Well, my daughter,her boyfriend and I celebrated our Thanksgiving today (as I worked yesterday). I spent the day cleaning (as I work so many hours a week, it is genuinely hard to keep up with the housework-especially with 5 cats), anyway, I made 2 pumpkin pies from scratch (only because my daughter loves them so), did a load of laundry--managed to squeeze in a short nap-shoved the ham in the oven, took a shower--my daughter and her boyfriend show up with a bowl of garlic mashed potatoes (which were delicious by the way). I popped open a can of cranberry, shoved some steamable peas in the micro then I popped in a sweet potato casserole with a lovely praline toppinginto the micro, slapped the hawaiian rolls on the tablet and then we sat down to eat. The dinner conversation consisted mainly of my daughter and her boyfriend talking about the dysfunctional family life that they have at home (they live with her boyfriend's parents).
Everything was going along fine until my daughter noticed some mats on one of her cats' bellies--now, keep in mind that I have 5 cats and 2 of them are hers. At finding the mats, she ended up going into a full blown meltdown on how I'm not taking care of the cats! Seriously??? I mean if you care so much about them, why don't you come over and brush them once a week or better yet, take your 2 back home with you???? Then she starts going on about how I disrespect her feelings and treat her like a child--then she comes across with calling me a narcissist and because I "work from home" that I should be able to find the "time" to brush and take care of her cats--again what???? At this point I just said you know what? You do this on EVERY holiday! It's like you can't even have a good time without finding some fault with me and how I'm not doing what she expects of me. Her boyfriend just sat there the whole time and didn't say a word--I just looked at him and said "I'm glad she's going home with you".
I also had bought her some Christmas decorations for her desk at work, a truffle advent calendar, and some Christmas stockings for her and her co-workers (she can fill them herself!). I slapped one of the pumpkin pies on the kitchen table said "here's your pie-you can take it home with you"-I grabbed a cigarette and went out on the patio. I left the 2 of them inside. While I was outside trying to compose myself with the emotional pummeling I had just received, when my daughter opens the back door and says "it's unfortunate that the evening had to end this way" so I said, "yes, it's unfortunate that every holiday has to end this way" and then she says, "do you still want me to take the Christmas stuff for my desk?" I say "yes, I bought the stuff for you". She then shuts the door, I finish my cigarette, take a deep breath and prepare to go back inside. When I do, I discover that they have both left with the pie and the bag of Christmas stuff.
Parenthood is highly overrated. I think that this will probably be the last holiday I spend with my daughter, just for my own sanity. Sorry that this is so long, but I really just needed to vent. Thanks for letting me share--love you guys!