Hi kavita,

Your mom talks that way to you because it is now her default setting for talking to you after decades.

In short, it is a bad habit.

What you need to do is break her habit.

One Easter my mom started in on three of the siblings’ weight. One sib was getting angry. The other ran into the other room crying. When she started in on me, I grabbed a “NO!” button from Staples (any loud noise maker would do) and pressed the button. “NO!”

She was startled and upset. She started in on my weight again. “NO!” The children were laughing. The joke was on her. Once again, she made a comment (though more obliquely). “NO!”

Wouldn’t you know it, the habit was broken!

Now we talk politics. Bring on politics! Yay!!

Good Luck,

Inky

• This reply was modified 8 years ago by Inky.