Mother’s Day, 2009
Mother’s Day has been sad for me for years now. Without fail I always think of caring parents who are suffering because their children are being kept from them. Then I remember the years when my two oldest daughters lived with their father and I never, ever heard anything from them on Mother’s Day… nor did they want to talk to me at any other time. The youngest still has Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) though now she’s 28 years old. She refuses to communicate with me and thinks I’m a really, really, really bad person. (My oldest daughter recovered and realized she’d been brainwashed.)

I know a lot of you are thinking, “When my child is eighteen he/she will come see me again.” But for many of the sad, suffering parents, that never happens because of PAS.
(More about PAS/Read: What is the child’s part in PAS?)
So… for those of us with children in foster care or adoptive homes, or living with another family member or an ex-spouse… for those of us who never get to hear “Happy Mother’s Day” from their much loved children… I have a few suggestions.
1. Love yourself. Seriously, if your child won’t express love to you, find reasons to love yourself anyway. All human beings are born to be inherently lovable, and you’re one of them. Take time today to list your good qualities and praise yourself for them.
2. Here’s something that cheered me up back then when my daughters weren’t calling me. I found a big Mother’s Day ad/announcement/appreciation printed in the Oakland Tribune, and cut it out and put it on the refrigerator. It was cheerful and it really made me feel better even though it didn’t come from the two children I wanted to hear from. Those of you blessed with artistic creativity can probably get the same effect by making a card for yourself.
3. Pray for the children. They are victims just as we are. While it is true they probably aren’t calling because they don’t remember or realize it is a special day, it is also true that their handlers (whoever controls them) aren’t going to remind them to call as any truly decent person would. This isn’t your child’s fault. They are being trained to be disrespectful to their mother and to treat her like dirt. They get good reactions from the people they live with whenever they are cruel towards us.
To my daughter: If you want to deny this take a good look at What is the child’s part in PAS?. If that doesn’t fit you to a T then what does?
4. Take a walk today and look at all the flowers blooming. Clear your mind from the sad thoughts and remember that life renews itself and there’s plenty to love about being alive in this world.
5. Don’t quit living, learning, and growing. You’ve had a terrible shock, and are living with trauma. But don’t let that destroy your life. Look toward your own interests and hobbies. Do things that make you happy. It is all about self-care. Yes, the thing you wanted to do (mothering) was cruelly ripped from your arms and your heart will hurt over this for many years to come… but we must learn to live with the trauma and recover from it. And we must use the time away from our children to do good things for ourselves.
A big hug from me to all suffering, lonely, traumatized mothers on this Mother’s Day 2009.





