Wow dramatic much and apparently psychic. I am glad you know the fertility of every poster on DCUM, my you are special. So much guilt and manipulation all dripping into one long post. Funny story my MIL also told me she would be dead soon when we were first married, oh I won't be around much longer, with a hand pressed against her forehead. Its been 20 years and she's still here. We would all swoon around her, fanning her with handkerchiefs at her ordeal. Op is on an anonymous forum, take a deep breath and relax. Its ok. |
This. Is. Amazing. Haha do it, OP!! |
My mom was the same way and often said she didn't want to "bother" me either. This scenario PP described actually just happened to me two weeks ago and it's awful. My brother called me and asked how long it had been since I'd heard from our mom. I said I don't know a couple of days....he said he was worried. I said big whoop, I go a week or two sometimes without hearing from her (I call her or text her and she doesn't return them only to surface later and everything is fine). He sent the police for a welfare check and she had passed away in her bed. Now I feel terrible for saying big whoop. I wish I could just talk to her again and I wish I had not played that waiting game as much as I did. |
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If I don't call for like two weeks (I usually call weekly) my mom calls and leaves a message that says "Hello?? Do you remember me? I'm your mother! Tall, dark hair? Anyway, call me back."
She thinks its clever, I find it annoying. But it's the kind of annoying that I can just say "argh" to and move on. Moms gonna mom. |
I’m sorry for your loss. I’m also sorry that there was an unbalanced, unhealthy aspect to your relationship that was caused by her choices and behavior. That dynamic was not your fault. |
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I don't understand why you can be honest with your mom: "Mom, when you say that, it makes me feel bad, and since I don't want to feel bad, that in turn makes me want to call you less often so that I don't have to hear you say that to me. I'd like our conversations to be positive, so that we both feel good about our interactions. Can you please just sound happy to hear from me, rather than laying on the guilt?"
Maybe someone else has a better way to word this. My mom kept saying that to me, and finally I told her that she knows how to use a phone and can call me, too. And I also said what I wrote above. Now she doesn't say anything negative to me and our phone conversations are much more pleasant. Honesty HELPS mature relationships. If you want a mature relationship, then be honest! |
BS. She never bent over backwards for me It is about me. Abusive b*these and I won't be sad when she's gone. |
| And I have 5 kids. |
| When I used to call my mom more regularly, we would chat for a few minutes, and I would actually talk about real issues in my life. Then, I realized that she always hurried off the phone, and there was no follow up ever to what we discussed . So, I stopped discussing anything substantive and started chatting about the dogs and other unimportant topics (not much on my kids--she doesn't really care to know details there). She would also try to get off the phone after a few minutes. So, I have kind of stopped calling. Now, she calls me every few weeks or sends me texts that say "call me when you can" or other things that make it seem like an emergency. Then I call and she says she hadn't heard from me and was worried. Then we talk about the dogs, and then she says she has to go--just wanted to make sure everything was ok. Fast forward 3 weeks, same thing happens again. Honestly, I think she is too wrapped up in her own life to even realize this is sad, and I am much happier sort of having her be an older relative I speak with every now and again on a superficial level. |
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What you do it make a bingo card out of her most used expressions. Then you mark off a spot when she says one. One day when she lays on the line of guilt you yell "BINGO YES!!!!" and when she's asks what you're talking about you say "oh nothing".
Make it game so it stops irritating you so much. Because she won't stop. I did this with my MIL who insists on saying something negative about anyone who cuts their hair, or in general complains about all food and how she doesn't like it. I have yet to yell Bingo in her face, but now when she says something that used to feel like a jab to me, I almost celebrate that I predicted it so well. |
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I get, “thanks for your call” like I’m the doctors office calling for an appointment reminder.
Or, after a 1/2 long conversation, “call me back when you can talk longer...we’ll catch up.” Or, “let’s see...I haven’t talked to you since (insert specific day and time less than six days ago) so I need to tell you...(something unremarkable about her neighbor’s family)... Or, “I haven’t heard from (sibling) in (specific number of days...maybe one week) so I know *something* is going on with sibling/family...{yes...life: work, children, marriage, school...} And by the way to PP who urged us all to simply call our moms: some us us were raised by narcissistic control freaks and have had to set firm boundaries. One size does not fit all. |