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I got called trifling,lazy and evil a lot when I was growing up. Now I see it was a sought of diversion and manipulation to keep me indebted and guilty to continue being my mothers puppet and cleaner and maid. I love her dearly but How to I end the resentment when I see the same behaviors. I live with my mom and as she gets older I am seeing that she never really cleaned or did any of the things she chastized me and belittled me for. Now I get bitter feelings because im doing the same thing I had to do as a child when she was supposedly more healthy and she has always said I havent ever done anything for her and Im constantly doing. I feel burnt out emotional. Sometimes I feel I cant respect myself if I do certain things because Im doing the cinderella things again and Im supposedly stop being cinderella but certain things have to be done and realizing most of these skills my mother never had which is why I had to do it.

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Hi Duck--As are so many, I have been fighting a similar battle for many years, but I am now making headway, slowly but surely, and you can too! You are entitled to be your own person, and your mother's judgments of you should not define who you are. Look in the mirror and tell yourself, "I love you," and do this several times each day. Crazy sounding I know, but I read about it and it helps! DO NOT LET YOUR MOTHER DEFINE WHO YOU ARE ANYMORE!!! You are entitled to be happy and FREE! For my childhood and adulthood I always felt like the only reason I was on earth was to please my mother. I truly believed that. I was the only child and my mother expected me to be there for her emotional needs--she also treated my father very poorly at times. I was criticized and belittled, and praised to the skies when I did something just right. Talk about reinforcement! I felt as though it was my job to keep her happy, and now at the age of 63, I realize I can help, but not give myself away. It is my job to keep her safe and help her as is reasonable, but not to be at her beck and call 24/7. SO... 1. Try and get counseling. 2. Try and find an alternative living situation--check out all financial supports for the elderly in your area--get yourself away from her day in and day out if at all possible! 3. Read, "Will I Ever be Good Enough?" By Karyl McBride. 4. Believe that today is the first day of the rest of your life. 5. Duck--don't give up. I thought I could never ever improve, but with counseling, bibliotherapy, friends, and this site, I have jumped hurdles I didn't think possible. That doesn't mean I don't have days where I totally drift backwards, but I am SO MUCH BETTER and you can get there too. Keep writing, and I believe in you! In all of us!
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You say you live with your mother. We are not trees, we can move our living location. A small room of your own in a house full of strangers will be more peaceful than a whole house with that woman haunting you. As Carol says, if money is an issue for you, go to the social service agencies and look for help openly to get away from her. Preferably about 3000 miles away. Join the Peace Corps or be a church missionary to Nome Alaska or similar, whatever it takes no matter how extreme to get yourself out of the emotional slavery. Mom will have to develop other arrangements and that is also not your responsibility. If it IS your responsibility somehow, write a letter declining the responsibility and send it to everybody else with any interest in the situation and move, move, move. Best of luck. Escape first, then look to therapy for help.
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So sorry. Its a little late in the game now she has Alzheimers. Mom doctor said if the were mean they still will be mean and visa versa. If nice before and mean now they were able to cover it up. Perssonally I couldn't put up with the abuse and would be hard overlooking it. If there is money, maybe a Assisted living would be good.
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DDDuck......I don't really have the answer as I struggle daily with this same feeling. I can only remind myself that everything that has happened in my life has brought me to this point and only "I" can deal with it. I do believe in Karma. I also believe that if I don't get this right now, that I'll have to do it again and I really don't want to do that so I try every day to be kind and remember that this is really all for me. Today, for example, I had to stop in mid-stride and tell myself to smile. And you know what, the other person responded with a smile. It's those moments that I hold on to. What the other person does is on them.......I can only "react" as other's here have said. God Bless you and hang in there.
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DDuck, OMG your letter could be my letter. I have been caring for my almost 103 yr old mother and at age 70 (widowed) and, I am finally seeking help from a counselor to keep my life in balance. She is in an ALF and has good care, so it gives me piece of mind to walk away from her demands. I have been the "go to" (CINDERELLA) person for my mother and my older sister for most of my life and now it's time for me to take care myself and leave this unhealthy family dynamic triangle.Now they will have to adjust to my "new normal", and do their own things they request of me or hire someone to do what I have been doing for them all my life. It's difficult to change the imprint burned in my brain "to do" as I am told and then get criticized because it is not good enough. Now, I visit my mother once a week, we have lunch and I bring the things she needs (toiletries, etc) and if there is something she forgot..it will have to wait a week or she can ask my sister to help out. My sister, who lives close by is the princess who barks out orders and doesn't help with any of the care taking responsibilities. I guess they will have to figure out how to get things done on their own. BTW..my older sister and I stopped talking when I stopped being her puppet. Good luck to you and enjoy your life!
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it sounds like she was treated the same way she is treating you and doesn't realize it. she probably was mistreated the same way and now you are being the whipping post. you need to stop this now so that it doesn't carry on to the next generation. maybe it would be best to NOT do any of those things and just let things go and tell her to find someone else to do the cleaning. And if she doesn't want anyone else to do it, then tell her you can no longer clean and let it be. when it gets to the point of disgust, call APS and tell them she is not capable of taking care of herself and you can't do it either. let them handle the situation. if she hates you or mistreats you like you say she does, what difference does it make if you stop and report the situation. at least this way someone else can handle the abuse. you NEED and MUST take care of yourself so you can be good for your family.
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Here is a link for a thread that I found quite helpful on this site.

https://www.agingcare.com/articles/dementia-behavior-manipulation-154554.htm

Since your profile says your mom has dementia, I would try to keep in mind that you can't hold her to the words from her mouth. You have to let it go, since her brain is no longer working properly. While your pain from the past is certainly understandable, I would question whether it's healthy to be a caregiver who is haunted by the past abuse. It can only bring you daily pain. I think I might search for other options so that I could move on and not have constant reminders. Perhaps, you could work on dealing with the past with a counselor when you are not working as the caregiver. I hope that you can find peace within yourself.
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Wow...I have the exact same story....One way of coping is to remind yourself often how wonderful and worthy you are, and that your love is unconditional, and you have learned huge lessons from her on how not to treat people. I have come from a place of compassion realizing she is pathetic....poor sad sick manipulative puppy...I shall love you through it, and treat you like I want to be treated. xoxo
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there are a lot of posts like this. i don't and will never understand why people let their parents ABUSE them like this....AND WHY DO YOU STICK AROUND? LEAVE FOR YOUR SANITY! That is NOT a mother...it's a sick abusive miserable person!
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DDDuck, my heart goes out to you in empathy. Please take to heart the suggestions made by the wise and strong folks who contribute to this site: what you need is distance, not necessarily (just) physical distance but, perhaps more important, mental and spiritual distance.
It is very hard to extricate oneself from a lifetime of lopsided, especially when the lopsided comes from one's mother.
No one but you really knows what you have gone through, and all the idiots who admonish you to "be kind to her, she's old" are people who fatuously imagine they are wise -- that they know enough about your situation to give advice. Makes them feel good about themselves; is zero help to you, and may even feel like a put-down: as if you haven't been kind to her all your life, as if old age weren't just the latest excuse for your having to accept her treatment of you!
Of course you will continue to be kind. But please follow the excellent advice of others in this queue -- read some good self-help books, see a professional counselor whatever way you can, get outside in the fresh air, give yourself permission to take care of yourself in all ways, including socially. Just do it. She will never give you permission, so don't wait for it. Give permission to yourself.
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Gees I want to give those online "hugs" to everyone here. This brand is a special brand of mother and its still very trippy that these people are so much like each other - its bizarre as well as so twisted. Its hard DDDuck especially after so many years of nasty towards you from the one who gave birth to you.... hard to wrap one's head around for sure. Learning more about family dynamics hopefully will allow you to see things has they originated - it helps the one figuring it out for sure. Everyone has left such excellent advice - I just wanted to chime in and offer you my support - if you knew how many of us while reading your post were nodding our heads all the way through! Extra hard as from what Rainmom included, about watching her mom sleep making it extra tough as yes they have their moments of kindness-- and us who just want to eat that up and who have longed for those moments of maternal kindness all of our lives. OnlyoneHolly, hello and ditto - only one here too. I imagine her family isn't stepping up to any plate to give you a hand for a day or an hour? I'm assuming here, but I bet they're a bunch of ice cubes, too. Woops just meant to offer support and there I go, again.... complaining about nothing... I have no idea about life and it's responsibilities... what do I know....
Yes Holly - we had no siblings to share perspective on the treatment at home, an aspect I hadn't really considered yet. It does get harder as we age and don't have the resiliency of youth to bounce back from each tirade. Keep strong DDDuck. Keep strong, everyone. I hear life gets better.
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DDuck, I understand and empathize with you. "Rainmom, Dimple, and Jesse" all had comments that I can relate to. The mother's "idealized memories of herself" years ago, the frustration about comments made before dementia and then in current dementia state, and the suggestion about getting books to understand Borderline Personality and Narcissism. Those books will help you understand and hopefully set some healthy boundaries. I understand that you are angered over the loss of your dignity and fruitless efforts made over the years. I'm going to be at 50 years of efforts in August of this year -- that's when my mother's mother died and I think the real job began for me -- when I was just a child. I was an "only" so no sibs to share perspective on what was so horribly wrong. Just over 10 years ago I finally found a counselor who helped by determining the BPD and Narcissism, and offered coping strategies. It helps, but my mother is so old now that everyone but my counselor usually tells me to just be nice to her because she's so old. I wish they could've walked in my shoes for the decades I have. Lost years of misery while trying to maintain steadiness for my own family. I understand, and encourage you to get counseling -- it softens the effects somewhat. I've noticed though as I've gotten older myself that it's harder to be resilient because I don't have the physical or emotional energy of youth. Take care of yourself. If you are financially dependent on your parent try to change that situation. You deserve to be happy.
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Go find online and in bookstores every resource you can about narcissism, narcissistic parents (especially mothers) and borderline personality disorders. The information will explain many of the complexities of your family dynamic, and the power you will derive from that information will change the rest of your life. I promise!
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Someone at church talked to me about healthy boundaries to protect myself and my mother in law. It's worth reading about. I wish I had a book or a website to recommend because it made me aware of what I could do to help myself ( and her by extension). What's really important is having some recovery time away from your mother and her concerns on a regular basis- going for a walk, going to the library, seeing other people. I also recently started my morning with meditation/ prayer reminding myself how I wanted to react, asking for strength and patience. She has her own set of issues and they are not yours is something I wanted to say. Both of you are worthy of kindness and compassion. She might be broken, but just the fact that you recognize she isn't right in how she treats you is a good sign that you deserve better . And you can build on that in how you take care of yourself. Especially the messages you tell yourself. If you belong to a church with Stephen ministry, ask for someone to read out the section on boundaries from their handbook. I wish you well. It's a tough situation and you aren't alone in the struggle.
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DDDuck, sadly this attitude has been verbally beaten into you your whole life. To try and change that now will be a huge challenge. Most people require professional counseling in order to accept soul deep that they are good and worth people. It's likely that your mother was treated the same way when she was young and she's passing it on. She's not a horrible person but she's ruining your life.

As LorieB quote (many have said) "You can't change other people, you can only change the way you react to them." Read Lorrie's response since she seems to have pulled herself out of a similar situation.

I hope that you can get this in hand enough so that you can say I'm leaving for awhile, and go to regular counseling sessions. In the end, you are likely to have to find separate living situations. I hope that you aren't financially obligated to live with your mom. If you are, then ask for help with that, too. Local family service organizations are a good free or sliding scale place to start.
Take care of yourself first!
Carol
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The best way to change the way you feel about your mother is to change the way you feel about yourself. I have always been under the critical eye of my mother, am now her caregiver, and it was super rough for the first six months. Then I started turning my attention to myself, by doing yoga and meditation, reading this web site (wonderful sense of community!) and taking charge of my own happiness. As someone once said, "You can't change other people, you can only change the way you react to them." And it has to be real change, not "pretend" change, because the resentment, I believe, comes from us trying to be too strong on the outside when we're not feeling strong on the inside. It's the same energy that lets us deal with bullies: Be your best self, and let all that stuff slide off without sticking. It sounds like you're a wonderful person who deserves to be loved and happy!
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Duck - I just don't know and am struggling with a bit of the same. I have so much anger towards my mother. Anger from childhood, anger from how she treated my father, anger over how she treats my son, anger over being manipulated over and over again as an adult and finally anger over having to look after her the past five years - clean up messes she made from sheer stubbornness, hateful things she said before dementia and then with dementia - when I was neglecting myself and my own family for her. So much anger. But now I don't think there's much time left. Sometimes when I go to visit and find her asleep I stay for an hour or longer - folding her cloths, straightening up her room - the first peaceful time I've had with her in years. I watch her sleep and I feel so bad. There were spurts of generosity and wonderful gestures over her time as my mother. I want more than anything to be able to remember that after she's gone but I think I have to figure out how to forgive her first. I'm afraid I won't have time. So sorry, I'm no help but I know how you feel.
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DDDuck, I wish I had the answer. I know how much resentment this causes. There's no point in talking about it with her, since her memories of her younger days will probably be idealized. If she's a typical parent of this type, she'll remember herself as being very good and very industrious. So there's no point bringing up the past.

There's one question I've began to ask myself when I'm feeling belittled by her. Why should it matter how she feels about me? She no longer has power over my life and I know who I am. Is this question working with me? Well, kind of, but I still get p*ssed when I'm treated badly. I've learned it doesn't help much to fuss about it, because then I'm seen as the bad guy fussing at her.

You really can't win. You just decide what you can do. If your mother is like mine, she will light into me about something she wants done and not let up. It's hard to know how to handle it when our No's are not respected. All we can do is try to keep our heads down or leave when it gets too bad.

I don't know about you, but I am starting to feel I'm too irritable now to continue doing this. I get mad easily now. I know it is because I've had enough.
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