Hi! I’m working through a model about my birthday 🙂

C – I do not receive a call from my mom or dad on my birthday.
T – I think its rude that my parents do not call me on my birthday.
F – I feel sad; I feel a physical pain in my chest area (meaning this is where I feel my sadness).
A – I put on a show for them and cover up my hurt… I text them to say thank you for my card and gift and tell them I will call them … because I think they think I owe them a phone call to say thank you.
R – I call them and pretend I’m fine because that’s what I do with my parents… and I just know in the back of my mind that I don’t really depend on them and try to accept that this is who they are. But I obviously haven’t dropped my manual for them 🙂

Clearly I have a manual about how I think my parents should act on my birthday. Also I know in my brain they’ve thought of me because they sent me a card and a gift. So why am I getting so caught up on them not calling me?!

I would like to drop my manual for my parents on how they communicate.

I know they took the time to put a card in the mail and mail me a gift so that should be enough for me.

I hope I always call my daughter on her birthday and tell her I love her and I love the day she was born. So I guess that is what I can focus on… how I want to show up for my daughter and step-daughters even when I’m older. However I would like to move on in terms of my expectations of my own parents.

My brain knows all of these things and still gets caught up on how other people should engage with me on my birthday. Any advice or thoughts on my model?