Parents Just Don’t Understand
Bang your head on a wall and call it a day.
Originally uploaded by Bernice Pipa
I am going to rant here about two things: 1. Why do people always want to start being insanely annoying when you are in a bad mood? 2. Why do my parents think that I have no job or something?
Today was rough. I was in back-to-back meetings, someone pissed me off to the ultimate core (my own expression), and my rigatoni that came out perfect fell in the sink. My parents don’t seem to understand that I have a busy life. I’m a single mother with a demanding job. I am sorry if I don’t call every hour. On top of that, I’m sorry that I don’t answer the five calls in a row you make when I am a meeting. Oh, and I love the five voicemail messages I get demanding why I never pick up the phone. CAUSE I’M IN A MEETING!
My mom last Tuesday had oral surgery. When I called my dad, he said that she couldn’t talk til Wednesday. On Wednesday, I was in meeting after meeting. When I get out of the 5th meeting, I have three calls waiting. I listen to the three voicemail messages (Side rant: Why leave three voicemail messages saying the same thing?) stating that I haven’t called my mom who is at home and she is hurt by that. I tell my dad that I will call her after the next meeting.
I call after I drop Isabelle off at ballet. He tells me that he doesn’t understand why I called when she can’t speak. I got irritated and said, “Then why are you trying to make me feel guilty about not calling and now are sitting here acting like you don’t get why I called?”
I go there on Thursday and spend time with my mom. My parents live in Woodbridge, which is super far, but I trekked that way. The kids and I don’t get home til 10PM. I go there all Saturday and just hang with her in bed. On Sunday, I stay there and talk to her, but then leave to go grocery shopping and get my kids and cousins from my sister’s house. My aunt never does anything fun with the kids, so I was nice enough to offer to take them back from Baltimore to Woodbridge and then to Fairfax. I drop my cousins off, and I go to my parents’ house to visit my mom. We don’t get home til 10 or so.
Today I was in meetings all day. I snuck to my spin class to release stress, but that was it. Then I had to deal with someone who shall remain nameless, and so I am not in the best of moods. I get home at 6pm, cook dinner twice (damn rigatoni), help the kids with homework, bedtime, and I am sniffling cause I am so ticked. I just lay down to think when I start getting the infamous repeated phone calls from my dad. After the fourth one, I answer.
He starts off with you have been such a good daughter, so we don’t understand why you haven’t called your mom. She is so sad that you haven’t called. I am annoyed because I called this morning, and I told my dad that I was going to be super busy with meetings today and all i had time for was to relay a message that my sister left me. I have talked to my mom about this before. The only way to contact me at work is via chat or email. That’s it?! This is how I communicate with her during the week, and I barely call. She also knows how much I HATE the phone. I planned on going there tomorrow and probably getting home at 10 p.m. or so.
I tell him that I am tired of this behavior. I have a job and have been in meetings, so why do they act like I am lounging at home doing nothing but staring at the ceiling? After awhile, I couldn’t take it anymore, so I just tuned him out. I am SOOOO happy that I was given the gift of selective hearing.
I need to relax. I am so tense right now that it’s not even funny. Now I feel like a bad daughter because I have meetings that I have to attend and have to focus on the children. I told L. that her parents depend on her too much, and she said mine do as well. I told her that she was wrong. I think that maybe I was the one who is wrong. I guess screwing my children’s schedule, driving hours, spending the weekend there and missing my place means nothing as long as I call ten times a day. Good to know.
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