“Bitter mother” is a term used to describe a mother who acts bitterly towards her child, or anyone else around her. Mothers are not born bitter, despite the stereotype. They become bitter as a result of difficult life experiences and loss, disappointment among other things. The principal causes of bitterness include abuse during childhood, rejection from one’s partner/spouse or children, financial hardship, social isolation and motherhood itself.
Mothers tend to be extremely sensitive when it comes to their children. They love them so much that they would do anything for them. However, some mothers can be too protective and overbearing. Some have gone so far as to become bitter toward their children, especially if they have experienced some sort of pain or suffering in the past.
This can include physical and verbal abuse and neglect. Bitter mothering may be caused by the mother having been abused as a child herself, or by her having suffered some other trauma or loss in her life. Bitter mothers often have an intense desire to be accepted by their children and will go to great lengths to try to gain this acceptance. They typically blame their children for everything that goes wrong in their lives.
They also tend to blame others for their unhappiness and unfair treatment by society at large. In many cases, these women were not shown love or affection as children. They may also have witnessed their fathers being abused by their mothers or stepmothers and this has led to feelings of anger and resentment towards her.
Below is a collection of bitter mother quotes that shed light on why some mothers are bitter despite having amazing children.
Bitter mothers often feel they have no one to turn to during times of crisis; they feel alone and isolated from others. This can lead to depression which then leads to feelings of anger towards other people and especially men who they perceive as having abandoned them in some way.
1. If you’re a child with a bitter mother, constantly being told how you don’t measure up, it’s no surprise that you’ve grown into an adult who lacks confidence and is afraid of risk.
2. A bitter mother is a woman who is negative and unhappy most of the time. She puts her family down, blames everyone else for her problems and has no patience with them. She acts like she doesn’t want to live, yet she lives. She makes you feel that everything you do is wrong, even if it’s not.
3. A bitter mother is a mother who over-protects her children, keeps them dependent on her, and discourages them from developing independence. She plans their future and tries to control their every move.
4. A bitter mother is a mother who has her issues with life and often takes them out on her children. She’s always critical of their life choices, even if it’s something that she did not support.
5. The bitter mother is not just a highly judgmental and critical woman. She is deeply unhappy and overwhelmed by anger. She has a very low opinion of herself, which leads her to believe that if she’s not superior, then she must be inferior.
6. The bitter mother is a woman who is overly critical and finds fault with nearly everything. She resents the fact that her children have grown up and become independent, and she blames them for any mistakes or weaknesses she sees in them. Her words cut like a knife, and her tongue is as sharp as a sword.
7. Bitter mother is a woman who only uses her words to destroy the child’s confidence. She has always believed that only she knows everything and that she has to raise the child perfectly through her method, which often leads to emotional scolding torture.
8. Bitter mothers are discouraging and critical of their children, often to the point of undermining their self-esteem. Children of bitter mothers often suffer from low self-confidence and cannot be independent because they were taught to believe that it was not okay for them to be themselves.
9. A bitter mother may belittle her child’s ability to succeed or hold themselves back due to their inability to handle painful experiences including divorce papers or financial struggles. She is spiteful with little or no regard for others.
10. A bitter mother sees the world in black and white, right and wrong. All of life’s problems (her own and those of others) are blamed on someone else. Bitter Mothers blame their children for any problems they encounter in their lives. To cope with the pain caused by their bitterness toward others and life, they have only one way to deal with it: blame. A bitter mother uses anger at other people as a way to avoid facing her feelings of hurt and weakness.
11. A bitter mother is one whose anger has become overwhelming. It’s not that she’s angry with her children, but it seems that she is always angry at something. She is often critical and judgmental of everyone, especially those close to her.
12. Furthermore, she feels that any failure on the part of her children reflects badly on her. Bitter mothers are consumed by their anger at having failed in realizing their dreams and ambitions in life. They lash out at others with whom they feel a connection – their husbands or partners, their other children, friends or family members.
13. Bitter is more than just a bitter beer. A bitter mother is someone a little rough around the edges. Not necessarily a bad mother, just one who has experienced some conflict or hard times and put up walls to protect herself. A bitter mother will give you advice, but there will always be an undercurrent of resentment in her words. You can’t help but pick up on it even if you ignore it at first.
14. A bitter mother is an angry and resentful woman who blames her children for the inadequacies of her life. She sees her children as extensions of herself and exerts great pressure on them to meet her expectations. She sets rigid rules for them to obey and is quick to punish them when they break them.
15. A bitter mother loves herself too much and uses her children to validate her self-worth. Knowing that she will always have unconditional love from her child, she feels entitled to put her needs ahead of theirs, no matter what the cost or impact.
16. A bitter mother, or “toxic mother” as some call her, is an emotionally distanced, cold and critical parent who has a narcissistic or psychopathic personality. She is thoughtless, uncaring and manipulative. Her children are not loved for themselves but as objects that she uses to meet her needs.
17. The bitter mother is resentful of her child and the life she has. She is angry, critical and disrespectful. She blames the child for destroying her marriage or otherwise ruining her life. Her attitude shows that she is not happy with her life despite all the things she may have. She might neglect or emotionally abuse her child, especially when the child doesn’t meet expectations or when he/she tries to disagree with what she wants.
18. Bitter mothers are described as having a controlling and manipulative personality. They can be critical, perfectionists, rigid, demanding, and ill-tempered persons who are unapproachable because they have a negative outlook towards life. They have issues with expressing their feelings and this becomes a problem when they communicate with their children. In one way or the other, they can be quite negative in the way they handle things.
19. The bitter mother is a mother who refuses to let go. She may be the result of a difficult childhood, or she may have been treated badly by her parents. Whatever her reasons, she hates her daughter for her happiness, because it reminds her of how much she’s missing in life. The bitter mother doesn’t want to believe that she was a victim too; instead, she focuses on every flaw in her daughter’s personality and tries to turn her into someone else.
20. A bitter mother lacks empathy for others and is unable to see beyond herself. She’s often a narcissist who often comes from a background of trauma, lack or abuse. This type of mother will ridicule, judge or even shame her children for any normal human need – including the need for food and sleep.
21. A bitter mother is a woman who has been wronged by a child and holds a grudge. A woman who is unable to forgive because of her bitterness and resentment.
22. A mother who suffers from bitterness is likely to see her children as extensions of herself. She will seek to control every aspect of their development, and she may have little or no space for their individuality. These mothers often have a very well-developed sense of justice and fairness, but they are quick to punish or criticize when things don’t go as planned. They often seem cold and distant towards others.
23. A bitter mother is often sullen, silent, unresponsive and aloof. She is so cold and bitter that you can feel it in her voice and see it in her eyes; however, there is no telling how she got that way. She is likely to be patronising, judgmental and critical of most people if they do something wrong or not to her satisfaction.
24. A bitter mother is mean-spirited and hostile. She might be just a friend to her relatives but her children are always subjected to verbal abuse. Bitter mothers have controlled the lives of their children since early childhood, preventing them from developing their personalities.
25. A bitter mother is a mother who makes her young child feel guilty, or like they have done something wrong. She tends to bring up the worst in a person and is always attacking everything that goes on in life.
26. A bitter mother is a negative and unsupportive woman who expects her children to fail at everything they do, treats them poorly and takes pleasure in their unhappiness. She might also be an alcoholic or dependent on drugs or alcohol to help her cope with life.
27. A bitter mother is more than an unhappy person, it’s a person who is filled with anger and resentment. She sees the world through only one lens, and it’s a negative one: your faults and failures. She always sees things as personal attacks against her, so there’s never any room for compromise or serenity.
28. A bitter mother is a mother who constantly feels discontent and resentful, especially with her children. It may be that she is unhappy herself, or she may take pleasure in making other people feel bad.
29. Bitter mothers like to get the last word. They disdain those who judge them and will look for faults in anything that might be offered as kindness or help.
30. Bitter mother is a term that describes a controlling, angry mother. A bitter mother would often choose to sabotage her children’s freedom and happiness, rather than allow them to find their way in life.
31. A bitter mother is a mother who has problems that make her angry and sad. These feelings can be caused by social, emotional and physical problems in their lives.
32. A bitter mother is a woman who has hurt her child by conveying a sense that he or she is unworthy, undeserving, unloved and unnecessary. She does this by verbally abusing the child and making him feel that his desires are futile, foolish and worthless. She uses sarcasm to hurt him and ridicules everything he does as well as criticises his personality, manners and capabilities.
33. A bitter mother will say things that are hurtful and used to control, punish, or embarrass. She is consumed by her woes and worries, and rarely lifts a finger to help anyone else. She’s jealous of any attention or affection is given to others.
34. Bitter mothers were the primary caregivers in their families. They may have been the victim of abuse or suffered from mental health issues. These women do not get the support they need, leading to a lack of affection, and kids who grow up feeling abandoned and unloved. They often blame others for their pain and anger, so it’s hard for others to understand that this behaviour is a cry for help and attention.
35. A bitter mother is a woman whose words and actions are aimed at making her children feel bad about themselves. Bitter mothers often push their children away, particularly when they reach adulthood, as they no longer need or want these children’s love and support. They see them as competition for the attention of their husband or to keep him from leaving them for another woman.
36. A bitter mother is a mother who is unhappy and angry with her children. This can come from several different situations such as a single-parent situation or if a child has left their parent in charge of raising them. She does not show affection toward their children and usually does not want to talk about anything related to them.
37. A bitter mother is a person who is angry, resentful, and jealous of others. Such a person turns people off with their constant complaining and bad moods.
38. A bitter mother is a mother who is never completely satisfied with her children, despite their efforts and achievements. She always finds something to criticize and complain about.
39. A mother who’s so bitter she can’t stand to see her children succeed will make the following mistakes: ignore their accomplishments, punish good behaviour, withhold love and affection, and sabotage opportunities for success.
40. A bitter mother is a mother who acts emotionally unstable, depressed and resentful towards her children. She has unresolved feelings of being abandoned or betrayed by her mother during childhood.
41. A bitter mother does not feel love for her child. She is either a punishing or neglectful parent who never expresses appreciation for her child’s efforts. Often, she will attribute negative qualities to her child and rationalize her behaviour as necessary. For example, a bitter mother might tell herself that she must work hard to raise a successful child while ignoring or discounting the supportive nature of her mothering style.
42. A bitter mother is a mother who is resentful and angry. Her resentment might be because she feels that she was not treated fairly by her children when they were young (e.g., they did not appreciate things that she had done for them as children or they did not respect her wishes after they became adults). A bitter mother may also feel deprived because she was never able to do the things that she wants to do, or that others take those things away from her (e.g., friends, family members, relatives).
43. Bitter mother is a mother with a limited capacity for showing love towards her children, who are often the dominant social group within a family and have more power to punish than she does. They are envious of their children and act vindictive when confronted with them. Unlike other mothers who might become bitter as they age, bitter mothers are often from abusive backgrounds that spawn so much unhappiness and pain.
44. A bitter mother is a female who has lost the joy of being a mother to the point where she cannot see her child’s joyful expressions or achievements in life. Rather, she only sees negativity where there is none.
45. Bitter mothers are difficult and distant, often cruel or domineering. Their actions are primarily motivated by self-interest, and they tend to have little concern for others’ feelings.
46. A bitter mother has developed this bitterness as a result of some past circumstance or relationship. It may have resulted from her childhood, but it can also be the product of a divorce or other family crisis, in which she’s been marginalized by others. The bitterness can grow so strong that the mother has a hard time feeling any joy or pleasure at all. She may live with constant feelings of rejection, insecurity or inadequacy.
47. You know when a mother is bitter because she does not care about the well-being of her child. They will fail to provide for their children’s needs and wants. And when you finally get a chance to talk with her, all she will do is nag and complain about everyone in your family except for herself.
48. A bitter mother is spiteful, cruel, and unloving. She is a woman whose bitterness stems from the problems in her life, but instead of dealing with those problems in a constructive way, she blames everyone else for her unhappiness.
49. A bitter mother is highly resentful, vindictive and contentious. She feels cheated or oppressed by her children, especially her daughters because she sees them as rivals and competition for a man’s affection. As a result, she may become passive-aggressive when dealing with them, who in turn become her scapegoats and bearers of guilt.
50. Bitter mothers are never satisfied. They insist on feeding their children food from when they were kids. This is a self-destructive habit that only hurts the child and the parent, rather than benefiting anyone.
51. Bitter mothers are everywhere. They are the ones who display anger and frustration towards the kindness, enthusiasm, and joy that their children exude. They are the parents who don’t want their children to be happy because it makes them look bad as a parent. By doing so, they suffer as much as their child does.
52. Bitter mothers are the ones who drive their kids away. They don’t know how to love, but they know how to hate. If you’ve ever had a bitter mother, you certainly hope she never holds any power over you. They are toxic, and if there’s anything that can be said about them…it’s to stay away from them at all costs.
53. A bitter mother steals your joy and won’t let you be happy. She’ll never give her blessing because you’re independent and she fears that you’ll leave her someday.
54. The bitter mother is only hurt when she sees her children suffering. She strives to bring her children upright. And sometimes, she gets mean. But when she hurts them, it comes from a place of love.
55. A bitter mother is a useless being, for a mother’s whole business in life should be to help and encourage her children, who are weak creatures by nature.
56. Bitter mothers are mothers who no matter how well we try to be, are looking for the negative in our life. They will always find a way to make you feel as if your life is not perfect and you haven’t achieved enough. No matter what you do, it does not seem to be good enough for them.
57. A bitter mother is a bad seed. The world is full of beautiful lies that have nothing to do with the truth and those who live in them will be disappointed.
58. The bitter mother is a common metaphor that can refer to a mother who is angry, resentful, and unforgiving. These feelings are usually directed at someone else, but sometimes bitterness lies within the mother herself or even self-destructive behaviour.
59. No mother is perfect, but the stereotype of a bitter mother is. This is a woman who cannot be trusted to provide her children with the tools they need for lifelong happiness. As such, she should not be allowed to have children.
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