Tired of my family trying to manipulate me and guilt trip me into doing what they want.
Maybe I just need to vent, but I'm tired of it. I'm almost 40 years old, yet my parents still try to guilt trip me into doing what they want. It's ridiculous. Most recent example: I'm driving 2 hours away to a family member's house this weekend for 4th of July celebration. They've known for months that I planned to arrive early Saturday afternoon and leave to come back home late Sunday afternoon. Now here we are just a day away and all of a sudden the guilt trips start rolling in trying to make me change my plans and come a day earlier to extend my 1 night stay to 2 nights. Talking about how I'm going to miss the family tradition card games Friday night (why cant we play Saturday night when I'm there?). Talking about how I'm going to miss the boat ride that they "REALLY" want me there for Saturday morning (again, why cant we go Sunday morning when I'm there?). No one bothered communicating any of these wants or plans to me until now at the last minute, and each parent is taking turns texting me privately about their disappointment and trying to guilt me into changing my plans and extending my stay. In my mind, I thought me attending and staying the night and spending time with everyone was enough, but apparently it's not enough. How do you deal with the constant guilt trips?!