Every weekend my mom locks me up in the house and makes me clean. She’s so mean to me, I don’t understand what I’ve done to her. She manipulates me and gaslights me into thinking I didn’t do a chore yesterday (Ex. taking out the trash) and then threatens me into doing the chore or I will get beat. She takes my phone away everyday strictly at a specific time, so I’m writing this on my school computer.
She then goes to treat my siblings like they’ve won a Nobel prize. I can’t tell any of my friends since they aren’t good comforters and get really awkward when I vent to them, and I cannot tell any of my teachers since they’d call CPS and tell some of the other teachers. I don’t want to call a hotline because I think that they would notify my parents.
First Thing’s First:
- Thank you so much for trusting us with your story. You are really brave and strong for opening up about such a difficult situation. It’s easy to feel nervous or scared about possible outcomes of sharing your experience but you are not alone – The TeenCentral community is with you.
- Your safety is extremely important. We understand speaking up can be scary but you’ve already taken a huge step by seeking our help. There are other people in your area that are ready to help you as well. This can be anyone from a trusted adult such as a teacher, parent of a friend, or even a coach. If you do not feel as though you can talk to an adult at this time you can google “child abuse services in my area” you will be able to find people that can help you and your mom work on your relationship and be safe together.
- If you ever change your mind about a hotline, we want to make sure you have the info. Two other resources for immediate help: 1-800-422-4453 (National Child Help Hotline, 24/7) or http://www.childhelpusa.org, or text HELLO to 741741 or go to http://www.crisistextline.org/. There is always someone ready to help!
When You’re Ready:
- If talking to your mom about your feelings isn’t an option, we still encourage you to talk to someone. We like that you’ve put some thought into who you could potentially talk to so please keep going. Having someone to confide in helps us feel not alone and gives a source of support. Do you have any other positive trusted adults you can talk to like a family friend, spiritual leader, or relative?
- You stated a lot of this is centered around cleaning and chore completion. We do have some resources that could improve communication and organization in this area. There is a daily task chart that can be used to assign and mark off chore completion and other tasks. Maybe utilizing this or a similar chart could prevent some of the conflict between you and your mom.
- These type of stressful situations can impact your mood in negative ways so we want to make sure you are taking care of yourself. We encourage you to do things that help you feel happy and safe to boost your mood. Try to take just 10 minutes to do something positive that you enjoy.
