My wife has finally reached the point where she wants no contact with her mother. I could share many stories to describe how terrible this person is. In short, she is narcissistic, manipulative, bigoted, hypocritical, spiteful, entitled, and an all-around horrible despicable person — once you scratch the surface. To her credit, she is very skilled at appearing to be kind, friendly, loving, and generous, and our three children love her. They are ages 7, 6, and 2. The two oldest love her more as she is only just now willing to interact with the toddler in small doses.

Our 6 year old daughter especially adores and idolizes her grandmother. She has been manipulated very well, and her behavior and defiant attitude are always the worst after spending time with her grandmother. We do not want that to continue, we don’t want the children to be influenced or hurt by this terrible person anymore. She doesn’t truly love her grandkids, she just loves the attention and love they show her, and she likes to use them to get at my wife and at me.

But how do we explain to young children that they can’t see their grandma anymore? That it is for their own good? To make things worse, we live in the same small town as she does. She cannot be completely avoided. Luckily right now, she is a truck driver and is away for four days and home for four days. That does give some chunks of time with her out of town.