Anonymous wrote:My DH doesn't get extremely angry or start irrational fights, but he does get incredibly anxious and irritable when his mother comes.. He spends days, even weeks, of his free time deep-cleaning the house from top to bottom. This is his own undertaking, but he flips out if we do anything to deter his efforts (such as leaving an empty bowl on the counter). He spends far too much time planning every detail of her stay, trying to make everything perfect. He often just breaks down from the stress of it all. There's more he does that I'm probably forgetting. It's exhausting for me, but I know it's likely much more exhausting for him. His mother is a terrible and narcissistic person and this frenzy he goes into prior to her visiting is the most obvious example of how she has damaged him with her behavior.
Are his parents divorced? Can also think of someone like this and the mom cheated because she wasn’t “Happy “ and I see a similar effect on the kids.