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mother advice
Jan. 25th, 2009 10:34 amI've honed in on a problem my mother and I have in communication. If I express any problems, anything that's making me unhappy or worried or even mildly ticked off, she feels like it is showing care and affection to tell me what I am doing wrong and try to fix things. I take this "care and affection" as criticism and undue bossiness.
Example today: Mother calls. In the course of everyday chitchat I mention I am having cavities filled this week. It is looming large; I am both dreading it and feeling guilty about it, since the existence of these cavities is exclusively the fault of my poor dental hygiene. But I just mention it along the lines of, "I'm having cavities filled, doesn't that suck? Oh, and maybe I'll plan to have my wisdom teeth pulled while you are here for Spring Break."
She immediately turns to her husband (a dentist, now retired, who did all of my dental care up until about 2002) to get his opinion on the choice to have my wisdom teeth pulled, quizzes me about why I have so many cavities lately, and tells me that I need to brush better and I should consider using an electric toothbrush (which I have tried and cannot stand, and she knows.) What I wanted to hear was the sort of thing a friend would say, more like, "Man, that sucks. I know you hate dentistry. Teeth are hard." I mean, I am a 36 year old woman. I know how often I am supposed to brush my teeth. I do not brush them as often as I should, but it is not from lack of knowledge. I tried to explain to her that her advice was belittling and not respectful of me, using the example, "What if every time you complained about how fat you are getting, I told you that it was simple to stay thin, you just need to exercise and watch what you eat?"
She doesn't get it. She's never gotten it, even when I try to explain to her during times when we are getting along fine that sometimes (let's face it, almost always) when I complain what I want is sympathy, not to be told what I am doing wrong and how she would do it better. (Today she explicitly said, "I haven't had a cavity in years, and I brush faithfully!") I read a book pitched at parents who want to have good relationships with their adult children, and it could be summed up in one sentence: Do not give them advice or critique their actions; respect them as adults. I considered sending my mother the book, but I felt like even if she read it, she'd never get it.
Do you think there's any hope for her to change? My coping strategy at this point is to try to be exclusively positive about everything when I talk to my mother (I never complain about the children any more - learned that lesson!), but like today, sometimes fairly innocuous communication turns into How Mother Knows Best. And I don't like the omit/lie strategy - it's like admitting I can never have a positive relationship with my mother. If she won't change, what can I do to minimize my feeling disrespected and criticized when she does this?
Example today: Mother calls. In the course of everyday chitchat I mention I am having cavities filled this week. It is looming large; I am both dreading it and feeling guilty about it, since the existence of these cavities is exclusively the fault of my poor dental hygiene. But I just mention it along the lines of, "I'm having cavities filled, doesn't that suck? Oh, and maybe I'll plan to have my wisdom teeth pulled while you are here for Spring Break."
She immediately turns to her husband (a dentist, now retired, who did all of my dental care up until about 2002) to get his opinion on the choice to have my wisdom teeth pulled, quizzes me about why I have so many cavities lately, and tells me that I need to brush better and I should consider using an electric toothbrush (which I have tried and cannot stand, and she knows.) What I wanted to hear was the sort of thing a friend would say, more like, "Man, that sucks. I know you hate dentistry. Teeth are hard." I mean, I am a 36 year old woman. I know how often I am supposed to brush my teeth. I do not brush them as often as I should, but it is not from lack of knowledge. I tried to explain to her that her advice was belittling and not respectful of me, using the example, "What if every time you complained about how fat you are getting, I told you that it was simple to stay thin, you just need to exercise and watch what you eat?"
She doesn't get it. She's never gotten it, even when I try to explain to her during times when we are getting along fine that sometimes (let's face it, almost always) when I complain what I want is sympathy, not to be told what I am doing wrong and how she would do it better. (Today she explicitly said, "I haven't had a cavity in years, and I brush faithfully!") I read a book pitched at parents who want to have good relationships with their adult children, and it could be summed up in one sentence: Do not give them advice or critique their actions; respect them as adults. I considered sending my mother the book, but I felt like even if she read it, she'd never get it.
Do you think there's any hope for her to change? My coping strategy at this point is to try to be exclusively positive about everything when I talk to my mother (I never complain about the children any more - learned that lesson!), but like today, sometimes fairly innocuous communication turns into How Mother Knows Best. And I don't like the omit/lie strategy - it's like admitting I can never have a positive relationship with my mother. If she won't change, what can I do to minimize my feeling disrespected and criticized when she does this?
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