Adult Child Not Calling, Yes It Is Me Again

J., you really need to back off. Your daughter is ALMOST 30 YEARS OLD. She is not a child. You are smothering her. She is not being rude. She is not being inconsiderate. She is being an ADULT who does not have to report in to her mommy. You are driving her away.

Please, stop looking to your child for acknowledgement. Get some professional help to deal with your feelings. They are NOT your daughter's responsibility, they are your own.

You really need to back off and let her be. You don't need to know where she is all the time. You don't need to have anyone check on her. SHE IS ALMOST 30.

She loves you, but honestly she may NOT like or respect your behavior at all. Moms have given you the same answer every time you have asked this. This is NOT her problem. It is YOUR problem. It is YOUR issue, and you need to deal with it. She is not slapping you or kicking you emotionally. You are bullying her and blaming her for not giving her what you want. But she is not responsible for filling whatever emotional void you are trying to fill.

Please, stop taking the easy way of blaming your child for not caring enough for you and get PROFESSIONAL help. If you don't you will push her all the way away, and you will only have yourself to blame for it.

My god in heaven! Please get therapy! You are driving your daughter away! She is trying to come back to you but every time she does you smother her and drive her away again!

'Her' behavior is normal, 'your' behavior is not.
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I am adding hoping maybe you will see this. She drove with you and is staying with you. That is her trying to reconnect but with boundaries against your smothering. Then you pick a fight about how needy you are on the way out so she is at a friends, building strength to deal with your neediness for the rest of her stay.

No child should have to build up strength to deal with their parent!

I know this pattern well because my children have to do it with their father. They love him and want to spend time with him but he is so needy they are not strong enough to deal with it long term.

My mother was also like you and I can assure you our relationship has vastly improved since she passed away. :( Don't be my mother! Don't waste your whole life driving your daughter away from you!
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It is not rude to ignore someone who is rudely calling and messaging you all the time! Every message you send, every call you make you are saying I don't trust you. I don't think you are competent, I don't think you can make it on your own so I must protect you!

Stop being so dang self centered always thinking about how she makes you feel and think about how you make her feel!
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"She has disowned my brother who has mental illness, and I guess that is okay. He has rage issues, and I do not have much of a relationship with him either."

That is from your mother's day post. How can you not see mental illness is genetic. Your mom, your brother, and you. At least your brother accepts his illness.

Ok J., you have obviously not listened when some of us have tried to give you nice, polite responses, so here goes.

Good grief, she is 28 years old! She does not have to check in with you every time she breathes. YOU are driving her crazy and pushing her away. She is a grown woman and should not have to stop what she is doing to text you back every time YOU get your panties in a wad and feel insecure. It is not the time to text back...it is the principle of the matter...she should NOT have to hold your hand like this.

You are trying to TELL her what she has to do and she clearly resents it. You are right, she probably doesn't like you much BECAUSE YOU ARE STIFLING HER! She loves you as her Mother, but probably doesn't want to deal with you being so unreasonable.

She texted you and let you know that she arrived in SF. How much do you really expect her to contact you? You said that she had meetings to attend. She is living her life. And why in the hell would you really NEED to call the hotel to check on a grown woman? This is absurd.

You seriously need help. You are going to lose all contact with your daughter if you keep up this behavior.

Stop expecting her to keep you up to date with her life. And, STOP criticizing her. When you tell her she's rude she will only withdraw more. Even if you don't use the word rude, your attitude will come thru as demanding and judgmental.

If you want her to be more involved with you, you have to back off and accept her and what she does as the way it is. Her not calling has nothing to do with respecting or liking you. She is an adult with her own life and needs to know that you accept that. When you continue to berate her and express your hurt and anger, I would expect that she would not call, text, or in any way get in touch with you. I'm 70 years old and I wouldn't continue to be a friend of anyone who treated me the way you're treating her.

You are being rude and disrespectful of her. You say you know she needs space and then you don't give her space. I don't understand why you don't see the unreasonableness of your attitude.

If I were her friend, I would suggest to her that she not spend the month of June with you. I would suggest that she not contact you until you were willing to acknowledge that she is an adult with her own needs.

She is not responsible for making you happy. Have you even tried to hang back and give her space? Like, not called or texted for a week? I suggest that if you could allow her to not hear from you for the week she's in San Francisco, you would've taken a big step in patching it up with her.

I urge you to get counseling so that you can learn to deal with your anxiety and your issues without trying to change your daughter. She is 28, good heavens!

No one can change anyone else. We can only change ourselves. If you want to have a good relationship with your daughter you need to stop expecting her to keep in contact with you.

I was recently reminded of the saying that goes; when you point one finger at someone else there are three fingers pointing back at you. Focus on your feelings and how to deal with them without expecting your daughter to take care of you. She's having enough difficulty taking care of herself. You have to let go or you will continue with this hurtful and angry relationship with her.

You said you know you shouldn't have contacted her. So why did you? You are also an adult and should be able by now to control what you do. You know you shouldn't do something, then don't do it. That's a good beginning to changing this relationship.

It's a slap in your face and a kick in your stomach because she doesn't do as you ask; doesn't acknowledge your feelings and try to be kind to you. So, you aren't doing as she asks and you're definitely not being kind to her. I'm guessing she feels the same way you do.

Find a way to take care of yourself and let her take care of herself. Get a life separate from her.

After your SWH: Yes, you need to stop telling her this bothers you. She knows. Hasn't she told you the way you're acting bothers her? Why do you expect her to take care of your feelings when you're not taking care of hers? Each person has to take care of their own feelings.

The two of you are in a toxic relationship. I strongly believe that you both need to take a break from each other until both of you heal and can start over.

At 28, your daughter is not all about you, your worries and concerns.
Yes, you will always be a parent BUT your days of actively parenting are so OVER.
Your behavior goes way beyond wanting to be 'simply acknowledged'.
You are demanding she make YOU the center of her life and you are hurt when she doesn't - and she's not wrong or bad for 'treating you this way'.

It's ok to send a note to her saying that you love her.
It's NOT ok to include 'send me a quick note' because you can't stop yourself from the 'send me a quick note' every time you think about her.

You have a boundary issue in that YOU DON'T HAVE ONE where your daughter is concerned and you are not honoring the boundary she needs.
For your daughters own good, and your own and your relationship - cut it out already!

Get some counseling, or group therapy or what ever it takes for you to quit obsessing over your daughter.
You are all ME ME ME - 'MY concerns', 'MY worries', 'MY hurt feelings' and you are pushing your daughter further and further away - because she feels like you are smothering her with your self centered behavior.
The only one slapping you in the face and kicking you in the stomach is YOU - it's self inflicted.

Seriously - you need to get out more.
You need to reconnect with yourself - who were you before you became pregnant?
What did you like, what filled your days?
Find some friends your own age, hobbies, travel, take a cruise, get a job (or a boyfriend if your husband is not in the picture) that interests you and keeps you so busy that you don't have time to be calling/texting your daughter more than once every month.
If you give her a chance to miss you, THEN she'll call you.

You need to work on this much harder than you have so far - and not WITH your daughter - with a therapist.
You need a major wake up call and you are just not getting it.
Please - for your own sake - get involved with other people and leave your daughter alone.
You can be happy again but it's going to take a lot of hard work on your part.

What would you do if she didn't have a cell phone or email? You wouldn't be able to send her constant messages. She wouldn't be able to get back with you until she was done with everything and home.

You need to back off her. Just because she has a cell phone doesn't mean she's going to answer you immediately. You're smothering her, which is making her even less likely to answer you.

Quite frankly, if you were my mother and you were treating me like a 12 year old when I was in my late 20s, I wouldn't call you back for a month or two. You have no right to harass her like this. She's an adult and if you feel that she needs to check in with you regularly (several times a day) then you must be worried that she's going to do something wrong, or she can't take care of herself, which means you didn't do very well as a mother raising her.

Get some therapy. For the sake of your relationship with your daughter, seek serious help.

J.:

I am sorry. This is going to sound harsh and it is NOT meant to be mean. I am saying with concern. I am saying this with "tough love".

You need a life. A life outside your daughter. A life of your own.
She is NOT you.
She does NOT want to have the same relationship YOU HAD with your mom.

You need to get your acknowledgement this way...she is a grown W.. Take pride in knowing you did your job right - she is a self-sufficient W.. She is NOT living at home. She is NOT begging for money. She is a W..

Stop treating her like some untrustworthy teenager. She's a grown W.. Stop expecting her to touch base with you. I know it's what you want. Obviously, it's NOT what SHE wants.

She might not respect you. You are her mother and you are clinging to her. it's like you are drowning and expecting her to save you. She can't save you. ONLY YOU can save you.

I get that she is your daughter. But she is NOT you. YOU want. YOU want. what about what SHE wants?

Why can't YOU RESPECT HER? Really. You tell her what YOU want and expect. But you aren't listening to her. So since you aren't listening and respecting her - she is keeping quiet.

She gave you what you wanted and you ran with it. She texted you to let you know she arrived safely...instead of respecting boundaries - you are hounding her. STOP. If my mom hounded me like you are hounding her? I would NOT communicate with you. The conversation would be sooo infuriating to me. I am sure you spend the first 5 to 10 minutes telling her how disappointed you are in her that she isn't respecting you, etc. she might just sit down the phone and walk away. Then the next 5 to 10 minutes you spend telling her how lonely you are. How much you need her. Yep. Sit the phone down and walk away. So instead of wasting her time like that? she doesn't pick up. She doesn't answer. She doesn't return the phone calls or texts. Why? Because the first words out of your mouth might be "it's about time" or "finally"...

Please. Get a life. Get one that does NOT revolve around your daughter needing to fill some void you have. You did a great job in raising your daughter. You need to acknowledge that.

On the car ride from Colorado to California - how much of that time did you spend listening to HER? Or were YOU yapping the whole time? Do you see what I am saying?
I am sorry.
I am REALLY sorry that your daughter does NOT want to communicate with you.
I am SORRY that she does NOT want the relationship with you that you want.
I am sorry that she does NOT want to replicate the relationship you had with your mom.

Please stop. Please seek out a counselor. Please find a hobby. Please stopping making this about YOU. You are slapping your daughter in her face and kicking her in the stomach EVERY TIME you treat her like a teenager.

I wish much luck. I wish you peace. I wish you happiness. Happiness? that is YOUR responsibility. NOT ANYONE ELSE's DO NOT put that on her.

Good luck

J.,

It seems to me like she is making boundaries with you.
She is 28. She is an adult. You are telling her that if she doesn't acknowledge your texts, etc. that it hurts you. If I were in that position of being 'checked in on' and disliked it, then I was told that I was hurting my parent's feelings if I didn't act like a dependent child, I'd be resentful too.

I'm not trying to upset you, but if you read your post, it looks as though you still think of her as a teenager. You say that you don't know where she's staying and there's no one to check on her. Why do you think she needs to be checked on?

You say that she needs space, but then call her rude for not answering your texts. I wonder if she might think you are being disrespectful toward her by not honoring her desire to be independent. The way you describe her is like a parent describing a kid who keeps staying out too late.

She is trying to be an adult. An independent adult. Let her. Go find someone to help you figure out why you are so fixated on her safety. I understand that she is staying with you, and that's nice of you to offer her a place, however, you seem to want her to check in far more often than most parents of adult children I know.

Find out why this is so hard for you. If you feel that she is taking advantage of you, legitimately that is, then don't let her stay with you. Make your own boundaries. But I don't think recreating the parent/child relationship you had when she was younger is in either of your best interests. This is an unhealthy level of anxiety you are experiencing, but it's not *her* problem. You need to address this on your end of things. She's an adult. Let her be one.

I hope you start listening to people telling you to stop trying to control your daughter. If you don't, you are going to lose her. She is trying SO hard to establish boundaries with you, and you won't let her.

You have let her know, ad nauseum, what bothers you. She knows. You keep beating her over the head with it. Stop talking to her about it at all. Stop telling her that she is rude for not acknowledging you.

If you weren't her mother and you were doing this, she would consider you to be a stalker and she'd probably ask a judge to tell you to stay away from her. You need to think about the way you treat her as a PERSON rather than a mom and change the way you act.

Please go to a counselor. You really need a counselor.

You acknowledge that there's a problem, but in the same sentence you shift the blame and responsibility for how you're feeling and behaving on your daughter.

Your daughter is doing nothing wrong. Your daughter is not rude at all. Your daughter is respectful. Your daughter follows through with her obligations.

You, however, have some major boundary issues and your daughter is trying desperately to establish boundaries through actions since requesting them or demanding them of you aren't working.

You are not entitled to what you're demanding of her, no matter what you're feeling and she is NOT OBLIGATED to give you what you want no matter what you're feeling. You're being disrespectful of her.

So you not only need to back off, but you do need to stop telling her how you feel about her so-called "lack" of responding to you as often as you want her to.

You need to back off, sweetie. Your daughter is 28, not 12. I think you need a hobby.

Good luck.

Good grief... she is 28 years old! Let her grow up!

Find your own life......

Ugh...give her some space, already! Why wouldn't she be just fine? Why are you so worried? She is a grown woman. Why aren't you proud of her? Happy that your daughter is a confident woman who travels to a new cities and experiences the world? She's employed and responsible. Learn to enjoy this vibrant young woman in your life...rather than smothering her with your needless fretting.

To her, she probably hears that you don't think she can handle herself, take care of herself, manage herself...why else would you be so worried? And it must drive her nuts. Give her some space and start respecting her boundaries. Put down your phone. You need to stop texting and working yourself into useless tizzies. I'm sure you're a lovely person, but you really need to redirect this "worry" into something productive. Volunteer. Join a book club. Get connected - and give your daughter some breathing room. Maybe once you've developed your own life, you'll be able to appreciate and enjoy the wonderful woman your daughter has grown into.

I strongly recommend counseling. It will help you find ways to manage and reduce your anxiety, and start having fun with your daughter, again. (and once that starts, I bet she'll be calling and "checking in" a lot more - but you've got to do the work on yourself, first)

Good luck!

I truly wish you the best.

I am going to answer this as your daughter. Maybe this will help you understand what she is going through.

Dear Mom:

I love you. I understand what you want. I am not at that spot in my life and cannot give you what you so desperately need.

Please respect me and the boundaries I am trying so desperately to set with you.

It is not my job to bring you happiness. You raised me to a responsible person. I am, am I not?

I do not call you back or text you back because I do not want your guilt, I do not want to made to feel bad because you are lonely. I have heard what you have said and repeated to me every time we talk. I am making decisions on my own.

I sent you a text to let you know I had arrived in San Francisco safely. You took that as an opening to continue to text me and check in on me. I do not need you to check in on me. I appreciate that you want to know I fine. I realize you believe and feel it is disrespectful of me not to respond. I believe it is disrespectful of you not respect my boundaries.

I am not you. I am not responsible for your happiness. Please. Please. Please. Give me space.

With love.

your daughter

If your daughter wrote that to you - would you then understand that you are being rude and disrespectful? I cannot imagine the strife you are feeling. My children communicate with me. They are grown adults. After almost 30 years of marriage and raising independent children, I can tell you that when they call me? I am not talking about me. I am asking about THEM.

Back when I was 28 years old and my sweet Mom was still alive I would always give her a general idea of where I was in cases of travel. I'd call when I arrived and she wold have the number of the hotel or friends house. She never once used those numbers, they were "just in case".

We're living in an age where you can stay in contact with another person constantly. That doesn't mean you SHOULD stay in contact constantly.

From your posts on this subject it's clear you make this all about YOU. Her life isn't about you. You won't spend your days worrying about your daughter if you spend your days focusing on your own life. It's not her responsibility to make you feel better, it's not her responsibility to fill your days with reassurance. She is living what sounds like a great life. You must have raised her well, now go find whatever it is that will fill up your own life.

She's 28? I'm sure she can handle herself. I have a daughter who is that age and I cannot imagine expecting her to let me know what she's up to when she's on a business trip. She is not responding because you are suffocating her. I think you need to get out and find things to keep yourself busy. Join something, make some new friends, get involved. Live your life and let her life hers and she will call you more often. Good Luck!

I think it is important for your to realize you are responsible for your feelings. It is not your daughter's responsibility to ease your worry and fulfill your need for control. I urge you to work on this problem YOU have. If you don't, I promise, you will ruin any chance you have of being close with your ADULT daughter.

It sounds like this is an ongoing issue for you. As adults we have the choice to work on problems we recognize in our own lives. We cant control others, but we can control ourselves. That is pretty empowering if you think about it. You have the ability right now to start making changes that will benefit you and your future happiness.

I get that your intentions are good and you love your daughter... you say she is rude and not respecting your wishes. Look at it from her side, you are actually the one being rude, not respecting healthy boundaries that she is trying to set. You really need to control yourself before you push her away altogether, you've gotta be wearing her out. Please look into some counseling and find some activities to distract yourself.

I agree with you to an extent. I can stand it when I tell my husband something and he doesn't say anything back. I've asked him many times to simply say, "Ok" or "Got it" or in some way acknowledge that he heard me. Otherwise I'm left wondering, "Did he not hear me? Should I say it again?" or "Did he hear me and just not have anything to add." I just need some acknowledgement from him that he heard what I said.

But I don't think this is the case right now, and there's no point trying to say it is. You said you wonder if she's ignoring you. Of course she is. This is her way of dealing with it. She arrived safely in San Francisco and let you know. She has no intention of talking to you until she leaves. More than likely, she decided that awhile ago. She would let you know that she arrived safely and that's it. No other communications for the week. As hard as it is for you to do this, you have to try and respect that wish.

You have to give her space. The more you try, the more you push her away. You have to give her space.

I agree with those who posted that some counseling could help you figure out why you are so anxious about her -- and I suggest that you sit down and think about whether you are anxious and insecure in other areas of your life. You might find that you are insecure about other things, as well as your child, her safety, and your relationship with her. Your urgent and constant need to know exactly where she is and if she's OK may be part of a much larger anxiety issue -- get some good therapy, now and not later, so you can enjoy your life more.

Clearly, there's a lot of friction between you and your daughter that isn't even about your calls etc., but meanwhile, on that one topic, ., you do not ever mention if you and your daughter did what I would hope most grown-ups would do: Talk and agree on a middle ground here. How often are you calling and texting? I'm betting that she thinks it's far too often, so why not talk like adults and come to an agreement: You will call or text (not both, only one or the other) X times per day/week and she will respond each time. If you can tell her "I promise I will only text you, not call, and only on Monday and Thursday," and you can stick to that exactly -- she may be more likely to respond. Then she needs to be willing to say, "If you will only text me on Monday and Thursday, only once each day, and not call, I promise to respond to those texts on the same day -- though not instantly."

I don't see why two adults can't come up with something that simple. You agree on how you will contact her and when, keeping it very limited, and she agrees that she will respond to those contacts but she is not obliged to reply to any contacts beyond those.

It sounds as if she is indeed very angry with you and not replying in order to show you that she believes you contact her too much, and it sounds as if you do indeed contact her too often when she's away. She and you both are in the wrong here; she should have some consideration for your anxiety but you should not bombard her with calls or texts.

If you can hold off of the contact, she might become likelier to care about having you contact her. Meanwhile, please see a counselor or therapist. Sometimes it takes a neutral third party to help us see these kinds of situations in perspective.

I Understand Wanting To Stay Connected HoweveR An Adult Child Should Be Able To Be Away From Mommy For 2 Weeks Without Reporting In Like A 16 Year Old. She Knows U Love Her, You Should Know She Loves You. Now Find Activities, Job, Volunteer, Make Friends, Go To Church....Become Busy Living Your Life, Finding A Personal Joy. Give Her A ChaNce To Miss you.

Dear J.,

You know the reasons why the problem. You keep nagging your daughter and hope that she will make you the center of her world. Well, that is not going to happen.

Since the mother's day post, things have not gotten any better in fact they probably have gotten worse. There is a reason why she has not given you the name of the hotel in SF she doesn;t want you calling and bugging the hell out ofher while working.

The more you demand from her the less you are going to get.

Call a therapist the first thing Monday morning. Get involved with the hospital and volunteer. Do something for you and not hang on to everything your daughter does. It is not your daughter's responsibility to make you happy. She is not your mother and the relationship you had with your mother is NOT the one you have or had with your daughter. How long will it take for you to stop banging your head against a brick wall to learn that the relationship is at a standstill and is just about over?

No one likes to be nagged over and over over the same things. If it continues they shut down and don't respond and move on and not include the nagger in their life.

If this were a stranger, she would have cut you out of her life when you started this activity, and moved on leaving you in the dust.

I wish you much luck in getting yourself together without your daughter's help. She is not broken but you are. Get help like four years ago.

the other S.

You're both in a "control" tug-of-war imho.

It's your job to concede. Otherwise she is incentivized to continue being rude. No it wouldn't be that big a deal to text you back quickly, but it's not her job to reassure you! And it's not your job, anymore, to have her check in with you.

IMHO you guys are the same person, handling this issue in different ways. You're both fighting for control in a sense.

If I were you I'd get counseling, and back the heck off this dysfunctional dance you're doing with her. Give her a chance to really grow up and stop pulling back from you (if that's what you truly want - maybe you prefer to continue to have the issue to fret over?).

I loved Geneva's answer. Re-read that one.

It sounds like you and your daughter are not close. If you were close, she would not only text you probably every day (or frequently), but she would call you every day (or frequently) as well.

I live far away from my mother, and I never call or text her because I do not have a good relationship with her. If she wants to know what's going on with me, she knows she has to call/text/email me.

My mother was an overbearing, overly strict, authoritarian, verbally abusive miserable person when she "raised" me. She has no one to blame but herself for our bad relationship.

I am not suggesting you are like my mother because I do not know you; however, I am suggesting it's a possibility that you are similar to my mother, which would explain why your daughter does not acknowledge your texts.

I am 100% confident that you know exactly why your daughter isn't returning your texts, and I am also 100% confident it has nothing to do with your recent fight about her not returning your texts.

Clearly she has unresolved anger toward you that probably goes back many years. I think if you're honest with yourself, you know exactly why she is angry with you.

If I am wrong about this, I apologize, but I really do not think I'm wrong.

As I go through life, I learn that people do not avoid people for no reason at all. There is always a reason, and I am positive that you know what it is (unless you are in denial).

If you owe your daughter an apology, now would be a good time to apologize. Good luck.

Sorry mom, she is rude but you need to back off. You can only change your reaction to this, not her behavior.

I guess I'm going against the grain here but I really don't think age of your daughter is an excuse for rudeness or lack of common courtesy. You're not asking her to write you a book or talk for hours. Just a simple "I'm doing fine, chat at ya soon." would suffice. No matter how old your children are they are still your children and you still worry about them if you haven't heard from them and they are not returning calls or text.

We moved my father in with us shortly after my Mom passed away. I knew he was a worrier so if I was going to be late coming home from work or anything out of the normal routine was occurring, I always called him to tell him so he wouldn't worry. It's just common courtesy and respect.

Yes, she is a grown up but she is still and always will be your child.

Peace and Blessings,
T. B

Patty K. and Theresa B. and I are all of the minority wing here. I am beginning to dislike your daughter. We are attached to our cell phones (especially at age 28). She is rude, careless and being a witch.

I am going to also say to you to get a seperate life--not out of rudeness--but in order to be able to really ignore your ungrateful offspring and give her a taste of her own poison.

I have four adult children. When they to away, even with their families, yes they do call!!!!!! They check in to say hi and let us know all is all. This is the way they were raised.

There is no reason why your daughter just can't text a word or two, I'm fine! I don't get her. I guess you just have to accept that she is disrespectful. She probably won't change I am sorry to say. As mothers, we do worry and it is just nice to know all is well when they are somewhere. It's not like she has to find a pay phone, get change and call. Maybe one day when she has kids, she will get it.

J.,

As you know from the previous msg I had written you on Mother's Day, I feel for you terribly. At this point, I am with Rhonda all the way. I have a cousin, who had been my best friend since we were very young who does this to her mom & has done the same to me, except for when she needs someone.

I am no longer tolerating it and you have to decide whether or not you you are going to allow this to eat you up.

Life decisions are one thing to be making and a fight is a fight, but your mom is your mother, you are only given one in life. I'm sorry but she's not being very considerate of you, so why should you try to go out of your way for her when she cares to be your daughter.

I can't imagine how you feel and I hope she someday can understand the pain she has caused.

There is a difference between being overbearing and between wanting a bit of common courtesy. There is no reason why your daughter can't text you to say she's okay. She should be mature enough to understand that by now.

I don't know how overbearing you typically might be, but if she's staying with you, I think she should be able to text you a couple of times a week. Is she staying with you out of necessity or just for a visit?

If it's out of necessity, I think when she comes back you need to make clear to her that while you understand her need for personal freedom, she needs to understand that you worry because you love her, and if she's going to stay with you she needs to be thoughtful enough to respond to your texts, so that you don't freak out with worry.

If you are generally overbearing, ease off and then your daughter will text you. But in this case, I agree with you that your daughter can give you the courtesy of a quick text. "I'm fine, mom."

You need to make this less about "acknowledging" you than about stopping you from worrying about her.

Watch a movie.
It'll get your mind off of things.
We just watched Guilt Trip. Very funny!

You owe your daughter a visit to a therapist.... for yourself. I have always said the best thing one can do for their children is to not be mentally unstable or needy. You need to figure out how to do this without piling on your daughter.

She sounds like a great young lady who probably has tried very hard to please her needy mother. I hate to say it that way, but that is how you come off. You need to back off and let her be mama. And get yourself some help so you can deal with this and not burden her with it. You have had a discussion with her about this and you shouldn't have any more. You say you don't know how to not take this out on her. Very bad! You should be ashamed of yourself for even thinking that! To me, that doesn't sound like something a mom would say or think. You clearly need some help.

I speak with some experience. I am the mom of a 25-year-old and 15-year-old. They need their space and they need to live their lives without constantly worrying about pleasing their mom.

She is a grown woman and you are driving her crazy....which is probably why she does not respond to you. If you back off and let her live her life, she will be more inclined to want you in it. My mother in law is like you.....she will call me ten times, text me and email me trying to get in touch because she's worried "something is wrong" because I wasn't home when she called the first time and didn't get back to her within the hour.....it drives me INSANE to the point where I will not call her back when I finally do come home to all these messages, because REALLY...enough already!...I am a grown up....I can take care of myself...and no news is good news.....if something was wrong someone would call her...I met a friend for lunch today for goodness sake!!!.....my mother on the other hand leaves me be, lets me live my life and because of that I call HER daily.

And she probably told you how much the texts bother her. You didn't listen to her; why should she listen to you.

As parents, we always worry but it's our job to keep that under control.

I am so sorry things haven't changed much in your situation, although I'm not surprised. I agree that you should get therapy--not because it's "your problem," but because your daughter is unwilling to change. And you know what they say--you can't change anyone; you can only change yourself, and your reactions to other people. So you need to process all of this, and decide how you'll treat the relationship (or lack thereof) going forward. It doesn't sound to me like you are being overbearing--it sounds like your daughter is being immature and inconsiderate. I think, when answered your last post, I mentioned how my brother is very similar, with our family. He is not like that with his new wife, and her family. When my brother was in Iraq, of all places, he didn't stay in touch with any of us, not even my mom. She was under the impression that he didn't have access to a phone or computer--only to later find out that it wasn't the case. (She ended up meeting the wife of another guy in my brother's unit, and this woman said her husband called her at least weekly). Meanwhile, when my brother was deployed in Iraq, my mother was literally worried sick about him. She really has not been the same since. All that to say this: I think some people will just NEVER change. My brother and his wife are about to have their first baby in a few months. I don't expect to hear from him any more--he had CANCER a few years ago, and did not reach out to family. In fact, I found out on Facebook that he had a kidney removed. I think therapy will help you to see that it's not you, it's her. SHE is the one with the problem, and you will need to figure out how to cope, handle the relationship and move forward. Again, I am so sorry you are going through this. I hope you can find some peace with all of this.