Mother refused to order take out unless I called in the order

[Anonymous]

Not the PP you addressed, but I had a similar reaction to OP's story. If you have lived it, the language is clear. It's not just a simple phone call.

I won't go into all of my details, but it was extraordinarily difficult to develop my own sense of identity as an adult. I had to, in no small part because I entered a difficult profession that requires some backbone and resoluteness in interaction, but man. It was hard.

It's hard to remember, too. I did enough in therapy. But I do recall vividly that before every major social interaction, my mother would coach me what to say. Like, practice the words and tone for responding to expected questions from aunts and uncles, for example. Of course I did not chose my own clothing, but even that was taken to an extreme. I remember being afraid when I was catcalled walking to the library in a new dress. I think it was seventh or eighth grades? Oddly--so very oddly, looking back--my mother sent me out in hat same dress for the next three days to see if I would get catcalled again. As a grown woman now, I cannot fathom the reasons behind that, but my best friend remembers it, so it isn't just my memory.

Anyway, it was like being a small living puppet. I ended up moving thousands of miles away and found my own life as a real girl.