Posts

Showing posts with the label parental expectations

Why We Feel Both Love & Resentment for Our Parents as Eldest Daughters

Image
Navigating the beautiful, messy chaos of loving (and sometimes resenting) your parents They raised us, and also kind of ruined us, but we still call them when the Wi-Fi’s down. Let’s just start here: Nobody has a more complicated relationship status than the one we have with our parents. It’s not “single,” it’s not “taken,” it’s “it’s complicated” with a side of “Do not add to the family group chat.” One moment, you’re feeling a burst of overwhelming gratitude for everything they’ve done for you. The next, you’re side-eyeing them for that thing they said in 2003 that shaped your entire personality. This duality: the tug-of-war between love and resentment - lives rent-free in our heads. Why? Because our parents are our first everything. First teachers, first critics, first cheerleaders, and (sometimes) first therapists. They’re also the first people to remind us we’re loading the dishwasher wrong. So, why do we feel so deeply, both positively and negatively, about the people who brought...