Quote From: brokenartistI am 16 and my family is all involved somehow in the Fire Dept. or the First Aid Squad. This includes my 18 year old sister, who actually is secretary of the First Aid, my grandmother is the ring leader of it all, and my grandpa (who is no deceased), built the building and it is now dedicated to him. Now this is all on my mother's side of the family.
They continue to harass me about joining the squad, and find me the dd ball out because I share no interest in doing this. When my family is together, all they talk about is what call they got that day, how crazy some guy was, how they had to do CPR on another. Its frankly, all they know. They are not capable of communicating any other way. Its hard to even speak to my family, because I don't know what they are talking about, and I have nothing to add. I have a bad relationship with my grandmother, in my opinion. I don't feel close to her at all because its impossible to talk to her and I don't see her because she spends all of her time riding and out on the ambulance. I am extremley distant from most of my cousin. He is from New York and is staying for college here, but he too is involved and I never see him either. My family is locked up in that building. But the worst part to me is that my mother and I don't get along and I can not talk to her at all, because my father and I agree, its all she knows.
Now, on my father's side of the family, they are obsessed with weight. Let me just say, more then half of them are overweight. My Aunt and my cousin both got the Lap Band and lost weight. So have I and the majority of my family. I haven't lost the wieght and it seems almost impossible even with it. My grandparents want me to be thin and pretty and your magazine cover girl. My family never leaves me alone about these things, and they wont stop until I am perfect. My Aunt has lost a lot of weight and looks fantastic. My family now expects this of me, but they give me now support. Instead they knock me down with insults and anything they can think of. "You'll never get a boyfriend. You have horrible clothes, because your fat. You wont be happy with yourself. You need to drop it." Yet I recieve no support.
I will always be different from my family, but since when is that a bad thing?
But for me it is.
It is really sad that you feel so distant from your family! Although you have different interests, your family could & should make everyone feel comfortable/accepted.
My advice to you is to find an online support group to help you in losing weight & creating a healthier lifestyle for yourself. Find a message board where you can receive (and give) encouragement and advice regarding weight loss.
When you feel attacked regarding your weight, remain calm & say something like, “I’m trying, but it is very difficult for me, support and encouragement would help me more then criticism.” See what happens; hopefully, your family will realize that they’ve been negative forces. Maybe they won’t. Either way, I think that you will at least feel better because you spoke up for yourself in a mature way. Don’t yell or raise your voice, simply speak clearly to them.
I wish you the best. Keep your head up!
