When she was a small child....starting around the age of 5, I began to see a change in her. Gone was the little girl who hopped around the living room in her tutu and drew me pictures at school and the saddest part was gone was my affectionate little girl.
In her place became a child that was stone faced...serious....scarily adult like....too quite and clingy.
In my cognitive dissonance I wanted to dismiss these changes as simply her going through a "phase" or that maybe she "liked being like that".
The sad truth was that I was not the only one that was a victim of narcissistic abuse by my ex husband.
Little did I know that every time she tried to look pretty he made her feel bad and yet complimented other little girls for looking pretty. That was behavior that I thought he reserved only for me!!!!
The scary part of having a child affected by a narcissistic parent....they are taught much in the way a pedophile trains a child to keep his behaviors secret......so as a parent the depth of the abuse the child has undergone does not come out until you are out of the relationship and your child finally feels safe to tell you of the horrors they experienced as young children.
Please, if you know your spouse is narcissistic, look for signs in your child of emotional difficulties. Along with the ones that I already mentioned, I noticed that my daughter showed little to no emotions, especially when it would have been normal to do so. She didn't laugh, giggle like most little girls, have very little confidence yet sometimes seemed self enttitled, didn't cry and barely showed any empathy.
Those are big red flags that your child is being severly affected by emotional abuse.
Thankfully I seperated from her father a few months before she turned 11.....but even that was too long!!!!
Please protect your children from narcissistic abuse.
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