sj, it's probably tough for your mom, too. Just try to remember she does it because she loves you. Stand your ground firmly but lovingly. And remind her that you have to be free to make your own mistakes and live with them as an adult. Maybe you haven't been perfectly responsible but heavens knows not every adult is perfect. It's the learning from the mistakes that helps us BE adults.

Cindy, I've covered my eyes and am singing "lalalalalala" at the thought of giving eye drops.

With Leif, I rolled him up in a towel and then put the eye-drops in. All wrapped up like a burrito, he couldn't put up his usual fight.

This works well with cats, too.

He didn't put up a fight about being rolled up in a towel?

Getting rolled up in a towel is just good fun until someone tries to put drops in your eye.

Oops. I wasn't supposed to wake Emily.

sj, it's probably tough for your mom, too. Just try to remember she does it because she loves you. Stand your ground firmly but lovingly. And remind her that you have to be free to make your own mistakes and live with them as an adult. Maybe you haven't been perfectly responsible but heavens knows not every adult is perfect. It's the learning from the mistakes that helps us BE adults.

I know she loves me, but I cannot stand my ground with her at all. If I get angry or upset with her it is because I am depressed or PMSy and "are you still taking your ADs" is the response I get. She won't even consider that there may be something wrong on her end. I don't know what to do. I am going to go take a hot bath now and see if I can stop being pathetic whiny girl before I go see Teacup Guy tonight.

I wasn't supposed to wake Emily.

Hopefully she isn't like my Psycho!Girlfriend in college and physically assaults people when awaken.

Lily is amazing in her tiny perfection.

Not being taken seriously really sucks, sj. I wish I had good advice for remedying that. But a hot bath sounds like an excellent stopgap measure.

Where are these Lily pics? I keep missing them.

Don't get angry. Br cheery and perky and thank her very much for her "suggestions" and tell her that some of them will be very helpful. That way YOU are defining them as "suggestions which you might or might not follow, since you are the boss of you" but you are calm and rational, so that doesn't give her anything to react to.

I think your mom might always make suggestions. I know BF's mom still does to all her four children--and the oldest one is 43 with three kids of her own. They have all learned to ignore her after years of trying to get her to stop failed. For her, telling her kids what to do is being a mom, and if she stoped, it would be like ignoring them. She can't NOT do it, even though her kids ignore her 95% of the time.