I’m a full adult woman - help me not revert to a sullen teen when I’m with my parents??
I’m a full adult woman- help me not revert to sullen teen when I spend time with my parents??
I am 32 years old. I have a doctorate, a husband, and a mortgage. I have been financially independent for years. But my mother specifically tries to “manage” me constantly (currently we are traveling together) and I react by reverting back to being a teenager and pouting. I don’t know how to avoid being immature and combative without just folding and letting her control everything I do. I just want to be able to interact like a regular adult human being with another regular adult human being.
Examples:
- Tapping on the window of the bus from the outside to make sure I get off of it
- Turning around to make sure I’m following/walking on the path (? And haven’t just wandered away? Unclear)
- Telling me when other people on our tour walk towards us to sit down that I have to talk to them and then saying actually I just need to switch spots with her so she can do the talking
I’m an adult with an adult job. I can talk to people. I can get off the bus. But if I tell her that (I was hissing “stop it. I am 32 years old” at her while she was trying to make me swap seats because I can’t be trusted to talk to others) she immediately reacts as though I am being extremely immature and picking fights. I end up listening to my music loudly and sitting in the back of the bus whispering angrily to my husband and then realizing nothing has changed since I was 15 and I’m behaving just like I’m being treated.
I’m driving *myself* crazy because I’m also being ridiculous but I can’t figure out how to maturely extricate myself from these situations!