Print Story too upset to sleep
Diary
By StackyMcRacky (Wed May 14, 2008 at 12:53:45 AM EST) (all tags)
so I will brain dump here


The short version: I do not understand why my mother is so hard on me.

The longer version:

I can do nothing right.  Nothing!  The simple act of my giving cards to my mother on Mother's Day found me in the wrong twice.  Twice!  I called my parents in the morning to find out when they would be around for me to drop off cards and visit a bit.  Nobody answered, so I assumed they were at church.  Well, it turned out they were out a brunch and had planned some tour of homes for the afternoon.  I only found this out when my father called me on the sly saying my mother was off her rocker upset.  How was I supposed to know?  I left a message for them!  That was problem 1.  2 happened when I went over;  they didn't get home until 4:30 or so, which was a bit on the late side.  I decided it would be a good idea if I went over with just the dude, and clock would stay home and get some stuff done and fix dinner.  Well, my mother was horribly upset that clock did not come along with me.  So upset that my father felt the need to come over today and ask my why clock did not like them.  What?  "He never comes over with you."  Um, that's because I go over during the day while he is at work.  Not everybody is retired or taking care of a child, you know.  Oh yeah, dad forgot that point.  I then explained why he didn't go on Sunday - I was trying to be efficient, not mean.  My parents are close, but it still takes 30 minutes to get to their house - a "quick trip" takes at least 1 1/2 hours in total.

I am just so tired of all of this.  Every single thing I do is just wrong, wrong, wrong.  Every trait I have is criticized, while similar traits in other people are praised.  ("$X is just so talented!"  me: I can do that too, didn't you see?  "She does it better than you.")

I tried to talk to my sister about this today, and she just laughed (she's so happy she's not the one under the microscope any more).  Great.  Her solution is for me to plan on having my parents over for dinner every week.  Um, no.  I am entitled to a life.  I am entitled to spending time with my little family.  Of course, she's right in a way - it's the only thing I could do that would make my mother happy.

I'm tired of being made fun of (yes, my mother makes fun of me all the time to other people.  I always hear about it).  I'm tired of being expected to give up what little free time I have.  I'm tired of being held to impossible standards.  I'm tired of always having hurt feelings.

I can't even talk to my mother about these things.  Every time I try, she FREAKS out with "DON"T YOU DARE PROJECT YOUR ISSUES ON ME!".  Yeah, mom has issues, she needs help.  Of course, she thinks everybody else has the problem, not her.

I'm too wound up and upset to sleep right now.  It's hard to let family stuff just roll off, ya know?

I desperately need to get far, far away from my parents.  We had a much better relationship when they lived in Florida.

< Been At War So Long, Forgot About Peace | Not sleeping >
too upset to sleep | 39 comments (39 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback
**HUGS** by reza (4.00 / 1) #1 Wed May 14, 2008 at 01:12:01 AM EST
I understand and feel your pain.
My parents are only 3 blocks away, but the same guilt and shitty crap flows from mother to daughter.

No matter what other people might think, in my family...I am the village idiot.

**HUGS**
You're not alone.  Might not make it easier to bear, but you always have a willing ear to hear your vents.


" Be who you are and say how you feel, because those who mind do not matter, and those who matter do not mind!" Dr. Seuss


Why by StackyMcRacky (4.00 / 2) #2 Wed May 14, 2008 at 01:23:48 AM EST
is the mother-daughter relationship so messed up in so many cases?

I have Big Dreams that we'll have a daughter and I'll break the cycle!

[ Parent ]

Dunno... by reza (4.00 / 1) #3 Wed May 14, 2008 at 01:47:35 AM EST
Whatever the reason/excuse is, I'm miiiiiiighty tired of it too!

Without being specific, let me just say that I don't know of any healthy mother/daughter relationships that haven't gone through counseling and therapy to get there.

And as for me having a daughter, I don't think I want to inflict the world with anymore of my progeny.  Two boys is enough.  :-)


" Be who you are and say how you feel, because those who mind do not matter, and those who matter do not mind!" Dr. Seuss
[ Parent ]

Yeah, been in exactly that situation. by ambrosen (4.00 / 3) #4 Wed May 14, 2008 at 04:28:36 AM EST
Keep venting. Keep trying strategies. Keep remembering you're in the right.

Oh, and I recommend against the leaving town option. It sucks.



n.b. It's another member of family than my mum. by ambrosen (2.00 / 0) #12 Wed May 14, 2008 at 08:56:58 AM EST
Just in case I do ever talk about my parents enough that people realise it's inconsistent with the way I regard them.

[ Parent ]

we're already in the process by StackyMcRacky (4.00 / 1) #23 Wed May 14, 2008 at 01:03:05 PM EST
of leaving town.  Well, clock is looking for a job elsewhere.  It was a plan already in the works and has nothing to do with parental relationships.

Right now I'm trying to hold my tongue and not lash out at her - I've been chewed out twice today for other assorted irrelevant crap.

[ Parent ]

Well, yeah. by ambrosen (2.00 / 0) #29 Wed May 14, 2008 at 02:15:11 PM EST
I was of course using your life experience as a chance to talk about mine. And when I did it, it was the sole reason for leaving. Big, big mistake. Especially moving from the neighbourhood of JK Rowling, Ian Rankin and Alexander McCall Smith to a poor area where a doctor diagnoses a perforated colon as alcoholism.

Anyway, better talk about the useful stuff, like agreeing that people do behave like that, that it is incredibly upsetting, and hard to get sympathy for. Keep strong.

[ Parent ]

Oh, and yeah, by ambrosen (4.00 / 1) #31 Wed May 14, 2008 at 02:22:22 PM EST
I'd move to Austin if I found myself living in Houston, too, I think.

[ Parent ]

Some Mothers by me0w (4.00 / 5) #5 Wed May 14, 2008 at 06:42:30 AM EST
I have discovered that not talking to my mother brings about peace and tranquility. So I don't talk to her and very rarely visit. It's a system that works.


"There's really only one sexually related thing I'm good at: Producing incredibly volumous amounts of spooge on a regular basis." - ni


Once a year by Phage (4.00 / 1) #9 Wed May 14, 2008 at 08:09:37 AM EST
Visit.
Once a year, card.

I get too wound up otherwise. Grief, you'd think I would have grown out of this by now.

The Czar of Accounting. No Nit Too Small To Pick
[ Parent ]

I was going to suggest this. by nightflameblue (4.00 / 2) #18 Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:26:40 AM EST
You've got some serious power in this relationship.  ESPECIALLY with a grandchild involved.  If your mother doesn't want to treat you or your family with respect, she doesn't need to see you or your family.  It's unfortunate that there are times that's the only way to get family members to be reasonable, but if someone wants to turn family time into a game, it's up to you to use what power you have in that game.

Good luck.  Family issues suck a lot.  Especially when it's with your parents.

[ Parent ]

The nuclear option by georgeha (4.00 / 1) #20 Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:49:24 AM EST



[ Parent ]

That seems to work with upset mothers. by nightflameblue (4.00 / 2) #21 Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:52:34 AM EST
At least for me, once mom gets upset, there's no calming her down without staying away from her for several days, possibly weeks.  She just needs to stew it out on her own and eventually she'll let it go.

[ Parent ]

the best system by StackyMcRacky (4.00 / 1) #24 Wed May 14, 2008 at 01:04:19 PM EST
was when we lived in different cities.  When I'm not always around to be under the microscope, life is good.

I'd love to just not talk to her, but it's not so easy with the dude around.  Plus, there's my father to think about.

[ Parent ]

IAWTP by lb008d (2.00 / 0) #33 Wed May 14, 2008 at 02:58:35 PM EST
You're giving your mother power by interacting with her. Thus, explain why you're not going to interact with her for a set period of time and then do it.

It's brutal and to the point (and also easier said than done) but anything else isn't fair to yourself.

[ Parent ]

Sounds like your mum needs a hobby to two by codemonkey uk (4.00 / 4) #6 Wed May 14, 2008 at 07:42:02 AM EST
So that she doesn't have to live so vicariously...

--- Thad ---
developer of ... ?


Aging by Merekat (4.00 / 2) #7 Wed May 14, 2008 at 07:44:12 AM EST
I've noticed aging is not kind to mothers. Mine grows increasingly insecure, conservative and paranoid.



Look on the bright side by wiredog (4.00 / 2) #8 Wed May 14, 2008 at 08:03:17 AM EST
You're not in Liad Nfb's family.

Because then you'd be stuck with the role of the crazy relative...

Earth First!
(We can strip mine the rest later.)



But if she was by sasquatchan (4.00 / 1) #10 Wed May 14, 2008 at 08:43:23 AM EST
she'd have plenty of SiLs to point fingers at and say  "be glad I'm not like $X"

[ Parent ]

Stacky would be golden in my family. by nightflameblue (2.00 / 0) #19 Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:47:37 AM EST
Especially with the endless string of fail that would be around her.

[ Parent ]

Just remember by sasquatchan (4.00 / 2) #11 Wed May 14, 2008 at 08:44:34 AM EST
it takes two. There's only one thing you're in control of, and that's you. What you do, what you say and how you react.



Wow. by notafurry (2.00 / 0) #13 Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:45:31 AM EST
Stunningly unhelpful.

[ Parent ]

but is it ? by sasquatchan (3.66 / 3) #16 Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:00:30 AM EST
are were here to give platitudes and "you are a good person, your mom is a witch," ?

I hate to fall into the "men fix problems, women listen and give hugs" trap, but maybe that's where my response belongs.

Either she finds a way to cope with her mom, one way or another, by dealing with the things she can control (eg herself), or she keeps having issues, and comes here to feel better because of the outpouring of platitudes that does not address the root of the problem, though it may make her feel better in the short term.

My old k5 sig, "The internet is not here for your therapy," maybe I should listen to it.

Reminds me of a comment from the former head of Eastern State Mental Hospital (in my backyard, he's passed away): "90% of the people in my ward just want to feel better, they don't want to be healed." (I may have mangled his words, but the idea is the same)

[ Parent ]

And yet by notafurry (3.00 / 1) #22 Wed May 14, 2008 at 12:37:20 PM EST
So a person posts a diary venting about a problem in their life. The text of what they post makes it pretty clear they're upset and frustrated but not unaware of the problems or their solutions... and your solution to this is a one-line "watch what you do or say because that's what you have control over"?

I don't think "a solution" is called for to begin with, I don't think that solution is helpful for the situation (since what's being said and done by Stacky seems perfectly reasonable in the first place), and offering this advice in a one-line comment like that leaves too much room for misinterpretation (as in, reading it as "well, you should watch what you say and do because that's what's provoking her").

So, yeah. Unhelpful.

Side note - say bitch. It's what you mean and you won't irritate pagans.

[ Parent ]

what did you call my momma ? by sasquatchan (4.00 / 1) #34 Wed May 14, 2008 at 03:08:14 PM EST
:P

Plus I don't mean it as a provoke. It stats with admitting ma won't change (which you can't control, you can't make her change) and work from that angle -- what you can change. Avoid her, walk away when she's nasty, say "wow! What a rude thing to say", "I'm sorry you think I'm a failure, you're entitled to an opinion," etc. Like Joshua said, the only winning move is not to play

I dislike peer mediation because it does what you've said, blame the victim. In the "what did you do to person X that caused X to stuff you in a locker ?" vein of things.

[ Parent ]

It is? by Merekat (2.00 / 0) #17 Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:03:52 AM EST
Seemed like good advice to me. And possibly what Stacky already wants to do.

[ Parent ]

i see where you're coming from by StackyMcRacky (4.00 / 1) #25 Wed May 14, 2008 at 01:11:27 PM EST
this option has been explored.  upon further analysis it's not me, it's her.

Why?

Because she treats my father and her sisters the same way (note: all her sisters live in town).  She basically rotates the focus of her anger between the 7 of us.  Many have gently suggested to her that she go to some type of therapy to get to the root of what is troubling her.  Each attempt is met with "i have no problems!  stop projecting your issues on me!"

I do the best I can to do the right thing, but I'm always in the wrong.  She has changing expectations in her head that she won't communicate to anybody until they don't meet them.  When she communicates the failure, she just complains to other people that $X didn't do $Y and now she's upset.  Not very productive.

I was chewed out twice today before 11 am!  Currently I'm letting it all slide, as I have far more important things to do than be dragged into a meaningless argument with her.

[ Parent ]

Good luck *hug* by notafurry (2.00 / 0) #14 Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:54:39 AM EST
Nobody can give the right answer, which I don't think you're really looking for - you already know the real answers (Mom needs some therapy of some sort, you need some distance, etc.) and are venting. We're good at helping with venting! <grin>

The only think I'd do differently - and I'm not suggesting it as a course of action, mind - is to just stop seeing them, and tell them why. "This is what happens when I interact with you - you treat me like someone you do not love and respect, my family is insulted and criticized, and I get upset, which then impacts my son and the rest of my family. So, see you later. Let me know when you fix it."

Not saying that's a good choice. I did it about 12 years ago when I moved out of my parents' house, and it meant about 9 years of hell for all concerned. Things did eventually get better, but I think they would have eventually anyway; age and maturity on my part and a little perspective and therapy on my parents' part did the work, so all I accomplished was to nearly break the relationship before it could be healed.

On the other hand, it felt really good at the time. So, you know. Choices, choices. <grin>

Oh, moving - you know, distance really can help in a lot of ways. The tech job market's pretty hot right now, so if you really are thinking about moving, now's the time. Of course, selling your house could be relatively difficult, but at least buying a new one will be relatively easy and inexpensive to counteract that.



thanks by StackyMcRacky (4.00 / 1) #26 Wed May 14, 2008 at 01:15:02 PM EST
with the dude around, I don't feel good about just cutting off all communications.  Plus, the extended family would get involved, and I'm just not up for it.

My sister will be in town tomorrow with my nephew.  Maybe my mom will cool off a bit (until the next time).

clock is finding all kinds of jobs in Austin, so maybe we're <6 months away from moving.  Moving was always a part of our life plan, we're just bumping up the timing by a few years.

[ Parent ]

That sucks by georgeha (4.00 / 1) #15 Wed May 14, 2008 at 09:59:08 AM EST
I never had to deal with that much, being the easier of two, and holding two trump cards, but Mrs. Ha has had troubles with her mom, so much so she moved out at 18 and got married at 20 just to avoid living under the roof with her mom.




my sister by StackyMcRacky (2.00 / 0) #27 Wed May 14, 2008 at 01:17:50 PM EST
was always "the bad one" so this is all new to me.  It all started with my divorce - I think she has taken it personally.

Back in the day, my sister did some really stupid stuff*, so it made sense she was always in trouble.  I don't see how not being able to read my mother's mind puts me in the same category as my sister was back then.

*Thanks to my sister, we learned that arrest warrents in Texas say "Wanted, Dead or Alive"

[ Parent ]

Moving will help by georgeha (2.00 / 0) #28 Wed May 14, 2008 at 01:22:29 PM EST
you can use caller ID too, but then your mom  will drive over to attack you in person.


[ Parent ]

And push past you into the house, by ambrosen (2.00 / 0) #30 Wed May 14, 2008 at 02:19:34 PM EST
While you're still trying to enforce the parameters of the visit (i.e. This is my house, so you will sit down, accept a cup of tea and not tell me what the fuck to do or how to make it. (and yes, in Britain, that is an i.e., not an e.g.)).

BTDT. Except for some reason I didn't want to pay the £36 a year for the caller ID.

[ Parent ]

no caller ID! by StackyMcRacky (2.00 / 0) #32 Wed May 14, 2008 at 02:54:40 PM EST
yeah, we skip it as well.  the only people who call us on the home phone are parents anyway.

i've thrown my mother out of my house for being abusive to me in the past.  it sucked, but was necessary.

[ Parent ]

good for you by Mrs FlightTest (2.00 / 0) #38 Thu May 22, 2008 at 12:13:36 AM EST
Wheeee...Flyin` is Fun!!
Wheeee...Flyin' is Fun!!
[ Parent ]

Everyone's mom has issues by debacle (2.00 / 0) #35 Wed May 14, 2008 at 07:24:38 PM EST
Stop caring, buck up, and maybe get yourself to the point where you can understand, laugh at the situation, and maybe see that she's a lot worse off than you are.

If you can't remove yourself from her just a bit (emotionally, not physically), your kids are going to have to deal with it as well.


"I'm very responsive to certain stimuli, and pain is pretty much at the top of that list." - BadDoggie



that sucks by LilFlightTest (2.00 / 0) #36 Fri May 16, 2008 at 11:36:46 PM EST
and i could repeat all the other stuff everyone else has, but i'll just stick with "been there", except in my case it's not my mother, it's the extended family. i've got no helpful advice, but you can email me to vent if you need to. we can rant together. =)
---------
if de-virgination results in me being able to birth hammerhead sharks, SIGN ME UP!!! --misslake


I could have written this! by Sapphire (2.00 / 0) #37 Sun May 18, 2008 at 09:27:49 AM EST
You just described my mother perfectly.  Mine throws in the religious barbs in addition to my laundry list of faults.

I feel your pain.



I'll throw in my by Mrs FlightTest (2.00 / 0) #39 Thu May 22, 2008 at 12:18:10 AM EST
HUGS along with everyone elses.

I have a difficult time with my mother as well.  We (FT & me) have a little chant when it comes to dear old mom...."Heart of Gold, Mind of Mush". It helps get me through the rough spots though.

Good luck to you.  Let me know if you manage to break the cycle of mother/daughter lousy relationships.  I'm trying to do that with my daughter, but feel as though I am failing most of the time.  Rarely does a day go by that I don't make her cry.

Wheeee...Flyin` is Fun!!
Wheeee...Flyin' is Fun!!


too upset to sleep | 39 comments (39 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback