My mom had an extremely abusive childhood and as a result, is very much like a broken child herself. She never got help for it. Growing up, this was very damaging to me. She definitely sent me mixed signals of love/hate.

Like what subtle lights said, my mom has a lot of fear and anxiety so role reversal started coming into play by the time I was 13. I was her personal therapist and/or mom.

It did show up in more mild instances throughout very early childhood though, like with needing reassurance from me about her own actions.

My mom is actually empathetic with me nowadays, but that's because after so many years of invalidating me she realized that she shares many of the same emotional struggles I do (thanks to her).

That empathy wasn't there growing up.

Parents who are hurt themselves really need to get help before having kids, in my opinion...