Self worth part two.

Well, my sense of self worth took a wallop tonight. We were at a meeting at my eldest girl's school to discuss her GCSE options. While we were walking around looking at the displays, we bumped into one of her friends who was there with her dad. We chatted for a while and I walked away thinking it was a pleasant exchange. My daughter then turned to me and said that I talked too much and that it was awkward because of me. I wanted to crumple on the spot and actually felt tears prickling in my eyes. I tried later to explain to my daughter that she had made me feel really bad and that it was a mean thing to say. I don't know if what I said got through to her but she did apologise.

I have been trying to put into practice Brene Brown's defences against shame and part of this was explaining to my daughter that her comment made me feel ashamed that I had embarrassed her. It's not easy though and I think it's harder when the person who is making you feel like this is your own child.

Bye for now

love Riki xxx