Ok so after I wrote the post the other day slamming my girlfriend I felt bad about it and by the end of the night I had convinced myself that it was really my parents and not her that I was angry with and that I was being unfairly critical of her. That lasted about a day and now the anger is back. I don't know why I have such a hard time accepting that the way I feel is the way I feel and that I need to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

In the meantime I was in the tub last night thinking about my anger towards my parents...well really I started thinking about a conversation I had just had with my younger daughter in which I felt particularly ineffective as a parent. The problem was that she got herself into a situation that was causing her great stress and by the time she opened up to me about it there wasn't much I could do to help her. So when I pointed that out to her she became even more frustated and began to take her anger at herself out on me. Well, she's thirteen so what would I expect?

So in the tub I got to thinking about it all and how I let my feelings about my parents dictate way too much of my feelings about myself and that maybe I need to shift to focusing on my own kids and my parenting of them in order to get out of the rut. That seemed like a fairly reasonable idea so I think I will go with it. It's not always going to be easy but I think my kids deserve a parent who isn't still stuck in her own emotional adolescence.

Ok, back to my girlfriend. The thing is that every time I am around her or she calls me while I am at work I get this burning pit in my stomach. I dread to see her car pull into the driveway after work. I feel like she is so judgemental and such a reactor and I do not choose that for myself so why do I accept it from her? I am furious with myself for letting this go so long. I feel like I have literally condemmed myself to a life of misery with her because I don't want another break up for me or for my kids. But I FUCKING HATE HER. No, make that I FUCKING HATE MYSELF WHEN I AM AROUND HER. That would be more accurate. I can be having a perfectly nice day and she will call me at work and I feel the stomach pit come on and then it's over, I am angry and bitter and bitchy toward her the rest of the day.

I know she deserves better and so do I. I have tried and tried to turn this around and it doesn't work. I resent her presence in my life and in the kids lives and I wish she would take the fucking hint and just LEAVE. But she won't because, see, she loves me. But what the fuck - if this is her grand version of what being in love is, take it elsewhere I am not interested.

Right now, anyway...