I understand your frustration with the situation. When I don't want to talk to anyone I turn off the answering function on the machine. It will then just tell them to call back. I wonder if you have that on yours? But then you might miss other calls. You could just call those you wish to talk to, too.

I know what it feels like to feel the guilt from not doing what our mother's want us to. They seem to know what to say and how to say it and then the guilt sets in, no? I wonder if they somehow program us?!

I think standing firm for your needs is important. I think mother's naturally try to control us, too, unless they learn not to. No offense intended here-just seems that way to me. It was necessary for the mother to control the child but not the adult. I had to just break out of the grips and be my own person and do what I felt is right for me. It takes time and therapy helps. I also spent time venting anger about it and other stuff that left me feeling frustrated. It helped it subside some. I now just try to be me and live my life as I need to.

Mother/daugher relationships are very hard! I don't know anyone who has perfected them yet. Take care. CQ

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<font color=blue>"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." Anatole France</font color=blue>