Skip the kids and Buy the Damn dog!
Post Content: In February 2023, I wrote this at rock bottom. I wasn’t ready to share it then. I am now, because maybe someone else needs to see what breaking looks like when you gave it everything you had. Fifteen years. That’s how long I was allowed to be their mother. Then it was over. I went from their favorite person to the one they crushed all the way down to the core. I wasn’t perfect. But I worked. I protected. I showed up. I made sure they weren’t around chaos. I gave them my best. And what I got in return? Neck wrinkles and a bad reputation. They let me feed them, clothe them, spoil them, clean their messes, and provide their wants—but I was never allowed to say no. Not once. If I didn’t do it, someone else would, and I’d be the bad guy. That was the cycle. That was my life. Not just with them, but with my whole family. If I didn’t jump, I was punished. Emotionally. Relationally. I was bullied into being useful. I skipped the bar to go home to my kids. I stayed out of mes...