I thought kyoko mom will stare at her coldly and treat her as she not exists (u know,like ...

what do you mean? that kyoko shouldnt be traumatized by her mother? Oh come on, you can see the way her mother treated her badly in the past, never showing any affection toward kyoko, always brush her off. on top of that she throw kyoko away to sho family and leave just like that without second glance.

Slapping away her hand was not enough to traumatised u. And ignore that u dont exist?? I think most disfuncional family do that, so? Leave u to oher family and left u so? At lease the mother dont lock her up in a room w/o food and leave her to die. At lease her mother dont sell her to one of her b/ff. At lease she have not pregnant and hv abortion at age 9 or as she grow up. At lease the mother know kyoko raise up in a good family. Even she have to grow up faster to do all chores.
To have that grudge (the kyoko ghost) i was expecting more cruel situation as the reasons that ghost thing was there in the first place (i remeber the ghost born from the day she heard sho use her) but to be just a step away from insanity i was hopeing kyoko have a gruesome past that can lead to this even.
Im saying im unsatisfied if the reason is just shallow as a mom ignore ur exsistance. I was hoping more solid reason and drama. But seems the mangaka was too soft on this situation, but if u are satisfied with the reason,its up to u. Im saying it can twist to make it dark past as to reason her actions.

It's also possible, that leaving her in the care of a loving family was a wiser choice than keeping her, which would have led Kyouko to feel that hostility on a daily basis. Also, if you've read the last few chapters, where she has a flash back of her mother slapping her hand when she held a knife, was actually her frustration with Kyouko handling something dangerous. And Kyouko herself realized it might've been her mistake to instantly think every upset look her mother had was always because she disliked her. Plus, she never said that Kyouko shouldn't be traumatized, she was merely expressing her surprise at how things developed and hadn't imagined Saena to have such a back story and be a not so bad person after all. (at least not as much as others originally envisioned her to be) ^^

Thank u, u got my point! She is not a bad mother, the word "even a parents can hate their children" just dont justified to her (kyoko mom) situation. I mean,she must love her but too akward because she a young mother? (The stress rising up kid can be a reason she cold to kyoko but not enough to hate) I think not enough reason to say Sena hate kyoko.
When i read the manga years ago,i was thinking Sena treat kyoko horrible-ly (a situation i mention before) that she traumatized and thats why she trouble on how to act with to doted parents that she cry when koun father show love to her. And also because the grudge she was 1 step away from insanity. Buuuuuuut,the mangaka prove me wrong but it just misunderstanding between mom and daughter..... So,kinda let down by it lol
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I can totally relate, I was expecting something very different! Although that's one of the many charms about this manga, you can never be too confident in your assumptions! ^^ Clearly Saena must not have been prepared to be a mother, moreover a single mother, it's no easy job. Especially when Kyouko seems to resemble her father so much! Of course that's no reason to act cold towards a child, but it's not like she doesn't love her at all. As she had clearly stated to Lori that it would be a lie to say she never found Kyouko cute. Parents are human too, and humans don't always make the best choices. Of course she got quite lucky that Kyouko is as empathetic as she is. It's not always that easy to get someone's understanding. Personally, I kind of like where this is headed. It also goes to show just how much Kyouko has matured to look beyond her own pain, as well as learn that forgiveness as well as trying to understand another can also be the best for herself too. ^^

Saena is not heartless, in the sense that she has feelings (even if she has a poker face.) But she is an awful mother. Not the worst, but horrible. And I think it's hinted she abused Kyoko a lot, at least verbally
And verbal abuse can be as hurting as physical abuse

That's what I'm saying. I've been traumatized too. My mother was cold just like Saena never showing any affection, never hug me and never praise me either when I got first in my class. She wants me to be like her 'perfect in everything' but I can't be like she wants me too. And I often receiving verbal abuse since I was a little child. Just merely single mistake and she say I'm just embarassment to her and blah blah. Her action toward me makes me think that my mother doesn't love me. I was just a kid back then. How would I know my mother loves me since she never show any loves. Just bcause she gives you food and clothes then abandoned you, leaving you to another family that's make her not so bad at all? Even I who lives with my grandmother had a lot of suffering.

I've been holding off reading until this arc is finished, but had to make a comment here. You don't have to be physically abused to have a traumatized childhood. And keep in mind, every child is going to handle things differently. Some kids have no problems with the dark, whereas others are terrified of it. From the snippets we have seen of Kyoko's childhood up to this point, it never seemed as if her mom was abusive to her in any way. She merely never showed her any love. She neglected her. When she was around, she expected perfection (anything less than 100 was not good enough). That's a lot to put on any child's plate. Now take a child with no other family except her mom. A child who is naturally a dreamer (hello, she still sees fairies). Dreamers are sensitive children. Then add in her friendship with Sho, which guaranteed her no friends growing up. She was starved for love and always felt that she was not good enough. And then the one person she thought did care for her betrays her...of course she's going to lose it. Just saying, you don't need to be beaten or locked in a closet to feel that your parent hates you.

I couldn't agree more with you. If kyoko was phsyically abused by her mother, I bet Kyoko would end up hating her mother in return. If I were to locked up and beaten up by my mother in the past, I don't think I could calmly visit her like Kyoko did. It was to be expected for a child who grow up never receive any love from her own mother to think that her mother hates her, to think she is unlovable, thus she no longer expect anything. She was just a child afterall. There's no way for her to understand what we see now as a misunderstanding part on her mother difficult to read expression.