I have been promoted to being a miserable failure as a daughter.

Other people's inability to recognize your effort and value does NOT mean you have failed. They have failed.

If you are dealing with a person who has a psychiatric & personality disorder, you absolutely NEVER can use their responses to you as any kind of measure of success. Sometimes when you are doing the exact right thing, their reaction is very negative and very strong.

Give yourself permission to be a human being who will make mistakes. And learn to say "so what!" when they happen. Nobody is perfect, despite how they advertise themselves.

The hard part is recognizing the mistake. My mother's horrible selfishness and contempt for me while demanding all my time and attention is not due to any of my mistakes. My mistake (if I can call it that) is sticking around for it for so long and trying to make it better. I had to recognize & learn that she is not capable of change, but I sure am. So I did.

Get help. Therapy works wonders. Get a book like Surviving the Borderline Mother, or any one of the many books out there on being the adult child of a person with narcissism & other Cluster A, B, or C personality disorders. You will feel a load come off your shoulders when you realize you have been programmed to hate yourself from day 1. And programmed to be overly sensitive and concerned about how others react to us. And programmed to feel like someone else's problem must be my own and I have to fix it. No - you don't own that.

Eventually you start to recognize that you are a separate person, entitled to feelings, boundaries, and time alone. Entitled to interests, loves, and fun.

Then you start to see who the crappy person really is...and it's not me.

Who wants to be inducted into the Crappy Daughters Club? DH (daughterhallie

You get some Prozac. If they won't take it, you do. I always said that if a few people around me would take some meds, I would not need any at all.

I like the idea of the crappy daughters club. I take back the promotion to a miserable failure thanks to your comments and from some of the others who have been so kind to reinforce and encourage me. Although I was a successful and well paid professional career GIRL at times I have been unable to spontaneously say the right thing at all times. I am unprepared with my mother to respond at times what I know is appropriate. I guess you could say I am a slow processor with arranging my thoughts and expressing them factually, I would not have done well in the army before a battle. Daughterhallie

Welcome to the crappy club. I agree Boundaries. I am taking as much time away as needed from the relatives who think I am crappy, maybe 20 years. Got to take care of myself.

Welcome to the crappy daughters club. My mother's affectionate name for me is "Sh--Head".

BOUNDARIES - get some and then stay behind them!

Mom won't like it, but that's OK.
Don't put yourself in a position for criticism. Other people now need to take on her care & feeding instead of you.

Don't promise & commit yourself. Pull back, like others have said. Busy yourself with YOUR interests & YOUR life-affirming activities.
Take as much time away from her as you need, be it 2 weeks or 20 years.
AND NO GUILT.

Hi Daughterhallie, maybe time for you to back off a bit? Or does she have some kind of infirmity that requires that you be there all the time? If not, maybe cut back on the hours spent with her. It seems she enjoys criticizing you, tearing you down. Do you show that it hurts you when she says these things? Then stop showing her that her barbed remarks are hurting you. And the most important thing I've read over and over is this - when the person is being mean or cruel, Tell them to please stop, that it's not nice. Then if they continue, then you just get up and walk out. If she follows you, then walk out of her home. Even if this means getting in your car and just leaving. Don't go back. Since you will be coming again on another day.

Also, maybe it's time to cut back on how much time you spend there. Example, just do the grocery shopping once a week. Scale back on the outings like the museum, movies, shopping. Cut back on the food. You know that she eats like a bird. So, just bring smaller portions over. Perhaps, you can eat a large meal before going to visit her. Then you don't have to eat too much when with her. When you leave her home, make sure to transfer whatever leftovers to her own container. Take home with you your own container. Your containers are invading her space. So, don't leave any of your stuff behind.

FYI, most of us hands-on caregivers have been described and told to everyone (relatives, non-relatives, social workers, paid caregivers) that we are slouchers, not helping out, etc.... I never knew that my dad was telling everyone that I was a Bad Daughter. I cried a lot. I felt so betrayed. Did a lot of crying. Then I found this site. I vented all over the place. I'm doing fine now.

You will just need to find your own way, at your own pace - how much you're willing to keep trying to please your mom. Maybe backing off will give you some me-time for yourself. And find outside sources for positive feedbacks of YOU the person. I got my positive feedbacks from clients. It helps a lot to get these feedbacks.

It does sound comical. Are you laughing? That would certainly be one valid reaction.

What if you stayed away for a few days? If she calls, "Oh, Mom, I never seem to get anything right for you. I just thought you might want some time to yourself so you could do things right yourself."

If being a miserable failure is a promotion, what has your relationship with your mother been like in the past? Why did you decide to live near here and do all these things for her?