“I get it, they’re retired, and they raised their kids and don’t owe me anything anymore. Fine. But I’m just sick of putting in all of the effort and consideration in this relationship...”

As a Senior Writer and Content Creator for BuzzFeed and Tasty, I specialize in lifestyle reporting, viral human-interest stories, and travel/food media.

"And they seemingly don't struggle to have time, energy, and funds for weeks-long vacations, but when it comes to visiting kids and grandkids, there are excuses or conflicts with other plans and constant commentary about how tired they are, how they're ready to go home, and/or about how much the trip cost/how they could just barely afford it. Blah blah blah, also know I'm not entitled to her time, but it would be nice if she actually wanted to be a more present grandparent."

"I tried so hard to make a relationship with my mom work, but she never wanted the adult relationship I needed. It felt like endless criticism over life experiences and no real support. The dagger for me was when my husband died, she immediately said, 'I know how that feels,' and I immediately knew she wanted to drag me back in only to talk about her pain. I had to walk away, and last year I visited my family, which was different without my mom. But I also realized that I was always planning all the trips and never once have my siblings made plans to see me. So I decided to 'quiet quit' my siblings, and I haven’t looked back. I wish I could say I miss my mom and siblings, but I really don’t. I’m really at peace with my own little family and that’s all that matters."

"...What are you going to be missing in Florida that you can’t catch up with during the other ten weeks you’d be there that’s worth not seeing your grandkids? Is it that you are worried about the cost? Is it something you don’t like about being with us? I’m feeling very hurt about it to the point I’m feeling like we might just not bother making the effort to come here if it won’t be reciprocated. I’d love for the kids to have a great relationship with you but I don’t want it to be all one sided and all about us coming to visit you.' Maybe they actually have some reason they’ve not told you, or maybe they’ve just not really thought about it, as you always come to them, so they feel fine about it. Maybe they're scared of flying or are worried about money troubles you don’t know about. You might as well tell them how you feel if your next step is withdrawing from the relationship."