Caution - Keep Away from Toxic Influences

Whether you are a new mother or a veteran mother, there are those moms in this world that are unfortunately competitive, vulgar, prideful, and miserable.  Negative moms with little positive to say.  If you want to stay above water and be a beacon of light for your spouse and children, you will distance yourself away from them.  Busybodies have wrecked havoc on families.  Temperamental people keep atmospheres tense.  Liars can't be trusted.  You know these people and whether covertly or overtly they are systematically influencing you.

I thought of a toxic relative who had a terrible relationship with her daughter.  This woman was close to another relative and spent much time talking with her about her woes.  In time, I watched how the negative woman's influence changed the loved one.  She too was starting to complain about her daughters.  She too was saying mean and hurtful things during conversations with her kin.  Sometimes we underestimate the power of negative people and conversations and before long our family and friends take notice.  The husband complained of his wife's cursing after she would talk to the relative.  Her adult children recognized that hours on the phone with her gossiping relative was making her difficult to listen to.  Relationships were changing and the mother was too involved with outside influences to recognize the difference.

So as much as you are tempted to reconnect or maintain a toxic tie to someone negative just because that one holds a title like "best friend," especially with this upcoming school year ahead, think twice--people like this are trouble!  The school year is already long enough and when pessimistic people are attached to you, it only becomes longer! 

Nicholl McGuire is the author of When Mothers Cry now available at Barnes and Noble online.  She also owns and manages this blog.