"I don't know why you want me to pretend that it's not an inconvenience"

distraction

additional effort

departure from my normal duties

A bother?

no, not quite. Basically, the issue is that my mother says that I make her feel like she's imposing when she asks me to do something for her. And, sometime she is. It's not like I just sit around doing nothing (which I suspect she thinks is true). More often than not, when she asks me to do something, it means a change in my plans. It's usually not a problem, but she wants me to say yes immediately, without any thought to other commitments, because that's what she does.

Of course, she gets behind the 8 ball a lot because she says yes right away and figures out the logistics later (which, for example, is how I ended up having to travel for two days each way to pick up/take my great aunt to Florida, because she volunteered to pick her up without thinking it through). I'm trying to figure out a way to explain this to her without making her feel bad. And before you say "well, what you said sounds pretty reasonable", I said pretty much the same thing to her and it resulting in crying and screaming. Some of it is residual emotion, but not all.

Sorry for the delay, I was on my hands and knees changing the aisle lights in an auditorium. This involves plugging two thin wires into two tiny holes. I have to grip a flashlight in my teeth. I go back and forth from "this is such a PITA" to "I am such the cool handyman."

Laga, where do you find the farewell videos for the puppies?

Currently the puppies are saying goodbye in the 2nd, 4th and 6th clips. I think Autumn is first and Ando is last.

Puppy-cam main page

Quote from the meeting that generated a Spinal Tap moment in my head:

the sacrificial alter, as drawn, is smaller than the lamb that wants to be sacrificed on it.

where do you get a lamb that wants to be sacrificed? Miliways?

Oy Vortex. Sounds like she wants immediate yes's to every request, and you just figure out what to drop after, cause her lightest whim is more important than any plan or other commitment you have made. Maybe instead of a synonym for inconvenience what you need to say is that you have to stopp and think to make sure it does not conflict with commitments you have already made, and that since your memory is not perfect you may have to double check on occasion.

where do you get a lamb that wants to be sacrificed? Miliways?

BWAHAHAHA!!!!!

edited to not look like I was laughing at T's sage wisdom.

Props Dept. Of course our props master is a stickler for details, that he doesn't want to make one that is 3/4 scale. Who is to say how big a lamb was in the Garden Of Eden.

Sounds like she wants immediate yes's to every request, and you just figure out what to drop after, cause her lightest whim is more important than any plan or other commitment you have made.

yes. I think that she thinks that as my mother, she should be more important than anything else, so any other commitment doesn't matter, even if it's just changing her printer cartridge.

I think Typoboy states it well --but I might use the word Responsibilities as opposed to commitment. I'm guessing that because you are single , she doesn't think you have importatn stuff to do.

I might even make some sort of comment about how well she ( and dad) taught you to be responsible ( even if it isn't really true).

and bTW, a commitment to a friend or yourself -- the responsible thing to do is keep it.