My mom always plays the victim, and my half-sister sounds like your brother. They go back and forth bad mouthing me even though I haven't spoken to my half sister in three years for similar reasons. My mom should win an Oscar she's so good at playing the victim. She always leaves out key parts too, and just morphs the story around to fit her own ego. It's like she's totally oblivious to any wrong-doing she's ever done. For example - if she's abusive, and I yell back at her or confront her on her behavior, she will wonder why I'm treating her badly...like, what? It just doesn't make sense. I guess she expects me to take her abuse lying down. Just pretend you're too busy. That's what I always do. If my mom calls me I let it go to voicemail - because I'm "too busy", too busy watching TV lol jk. 1 month no contact isn't that long, its actually somewhat normal for adult children to not keep in constant contact with their parents, even if they have a good relationship. I've gone years without speaking to my mom before, and when I started talking to her again, she hadn't changed at all.

& Thanks, me too! That's why I refuse to argue with her anymore. I keep her around in case of an emergency but that's it.