#macrobhome

Hey,

We’re sorry to hear this and can imagine how annoying this must be. The silent treatment is not really productive to get your point of view across and although we’re sure you’ve tried this already, try talking to your mum about how you feel. Don’t give up on communicating with her. Why don’t you change this into a personal challenge? Go out there and amaze the world with your contribution. Your own feelings of satisfaction and the appreciation of others might replace the need for acknowledgement from your mum. Eventually your mum may begin to see what are fantastic individual you are, and value you equally with your siblings.

Hey there,

I’ve been in a similar situation to you. I know that the urge and temptation to run away may be really strong, but ultimately it’s not worth it.

I used to think that running away and getting some freedom would solve my problems, but trust me it’s not the right solution!! What I used to do was on weekends, just head out into the city and just wander around, or head out to my local lake and take a stroll for a few hours. It really helped me clear my mind and in a sense, gave me a similar feeling to running away without any of the consequences.

When you’re feeling overwhelmed, try and write out all of your thoughts and feelings or reach out to someone, it seems like you have some friends you can trust with these matters. It helps to get everything out instead of bottling everything up, which could potentially lead to a sudden outburst.

Hi there!

Apologies for the late response, but here are some FAM members’ perspectives.

FAM Member 1: Yup. Can’t even deny it but the thing is every time I think of leaving I think of how the people around me would feel. If I did run away because (for example) my mum said something hurtful, I think about how my entire family would feel. Of course my mum will worry but she isn’t the only one, the rest of my family would hurt too. I start thinking about how it isn’t fair on my dad and brother. So just because my mum hurt me doesn’t mean I have the right to hurt my dad and brother. Also (Cause I’m a very dramatic and emotional person) I start thinking of the good times where (in the same example as before) my mum and I have bonded over things. So yes I definitely have wanted to leave home at times but there’s always a bigger picture.

FAM Member 2: Yes! Sometimes things get tough and it might feel like the right decision to run away, but I can assure you that it isn’t and that there are many things to consider. Things that helped me in times of crisis:

Calling a trusted friend/texting them

Simply sitting and listening to music to calm down

Think about the ripple effect that’ll happen if you run away (immediate family, extended family, friends, school, tutors etc.)

Drawing

Writing

Reading

(basically just simple hobbies that will take your mind off things)

Hope this helps!

Hey,

How much you want to tell other people is completely up to you. If you want to tell your friends about something that’s personal and you don’t them to interpret it in the wrong way, you could start your conversation with, “hey, my family are nice but i just want to rant about them, do you mind?”

A lot of the times, people seem to keep their family issues to themselves as much as they can because they may feel like they would be disregarding their family - parents/siblings - if they rant to other people/friends about them. And in my opinion, it’s good to keep the small issues within your own family, just for the sake of trust, because your family will always be there with you, when friends may actually drift in and out… But if you have some pressing troubles or things that are happening within your family which you want vent out or feel the need to share, then it’s better to do so, rather than bottling it up within yourself. You can choose to talk to a close friend who knows you well and friends you can trust and want the best for you.

Again, this is my opinion and the way I would see it, but really, it’s all up to your judgement how much you want to share with friends, whom you want to share with etc. Ask yourself, ‘if i do this, would that make me feel better/be a better outcome?’ Or maybe it would be better to shrug it off yourself if you can and are able to.

We hope that all is well and this is of help to you!

Love,

Hey,

Yes I really relate to this so much! If you want to express how grateful you are, small things like saying ‘I love you’ or ‘thank you for dinner/lunch’ can brighten up their day! As someone who can sometimes be closed off, starting a conversation about your day and just letting them know how you feel can make them feel appreciated. I know I was talking to my friend the other day and she didn’t realise how happy it made her mum that she was engaging in their conversation. You could also buy them a small gift or do some house chores to lighten their load for a day.

Love

Hey there,

Domestic violence refers to violence, abuse and intimidation between people who are (or have been) in an intimate relationship. The perpetrator uses violence to control and dominate the other person. This causes fear, physical harm and/or psychological harm. Domestic violence is a violation of human rights.

Domestic violence in Australia can include (but is not necessarily limited to):

emotional abuse

physical assault

sexual assault

verbal abuse

financial abuse

psychological abuse

isolating a woman from her friends and family

stopping a woman from practicing her religion.

You can find more information on the types of domestic violence in Australia on our website and in the White Ribbon fact sheets.

Hi sweetheart,

That’s seems like a tough situation to be in. You’re not alone, because parenting is thing that each parent goes about differently, but sometimes parental views and values do hurt us. This doesn’t mean they are always intending to hurt you, though. As parents, they probably want the best for you.

When I was small, sometimes I felt like my parents were always judging me, and I felt I had to live up to their expectations of how they want me to behave. But that made me kind of a shy person I feel. Looking back, I would give myself the advice that I shouldn’t take them TOO seriously, to the extent that they govern the way we choose to go about things. It is pretty hard, and the way parents treat us sticks to us for a long time sometimes, we may not even realise we are constantly being influenced. I heard a quote by Hillary Clinton actually who brings up this idea which may help you, to ‘take things seriously, but not personally’.

It’s good to listen to your feelings too, which is what you are doing when asking us on tumblr. :) Sometimes even just venting it all out somewhere helps us see them with a renewed perspective. I suggest you should also talk to someone that’s close to you about it, so that you can perhaps relieve yourself and go over your feelings in detail.

With your parents, perhaps you can ask them how they feel about things so you get where they’re coming from, to find some common ground. That is, if you feel comfortable and if you think it will help. Sometimes it’s good to look at our parents not as if they’re on a higher level than us, but just as humans who have gone through hardships themselves and have had their own childhood good and bad times, they make mistakes just like us sometimes, they have feelings too. This may help you understand them more.

Hey,

We’re sorry to hear you’re experiencing this! In times like this, it is important to let your parents and family friends know how you feel about their comments or even just telling them to stop can get the point across. Stand up for yourself. Respecting them doesn’t mean you let them say whatever they want. Sometimes in these situations it is good to be blunt (but also remember to be polite), for example saying “can you please stop talking about my weight” and walking off. If that doesn’t work, you should try to have a conversation with your parents in private. If you’re not too fond of confrontation you could try writing a letter or getting a friend/sibling to tell you parents for you.

You don’t have to put a word in if that feels too directly confronting, of course it’s understandable that you’ll want to respect older people. You can just walk away, there’s no need for you to listen to anything that hurts you.

We hope this has helped you!