“ Every time my mother walks in, she takes over. I get a running commentary on everything I’m doing wrong with my kid, my life, my apartment.  It’s crazy-making.” - Caitlyn, age 34  “She asks my advice and then gets really irritated when it’s not...

“Even now, it’s hard to use the word ‘jealous’ about my mother. The idea that a mother would be, could be, jealous of her own kid paints a picture of a monster. Better cruel or uncaring than jealous, I’d say. It’s just so damning.” Source: Flickr...

I deliberately chose the painting by Mary Cassatt as an illustration because it serves as a cultural shorthand for the prevailing view of motherhood—more of a tender and loving calling than not, suffused with pastel colors, tints of calm. Of course, while there certainly are moments...

Source: Author If you are thoughtful and reflective, revisiting pivotal moments and experiences in your life will occasionally yield a new perspective. I've written at least a few hundred thousand words about unloved daughters in a book and articles (not to mention that I've spent youthful hours in therapy, read reams...

Source: Copyright free, unsplash.com In the court of public opinion, the daughter is always on trial. The societal response to a mother or father who disinherits a child—whether it’s someone famous like Joan Crawford who cut two of her children out of her will, referring only obliquely to “reasons...