I Cut Contact With My Mother. It's Massively Changed How I Parent

The author with her children

When I cut off contact with my mother three years ago, the relief was instant.

It wasn’t until a few months later that I started to feel a low burn of dread. It started when my mom – whose number is permanently blocked – texted my daughter from an unknown number: “What can I do to fix this?”

I suddenly realised two hard truths: my breakup with my mother was so complete that there was nothing she could do to make things right. And I was terrified...