I was sexually abused by two older cousins when I was 5 or 6! I never got why they were touching my intimate parts and trembling or why I never talked about it to my parents, or maybe I might have an idea--we were two kids being abused at the same time making it feel like a game, in all likelihood!

When I shared the incidents with Mom a couple of years ago, instead of validating the trauma and my very legitimate disgust, all she said was, "Awww, they were teenagers and didn't know any better! It's not a big deal!"

I didn't know about her truth at that time. Some time ago, I decided to remove one of them from one of my social media (I have no single contact with the second cousin) and shared it with Mom. He's her nephew and one of her favorite narcissistic supplies. She tried to gaslight and invalide my feelings again. I stayed tall in my truth and closed the discussion with the following:

"I removed him and will never change my mind. I will also be very cold with him in face to face interactions. The fact that you're minimizing the incident doesn't make it any less serious, and I will not discuss it again."