Reply to Did your cognitively intact elderly parent start treating you like you were younger?

Forum Index » Eldercare

Reply to "Did your cognitively intact elderly parent start treating you like you were younger?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

No no no. Do not fight. Just say "hm-mm" and steer the conversation to something that doesn't raise your hackles. And If you can't find anything, end the conversation or leave. 
There is a point beyond which you cannot control the nonsense your parent spews. But you can control how much time you spend with them.

[/quote]

OP here. This is what I do. If I engage too much it just sets off more of her nuttiness. For a while she would rant about politics and I knew to steer away, but now she says something just so obvious on the news like "There is a new form of Covid called Omicron that is surging" and if I calmly say "yes, I know. I saw it on the news." She jabs "Well you tend to not watch or read the news so wanted you to know." I have been an avid reader and watched of the news since my late teens. One year I was clueless and she is now obsessed with thinking I am still stunted.

I also find she projects her emotional issues on to me. I used to think I really struggled with anxiety. I have learned in therapy I am pretty resilient, but I just cannot confide anything in my mother because it sets her off and she pathologizes it and gets me anxious. So, I cope with life's stressors through exercise, joking with my husband and friends and it's so much easier to navigate things even really tragic things than it is to tell mom anything and have her catastrophize while implying I am the one with the issues.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics