Narcistic, gaslighting mother and dead father. I was the one running the household (including way too many pets) but my mother happily took credit for everything.
Took me almost 20 years to finally snap, when she bought yet another dog and got angry at me for not being happy about it (we had 4 dogs, 5 cats, 9 ducks, a goat, 3 guinea pigs and 2 bunnies at the time, and I was working a full-time job so “we” could pay rent). She managed to convince the rest of the family that I was the bad guy. None of them even bothered to ask for my side of the story.
I took all animals to a sanctuary (as I didn’t want innocent pets to suffer because of her negliegience) except for one very old dog and the most agressive cat which I took with me (as they would have had very bad chances of finding new owners) and moved away.
NGL, it was very weird and it took me 2-3 years to acclimate, but I’m better off now. It’s astounding what lots of spare time and 90% less responsibility can do for one’s personal wellbeing.
I know from mutual friends that her bubble of lies has finally popped and most of my other family members refuse to talk to her now … but the “best” part is that none of them has reached out to me yet and they’re getting angry that I don’t try to mend things with them “because we’re still family” and since I was the one who left, they expect me to be the one to make the first step. They honestly feel like I have wronged them and need to apologize.
I am done being the “bigger person”. They can rot for all I care. Leaving that situation was one of the best decisions in my life, and sometimes I honestly wonder why it even took me so long to realize that this was not a “normal” life.
Narcistic, gaslighting mother and dead father. I was the one running the household (including way too many pets) but my mother happily took credit for everything.
Took me almost 20 years to finally snap, when she bought yet another dog and got angry at me for not being happy about it (we had 4 dogs, 5 cats, 9 ducks, a goat, 3 guinea pigs and 2 bunnies at the time, and I was working a full-time job so “we” could pay rent). She managed to convince the rest of the family that I was the bad guy. None of them even bothered to ask for my side of the story.
I took all animals to a sanctuary (as I didn’t want innocent pets to suffer because of her negliegience) except for one very old dog and the most agressive cat which I took with me (as they would have had very bad chances of finding new owners) and moved away.
NGL, it was very weird and it took me 2-3 years to acclimate, but I’m better off now. It’s astounding what lots of spare time and 90% less responsibility can do for one’s personal wellbeing.
I know from mutual friends that her bubble of lies has finally popped and most of my other family members refuse to talk to her now … but the “best” part is that none of them has reached out to me yet and they’re getting angry that I don’t try to mend things with them “because we’re still family” and since I was the one who left, they expect me to be the one to make the first step. They honestly feel like I have wronged them and need to apologize.
I am done being the “bigger person”. They can rot for all I care. Leaving that situation was one of the best decisions in my life, and sometimes I honestly wonder why it even took me so long to realize that this was not a “normal” life.