12/13/07
My daughter has had problems for the last 10 years. She has a 5 year old daughter whom I've cared for the majority of the time, whether my daughter was away or not. I've kept a very open mind with the whole thing. My main focus was/is keeping the two of them united and maintaining routine and loving atmosphere for my granddaughter. Along with all my daughter's issues, she now deals with feeling like a failure as a mother. As long as her issues remain unresolved, I believe her self esteem and self image will continue to deteriorate, especially if she continues to experience legal problems. My granddaughter does not know about her Mother's problems, does not know she's been in jail or prison, but I know the day will arrive and I'm trying to prepare for that by reading various materials. I love both of them dearly. I've learned to draw some boundaries that will probably remain for years, other boundaries that will probably change in lieu of circumstances. I still need to establish better balance as I've neglected my life (goals, maintainance, desires, needs), but I've come a long way from where I was a few years ago. Everything seems to have a "process" and having "gone through" so much with my daughter, I've gained a lot of insight about me. I probably would never had taken so many deep self-searches. My daughter has come a long way as well, but continues to struggle.
Our story is long, but probably relatively classic. I don't have tons of time, but if anyone wants to ask me questions, I'm pretty much an open book. I may only visit back here once in awhile because of time constraints, but I'm willing to share and help if I can.