{"id":8624,"date":"2016-10-21T06:00:51","date_gmt":"2016-10-21T10:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=8624"},"modified":"2016-10-15T09:28:03","modified_gmt":"2016-10-15T13:28:03","slug":"ways-meaningful-relationship-mom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/10\/ways-meaningful-relationship-mom.html","title":{"rendered":"Developing a Meaningful Relationship with Your Mother"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-8626\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2016\/10\/mother-1327186_1280-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"mother-1327186_1280\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/>No matter how difficult our relationships can be, most adult children want a good relationship with their mothers.\u00a0Whether your\u00a0\u00a0relationship is\u00a0great, terrible, or somewhere in between, mother-daughter relationships are powerful and partially define who we are. The more you work through issues with your mom, the better all your other relationships will be. Here are a few simple tips to help you develop a more meaningful relationship with mom.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Learn who you are first: <\/strong>Having a great relationship with mom doesn\u2019t mean you lose who you are in the process. It is just the opposite. The more you define who you are, the better you can be with her without becoming defensive or constantly needing her approval, not because someone else thinks you should or is pressuring you to change.\u00a0Once you have a better sense of yourself, you are\u00a0open to being more empathetic, can listen better, and\u00a0can focus on who she is as a person. The goal is to develop your own self while staying connect to this all important person.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stay in touch<\/strong>. No matter if she is good or poor at communication, check in regularly and value the relationship. You can&#8217;t build a meaningful relationship with anyone unless there is regular and intentional contact. And it needs to be in person when possible. Take the time and be intentional about staying in touch.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Have a child of your own:\u00a0<\/strong>A big equalizing factor for many adult daughters is when they have a child of their own, particularly if that child is a girl. Having a child or children of your own usually creates more empathy for the job. When an adult daughter begins to grasp what her mother went through and how really tough parenting can be, it usually leads to\u00a0more grace, forgiveness and acceptance. And often we see another side of our moms once they become\u00a0a grandparent.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Build biblical\u00a0foundation:\u00a0<\/strong>Build your mother-daughter relationship on principles in God&#8217;s Word. Although the oneness we had with our moms before birth is the closest to oneness with God, human relationships will always have flaws. A daughter&#8217;s yearning for intimacy and closeness is ultimately one that only God can truly satisfy. Look for the expressions of God&#8217;s love outlined in 1 Corinthians 13 as we mother and are mothered. Love opens up possibilities. Because of love, we can and should find a way to honor and connect with our moms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No matter how difficult our relationships can be, most adult children want a good relationship with their mothers.\u00a0Whether your\u00a0\u00a0relationship is\u00a0great, terrible, or somewhere in between, mother-daughter relationships are powerful and partially define who we are. The more you work through issues with your mom, the better all your other relationships will be. Here are a&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[914],"tags":[644,3634,1116,3635,52],"class_list":["post-8624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-relationships-2","tag-family-relationships","tag-meaningful-family-relationships","tag-mothers-and-daughters","tag-parent-child","tag-parenting-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Developing a Meaningful Relationship with Your Mother<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/10\/ways-meaningful-relationship-mom.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Developing a Meaningful Relationship with Your Mother\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"No matter how difficult our relationships can be, most adult children want a good relationship with their mothers.\u00a0Whether your\u00a0\u00a0relationship is\u00a0great, terrible, or somewhere in between, mother-daughter relationships are powerful and partially define who we are. The more you work through issues with your mom, the better all your other relationships will be. Here are a&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/10\/ways-meaningful-relationship-mom.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-21T10:00:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-10-15T13:28:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2016\/10\/mother-1327186_1280-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Developing a Meaningful Relationship with Your Mother","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/10\/ways-meaningful-relationship-mom.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Developing a Meaningful Relationship with Your Mother","og_description":"No matter how difficult our relationships can be, most adult children want a good relationship with their mothers.\u00a0Whether your\u00a0\u00a0relationship is\u00a0great, terrible, or somewhere in between, mother-daughter relationships are powerful and partially define who we are. The more you work through issues with your mom, the better all your other relationships will be. 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Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8624"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8627,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8624\/revisions\/8627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}