Save me from my mother.

We planned on buying a new lawn mower while my parents are out. So today, after we all went out for lunch, my mother suggests we head to Home Depot. I reminded her that my father and I need to go by ourselves because we need to put the seats down in the van. Mom then insists we'll go and buy paint instead. I tell her I think that's a waste because dad and I will still have to go back later.

Then mom got huffy. If you know my mom, you know EXACTLY what I mean. If you don't, there are just no words to explain it. Mom gets moody and irrational at times. And no, you can't blame it on "the change." She's 70. She went through "the change" when I was still in grade school.

I finally got her to tell me she wanted to get out of the house. So I suggested we go to the mall instead because the kids could play at the playground there and we would be out of the house. She turned up her nose at the idea and then sighed the sigh of a martyr and said in an acidic tone, "Just take me back. I'll take the girls out in the yard."

It was blatantly obvious that that was the last thing she wanted, but she just has to be the martyr. She's the queen of the guilt trip.

I was both baffled and furious. She tried to put the blame on me. It was my fault. I offered to go to the mall instead of wasting time. How is it MY fault? There's no sense in trying to understand it. This is my mom we're talking about. Guilt, she has down. Common sense, that's an entirely different story.

This is going to be a LONG visit.

I have a story to tell you all about being left in the bathroom at Target for half an hour with the baby and a pantsless child, but that's another story for another day.