a boss this can mean leaving your job, but with family you only walk away if things are VERY serious (though that IS always an option) so you might as well come forward and try to work things out.
All that said, people can choose to have all kinds of relationships with their parents and maybe for kyra a good relationship with her mother means talking on the phone. I do however agree with the part in your post where you say that we don't know what their relationship is like.