Manipulative mothers have a monopoly on guilt. They use it and abuse it. A truly manipulative mother will latch on to something naughty that a child does … and children do naughty things every day - it's called LEARNING. Anyway, she'll latch on to something you did and magnify it. Then she'll make you feel bad about it, which is the trigger for bad things to come. You know why?
Children who feel badly about themselves are far more likely to behave badly.
Children who feel good about themselves rarely play up.
One possible outcome is an angry, badly behaved child.
Another possible outcome is an angry well-behaved child who internalises their anger and takes it out on themselves.
A third possible outcome is a mixture of the two.
Either way, the child's maturity is likely to be stunted in many ways.
Sorry if you didn't want to hear that. But it is how it is.
"When my mother's around I feel like all my skin and muscle has been shaved off and the raw nerves exposed. My mother has a probe and she'll touch one of those raw nerves without warning at any moment. Even if she doesn't hurt me, I'm still damaged waiting for it to happen."
Nadine, aged 40