Quote Originally Posted by Crankin View Post
Many therapists and the public in general, preach forgiveness for such parents, but would we say this to a woman abused by a spouse? Of course not.
I've never understood why parents (even bad ones) get a pass. Then again, my favorite saying is that my kids are going to blame me when they grow up, I might as well earn it :-)

Laura - I'm so sorry it was so rough this year.
Crankin, the world needs more therapists like you. I fully support removing people from your life if they don't improve it. Life is too short to spend your time working on relationships that make you miserable. Then again, I'm working hard at "forgiving" (or how about not being angry about and letting go of) an abusive person in my past. They're not a part of my life anymore (beyond perhaps having to see them across a room at holidays once or twice a year), but at this point I just need to let them and the anger go and not define myself by past injuries.