Hello Reddit! (x-post r/askparents)First time poster (on a throwaway no less :), long time lurker. Would love some much needed advice. I have an infant (3 month) my mom wants to babysit unsupervised. My question is- should I let her?She is struggling with mental illness- particularly Bipolar and Borderline Personality Disorder as well as short term memory loss due to shock therapy. She has been following her medication and goes to counseling. Right now I let her come over as much as she wants- which already feels excessive 1-3 times a week for 3-5 hour visits. I’ve already had a conversation about not being able to watch my child but she keeps pushing me and I’m wondering if I’m holding on too much to the past. Or blaming her unreasonably for things not entirely of her control.Reasons Against -Bad balance/coordination, falls a lot-Emotionally manipulative-Blamed her attempted suicide on me 3x when I was 13-18-Believes in corporal punishments - spanking/slapping/digging nails into skin until bleeding-Let me know she wishes she didn’t adopt me-Can’t be around my dog (45 lbs, jumps up and she falls down)-Insults my parenting skills passive aggressively while talking to my child- “oh look baby, your mom was too lazy to put you in a prettier outfit”-Tells me repeatedly, “that’s not how I did it and you’re still alive”-Memory issues-Doesn’t respect my wishes/thinks she always does it better-Is insulted if ANYTHING is questioned or commented on-Afraid she will use my child as retaliation against me for some perceived slight-Has told me at least 20 times I am cold/unfeeling/unsympathetic/horrible person and I don’t want someone caring for my child think so poorly of me or my choices-Always feels maligned-Blows everything WAY out of proportionShe does love my kid, and is pretty stable right now. But I just don’t feel comfortable. She’s now trying to convince me to go see her newest therapist (we’ve seen others together which was a huge fail) bc the therapist is going to tell me why my mom is fit to watch my child. She tells me I’m being unreasonable bc it’s mental illness and I can’t hold it against her because that’s “not really her”. HALPTLDR: Mom has mental illness but wants to babysit edit: formatting via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2ijBoR0
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