Rejected

There's nothing more painful than being rejected by your own child(ren).  These small beings that used to depend on you on every little steps that they do.

The very people whose eyes used to light up everytime they met your gaze,  now seeing you as if you're a ghost from the past.  Shuddering their shoulder at your presence as if you were the intruder to their happy existence.

May be it's the hormones,  I reason.  May be she wasn't feeling well and didn't behave as herself.

But rejection is rejection,  nonetheless.  You can almost feel the sigh of relief as you walk out their door,  out of their life.

Now I understand why some mom felt let down by the kids.  We expect things to stay the same,  but it changes. They expect us to change,  but we stayed the same.