Dear Anita,

I got distracted by having fun myself – which was of no use to my mother, as my own fun does not enhance her agenda (of making herself look better)

I agree, I can not trust her representation of me.  In addition to what you wrote about her telling others I cry a lot, she also did this to evoke sympathy.

“oh look how much she handled this young mother, with the cranky child that never leads her side”

they used to talk about how I used to cling to my mothers side, the joke was “she couldn’t even go to the bathroom without me following her in” this was said in good fun humor, but also according to my mom – in a way that emphasized she had  no break, what a life, what a burden as a mother