Estrangement from children

For parents who are estranged or alienated from their children, make a memory box. Put in cards, letters gifts anything that you would give to your child if it could be accepted. I had a client whose daughter was on drugs, was angry with her and had moved in with a wild boyfriend a state away. At Easter she would have nothing to do with her mother. Her mother went ahead and bought her an Easter basket and put it aside for her along with a letter. A couple of months later her daughter came back and they had a tearful reunion. It was so wonderful for both of them and for her daughter to know that her mother loved her enough to get the easter basket even when she was rejecting her mother. You can also put the gifts in a memory box along with a letter expressing your thoughts at the time and save them. I had another client whose daughter is much younger. It was a custody case in which the father took custody and tried to alienate her daughter from her. She still calls her daughter every week even though her daughter has to be careful of what she says around her parents. Her parents do not allow gifts from her mother. The client keeps a treasure box for her filled with clothes and gifts even though she has out grown them. She wants to show her daughter that she has thought of her through the years and has tried to get stuff to her through the years.