Making up stories to prove I am bad
I have moved to opposite side of the planet to get away from my mother and we have very little contact. Recently, I went back to visit other family members and old friends, and something very strange came up when I met with her. Long story short, she assumes I have done something bad that I am running away from and that is why I left and have minimal contact with her.
She is making up a story to explain to herself why I am the bad one just to give herself extra confirmation she was right all along and something is wrong with me.
She also thinks this is why she doesn't have my number. The real reason she doesn't have my number is that she will call, and expect me to call her, on expensive phone lines as if it was 2010. She refuses to participate in any modern form of communication like having a smartphone with apps for video chatting or ability to call using data.
I don't know why this bothers me so much. She has always done this. She has always made up that I fail at something to prove herself better than me. I know she never had any interest in me. I know her only interest in me is to use me to make herself feel better and that she doesn't care about the cost. But for some reason this still pinches a nerve in me!
Thanks for reading my rant.
Posted Nov 10, 2022, 3:10 AM UTC
Are these stories that she tells others too? As in, do other people in your family think you ran away because of some lie she made up about you?
If so, you need to set the record straight. You'll never be able to change your mother's denials about how bad she was, but you might be able to let other people know so they'll finally have the truth.
Of course, if I were a truly malicious person, I would make up my own lies about her to tell others about why you ran away. She has no problem making you look bad to save her own ego. Sounds like gloves are off and you can finally tell people about that one time she put talcum powder in your lemonade, or deliberately fed food to your friend that they were allergic to, or cut holes in your underwear when you hit puberty, or didn't take you to the doctor when you had that 102 degree fever when you were twelve, or....