My daughter has been very close to my Mother In Law since she was a baby. I have recovered from my negative emotions about this when she was about 6 months old.
Today this feeling of rejection revisited me. My daughter wanted to be with her Dad, Brother and me when her Brother was preparing for his nap. While I patted him, my daughter suddenly cried and left the room.
In the late afternoon I asked my daughter why she cried. She was very honest about it. “Because I don’t like to sleep with Mummy”. I thought I had gotten over this fact long ago but I guess I haven’t completely let go. I was moody after that, and only linked my moodiness to her comments much later in the night.
I don’t blame her. There is nothing wrong to prefer to sleep with Grandma.
All I can do is to give her unconditional love, as her Mother. But I also couldn’t help feeling hurt by the rejection.