Hi there
Thanks for your letter. It sounds like sometimes your mum doesn’t always deal with her emotions in the best way and can end up taking them out on you.
Every parent occasionally shouts or gets angry – whether they mean to or not – but it’s wrong if they do this too much or if they hurt you as well. It’s never okay for someone to hurt you and especially if it’s someone who is supposed to look after you and keep you safe.
It can make life difficult at home if your parents are shouting or getting angry all of the time and if this does happen then it can lead to you feeling like you’ve done something wrong, when you haven’t. In your case you said that your mum has mood swings so she could be really happy but then the next minute she’s angry. This can also be hard because it can make it difficult to relax and feel safe at home if you don’t know when your mum is going to get angry.
Even though it's wrong that your mum hurts you, it sounds like you still have a good relationship with her and you are feeling worried about her mood swings. You could perhaps think about what she might say if you told her how you feel? If you’re not comfortable talking to your mum directly then you could talk to another adult you trust – and of course you can always talk to a counsellor at ChildLine.
If you are being hurt at home then perhaps you could have a look at the physical abuse page or take a look on the message boards to see what other young people think about it.
Thanks again for getting in touch, don’t forget you can call ChildLine on 0800 11 11 or chat online too.
Take care
Sam