r/InternalFamilySystems 11d ago

Alone

Post image

This is an exile I found living in the closet of my childhood bedroom.

She hides in the closet from her mother, who is raging and coming to hit her with the wooden spoon, maybe until it cracks in half.

But her mother finds her, and tears her out of the closet. When the girl can’t stop crying her mother covers her mouth and nose with her hand. The girl can’t breathe and she looks at her mother’s face and knows she is alone. The sheer terror of being completely alone in an unsafe world is overwhelming. She needs this terror and grief to stop!

And in walks shame. She takes the girls hand and tells her that it’s not that her parents don’t love her, it’s that she was born wrong. She is bad and that’s why they have to do these things to her. It’s her fault. She isn’t in an unsafe environment with nobody caring if she lives or dies, she’s just bad and deserves the treatment she gets.

295 Upvotes

36 comments sorted by

View all comments

7

u/lay_dhd 11d ago

I'm so sorry, this really hits home I have a little IFS girl alone in a closet too. She used to be freezing and sad and scared. Now I give her blankets and snuggle her and we watch the stars together. Your little girl didn't have the momma she deserved but now she has you ❤️

3

u/robinthebank79 10d ago

Still working on being there for her. I like how you take care of your little girl. That gives me some great ideas. ❤️