Ah, Christmas has passed and a whole new slice of memorable conversations with my mom have emerged and now immersed in my mind.
I hate the situations she puts me in. She can do nothing but trash my dad, even though she divorced him when I was a baby, and continue to talk smack about my ex, whom I don't necessarily like to talk negatively about, especially around my daughter.
One thing you need to know about discussing anything with my mom is that she manipulates the conversation and will turn anything you say into an issue and making herself into a victim. She is a classic narcissist. Oh, but don't ever tell that to her or disagree with her in general. Only she is right and she is queen and deserves all the pity in the world.

Anyways, visits with her were going good until she decided to have me over for some small gathering with just ourselves. Music was playing, wine was flowing, it's not sounding like this is going anywhere good.
At some point, the nice discussion we were having turned into reminiscing about where we used to live. Then she started harping about the terrible life she endured with her 2nd husband.
Every now and then she would give me a chance to take the mic and want me to fill in my thoughts on situations that a 5 or 6 year old me could not possibly understand or comprehend back then, but apparently some of the guilt she felt was because of me and how I would complain about moving and everywhere we lived, apparently. Moving is tough on kids. As soon as I mention anything positive or explain why I don't want my daughter to live a life of constant uprooting, she cuts me off and gets defensive and won't shut up for minutes at a time. And then continues and goes on and on like the Energizer bunny.
Then she starts telling me about all the issues she had with my dad and retelling me how much of a cheapskate he is and that he was depriving her from a life so he could pay off a house faster and how my dad HATES Christmas and it was such an issue with her. I take everything she says with a grain of salt, but I don't think this is something I need to hear, especially time and time again.

On Christmas day, we had a family gathering and, other than it was the most boring dinner ever, it was the ride home that was long. She got into a conversation with her boyfriend, ranting about people being diagnosed with PTSD and that it's something they CHOOSE to be diagnosed with. She doesn't even know the real meaning of PTSD. She thinks it's all hooey and has to do with daily, normal stress. I was in the back, pretending I was sleeping through it all, but I just wanted to step in and take her for a drive down the path of empathy and education. Actually more like, ram her into a brick wall and see if I could shatter her wall of ignorance.

Then the other day she called and wanted to know if she could exchange my daughter's gift from her for something my daughter could really use. She got her a small kitchen appliance. But my daughter likes it and can use it now and take it with her when she old enough to move out. My daughter likes to think about the future and is wise and thankful like that. But my mom sounded rather odd when she called and I thought it was peculiar that a woman who is normally so focused on details and over thinks about everything, would give my daughter an adult present and then change her mind the day after Christmas. It's just odd.

I did get up the nerve to call my dad and ask him to clear up one rumor I was very nervous in asking about in the first place and it turned out to be true. My dad was very honest about it. But I was talking to him on the phone and couldn't see his expression. He wanted to get off the phone abruptly soon after. Then a about 20 minutes later my mom called regarding the present issue. I don't know what to think about this. I want to let all her baggage go and just move on with my life but she keeps dumping it all on me.