Mother of misery
Why is it that even at age 37 my mother still likes to treat me as if I were 5?
I'm preparing for my daughter's birthday later this afternoon and we are having it at my mom's house. She calls me this morning with a list of things I should get like ice cream, plastic cups and utensils. Gee, I would never have thought of that on my own. I'm so glad she called. The "stating the obvious" group is getting together soon to elect her their leader.
I've tried numerous times to explain to her that when she does this stuff to me that it makes me feel like she thinks I'm an incompetent moron. Honestly, she knows I was an honor student. Does she somehow think having book smarts has prevented me from having common sense?
For instance, we are on our way to one of the numerous t-ball/softball games my kids have played in this summer and I get a phone call reminding me that it's over 100 degrees and I should bring water and sunscreen. What? You mean I'm not supposed to let the kids get roasted in the sun and collapse from heat exhaustion? She apparently thinks I skipped that chapter in the parenting handbook.
Appearance is another thing of vital importance to my mom. Don't ever get caught going anywhere with her sans makeup or she will want to know why. She hasn't left the house without lipstick since 1956. She puts "her face" on to go to the YMCA and walk the treadmill. She is constantly nagging my daughter because she won't wear her hair up in a ponytail every day and my mom thinks it looks "scraggly" when it's down. She's 8 and she's going to run snd jump and play. It isn't as if she were competing in the Miss America pageant later in the evening.
My mother has turned "constructive criticism" into an art form. She likes to throw in little catch phrases like "I just want you to be happy" or "I just want it for you soooo much". Somehow this is supposed to make me feel better after she has just told me I need to lose weight or that my house isn't clean enough for her tastes.
In my heart I know she loves me and she really does mean well. She comes from a long line of women who were forced to be tough in the face of adversity and she's learned the cardinal rule that if she can control all situations to her liking then the world will move in a direction that pleases her. I just wish she could do it without making everyone else misearble at the same time.
I'm preparing for my daughter's birthday later this afternoon and we are having it at my mom's house. She calls me this morning with a list of things I should get like ice cream, plastic cups and utensils. Gee, I would never have thought of that on my own. I'm so glad she called. The "stating the obvious" group is getting together soon to elect her their leader.
I've tried numerous times to explain to her that when she does this stuff to me that it makes me feel like she thinks I'm an incompetent moron. Honestly, she knows I was an honor student. Does she somehow think having book smarts has prevented me from having common sense?
For instance, we are on our way to one of the numerous t-ball/softball games my kids have played in this summer and I get a phone call reminding me that it's over 100 degrees and I should bring water and sunscreen. What? You mean I'm not supposed to let the kids get roasted in the sun and collapse from heat exhaustion? She apparently thinks I skipped that chapter in the parenting handbook.
Appearance is another thing of vital importance to my mom. Don't ever get caught going anywhere with her sans makeup or she will want to know why. She hasn't left the house without lipstick since 1956. She puts "her face" on to go to the YMCA and walk the treadmill. She is constantly nagging my daughter because she won't wear her hair up in a ponytail every day and my mom thinks it looks "scraggly" when it's down. She's 8 and she's going to run snd jump and play. It isn't as if she were competing in the Miss America pageant later in the evening.
My mother has turned "constructive criticism" into an art form. She likes to throw in little catch phrases like "I just want you to be happy" or "I just want it for you soooo much". Somehow this is supposed to make me feel better after she has just told me I need to lose weight or that my house isn't clean enough for her tastes.
In my heart I know she loves me and she really does mean well. She comes from a long line of women who were forced to be tough in the face of adversity and she's learned the cardinal rule that if she can control all situations to her liking then the world will move in a direction that pleases her. I just wish she could do it without making everyone else misearble at the same time.
posted by Becky/Skein Gang at
11:46 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home