Mommy Issues

Most men have some form of emotional wounding, sustained in childhood, that is carried with them over the years and affects their adult relationships in different ways. In many cases, these woundings come from a mother’s best attempts to meet a child’s ever-changing needs. It is a fact that sometimes parents fail, and when they do, it can cause feelings of anger and resentment to arise within the child who doesn’t understand why their needs haven’t been met in the way they want. In this episode of The Crux, Ryan and Slade discuss how their communication skills have evolved as they’ve worked through their parental wounds, and the effects this work has had on their marriages. Listen to learn more! SHOW NOTES: 00:00 – Ryan discusses how failures of attunement from childhood follow us to our adult relationships 03:20 – Slade discusses how we can’t get the version of our partner we want if we project caregiver responsibilities on them 04:51 – Ryan and Slade discuss the resentment that arises from putting implicit expectations on your partner 07:08 – Slade shares an example of how experiences with his parents influence his present-day communication with his wife 11:22 – Ryan shares a story about how his wild streak as an adult comes from tensions with his mother 14:12 – Ryan and Slade discuss creating space in the relationship to avoid projecting responsibility on one’s partner 15:49 – Slade talks about the importance of consistently showing up for the relationship bond over time