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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Feeling suffocated by mum

233 replies

Moonchild009 · 27/08/2023 21:42

Hi all, hope you’re enjoying the bank holiday weekend.

just a quick vent about how I’ve been feeling about my mum for some time now. I’m 33 years old and have 1 brother, I live and work from home with parents (they’re separated, just cohabiting). I have a boyfriend, we’ve been together 2 years. He also lives at home with his sister (who travels frequently). His parents live abroad, so he is living at home quite comfortably. He is a business owner and is choosing to continue building his business while he has the safety net of his parents home. I would like to have and live in my own place before getting a place with my BF as I would like to learn and gain independence and truly step into my womanhood first (sometimes I feel like living at home has mentally stunted me. Also my mum treats me in quite a child like way).

Anyway my relationship with my mother is very strained at the best of times. She is 67, retired and doesn’t have much going for herself. Her days consist of doing a daily food shop and watching tv. She has friends but doesn’t socialise and family are all abroad. She has a huge expectation of me to fulfill all her needs; shopping, cooking, going out, travelling, errands, you name it and it makes me feel suffocated, but not only that, I have no desire to because of how she makes me feel. Honestly, I don’t think she did a great job of raising me. She never taught me life skills, how to cook, clean, never invested in my emotionally or spoke to me about boys, becoming a young woman, life skills and I can’t completely blame her because she was dealing with my alcoholic father. But she did manage to tell me about how distracted the teachers think I am, which I learnt in therapy is a result of the chaos I was raised in. I think I am white resentful about all of this. We live in a two bedroom house, she shares a bed with my dad which is also suffocating for her so its quite a conundrum. i feel like ever since i got with my boyfriend she has become quite bitter and nasty towards me. she constantly judges, and makes snide remarks about him, me, us. i notice a pattern in her behaviour alot of the time. she will bombard me with messages, if i dont respond, she’ll come to my room to ask about the messages, if i say im busy then shell go back to messaging me but this time saying things like "have you looked for a flat", "theres a property ive seen", almost as if shes throwing her toys out the pram about the fact that i cant speak at that time! then she’ll start attacking me personally, my bf, mentioning the fact that he doesnt have his own place and blah blah blah and honestly im sick of it. I’m in this nasty cycle that she has normalised. Arguing and being kind when she’s over it but I never get over it! It causes me to dislike her and not want to be anywhere near her and she doesn’t seem to understand why I prefer my own company than hers. i spend a lot of my days in solitude in my room. I’ve tried to speak to her about how she makes me feel but she dismisses it and thinks she can buy her way back into my good books. I’ve asked for space, I’ve told her I feel suffocated, don’t like how two faced she is about my bf, and quite frankly I don’t feel respected by her.

what can I do?

OP posts:
FrenchieF · 27/08/2023 23:46

You don’t need to save, you can rent a room

Biscuitandacuppa · 27/08/2023 23:47

You are a grown woman, the answer to your problem is to move out. That’s the only solution.

Lordlanky · 27/08/2023 23:48

Just dont tell her about the work trips - she really doesnt need to know surely.

I think you're stuck - everything would be solved by moving out, but you claim you cant move out. Stuck between a rock and a hard place - but which is yhe least comfortable - being at home and miserable, or the freedom of renting a room somewhere which will slow down your savings? You have to choose one and stick with it basically

misssunshine4040 · 27/08/2023 23:49

Moonchild009 · 27/08/2023 23:39

I told you about my upbringing to give you some background. How else am I supposed to save 😂

Edited

It's not her responsibility to help you save.
Point is, it's not working out. You are not a child. The dynamic you have with your mum isn't making you happy so you have to leave.

Mummy08m · 27/08/2023 23:50

I can't see why you can't say no when your mum asks to go on the work trip.

You do seem to have much younger mindset than most people in their 30s.

Moonchild009 · 27/08/2023 23:51

I did stop telling her then she would ask me when are you going away next. But you’re right about the latter. I know it’s the only way I really just didn’t want to set myself back in my journey of getting on the property ladder. But thank you

OP posts:
JudyEdithPerry · 27/08/2023 23:54

This reply has been withdrawn

The OP has privacy concerns and so we've agreed to take this down.

suburbophobe · 27/08/2023 23:54

You're really enmeshed with your mother aren't you?

33? Careful this is not still going on at 44 or later. Or are you hoping to inherit their house thereby passing the natural stage of adulthood and becoming independent?

Moveoverdarlin · 27/08/2023 23:56

You need to save I get that, but what have you been saving for for the last ten years or so? The only thing that will break this cycle is moving out. At 33 you are putting your life on hold, she treats you like a child, but you are just flat out refusing to move out. Just do it, look for shared houses, broach the subject on renting somewhere with your boyfriend.

Pebstk · 27/08/2023 23:57

You sound so entitled and ridiculously immature for a 33 year old.

Move out! Give the woman her spare room and house back.

Save for a flat - give up and rent a room. Seriously be an adult or stop complaining about being suffocated.

She didn’t teach you life skills - boo hoo - neither did mine particularly I learnt them in the big bad world of doing and paying for everything myself.

Whk had the perfect parents? Nobody but she’s letting you live in her house at minimal cost for 15 years of adulthood.

gloriawasright · 27/08/2023 23:58

You have had at least ten years to save,as an adult working and being subsidised at home.
Grow up,and stop blaming your mum for everything wrong in your life.
You sound a bit odd actually, a bit dramatic? I can't quite put my finger on it.

Countdown2023 · 27/08/2023 23:59

You take your mother on work trips @Moonchild009 ? That is bloody ridiculous!

Moonchild009 · 28/08/2023 00:00

My dad owns the house too so I’m not sure why you think she’s solely letting me live here. My mum is just as suffocating when I’m not around so thanks for your groundbreaking advice.

OP posts:
Moonchild009 · 28/08/2023 00:02

I lived abroad, returned home when that failed and started rebuilding my life again. I am dramatic, but these questions the circumstances. Odd. How?

OP posts:
Unicorn2022 · 28/08/2023 00:03

You need to move out! Your mum doesn't want you there anymore and it's a small two bedroom house. You have really outstayed your welcome and can move to a room rental if you can't afford a whole flat. Honestly I would struggle even to be civil if my DD was 33 and still living like a teenager at home with no end in sight.

Moonchild009 · 28/08/2023 00:03

I know but that is me trying to make her happy

OP posts:
Moonchild009 · 28/08/2023 00:05

If she doesn’t want me there why does she harass me the way she does. Surely she wouldn’t want to be under my skin the way she is.

OP posts:
misssunshine4040 · 28/08/2023 00:06

OP just move out and end the dynamic which is clearly unhealthy for you all.
Once you leave for good you can put up your boundaries and the dynamic will change for the better

ThreePointOneFourOneFiveNine · 28/08/2023 00:07

You absolutely have to move out. It's hard to see a situation clearly when you're in the middle of it. Move out, get some distance from your mum and with it a better perspective, then rebuild your relationship with her from there. You won't fix this situation by staying put

Unicorn2022 · 28/08/2023 00:10

Moonchild009 · 28/08/2023 00:05

If she doesn’t want me there why does she harass me the way she does. Surely she wouldn’t want to be under my skin the way she is.

She doesn't want you there if she's suggesting flats for you to move into. Also it must be awful for both parents if they are forced to share a room because you insist on living and working there and being ever present. Your relationship with your mum might improve if you give them some space.

Moonchild009 · 28/08/2023 00:10

These are the messages that I get when I spend a week at my boyfriends

Feeling suffocated by mum
Feeling suffocated by mum
OP posts:
alwayscrashinginthesamecar1 · 28/08/2023 00:19

As everyone else has said, the only possible solution to this is for you to move out. You are 33 fgs, you've had loads of time to save. It is possible to buy a place without having to live at home for so long to save, most people don't do this. I appreciate this a cultural thing, but it's clearly not working for you. Just own your choices, stop blaming your mum and untangle yourself from this mess.

SoShallINever · 28/08/2023 00:20

Oh God, this is ridiculous.
You are 33. The time to move out was ten years ago. She's treating you like a child and you are living like one.
Don't you want to have your own place? Set your own boundaries? Have people round without feeling like they are trespassing?
Just make that happen.

Runningonjammiedodgers · 28/08/2023 00:21

Um I'm not sure why you posted those messages, you are coming off as very passive aggressive and quite immature.

You need to move out. If you wait till your circumstances are perfect you will never leave. Living there is clearly not good for you or your mum.

OrderOfTheKookaburra · 28/08/2023 00:21

There could be a whole host of reasons why she behaves the way she does. But in that end why she does it is irrelevant. What so important is what you do. And honestly? Your choices are to put up with it (either taking it quietly or arguing back, both unpleasant) or cut your losses and move out into a shared house somewhere. If you're paying rent and share of bills you might find that you're not much worse off financially in a shared house anyway.

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