sticks and stones do hurt

Mom's struck out again, but this time, I'm not the target.

Last week my brother, his wife and their four girls headed down to my parents house for a two-week vacation -- filled with tons of tourist activities all of which my dad seems to always end up picking up the tab for. They decided last week that they all wanted to go to San Antonio for the weekend -- my brother's family (2 adults, 4 kids), my parents and brother (still at home), and my sister who lives near my parents.

When family is in town, mom is usually ok. Emotional stability plummets when no one is around to constantly coddle her. So I figured that these two weeks would be drama-free. Not so....

Mom sank to a new low, and her shit slinging has hit the proverbial fan. It's not only been very damaging to her relationship with my sister, but it's also exposed her "true" feelings about some of her children's choice of lifestyle (and indirectly, myself included). If you need a refresher on my mom, you should read the post on July 2 - I am my mother's mother; just who exactly is the child?

The weekend at SeaWorld went fine until the ride back to Houston. My sister was driving her car with my mom, dad and 9-year old niece as passengers. Since I wasn't there, I'm not exactly sure how it all came about, but here's the cliff notes as I understand it.

Mom didn't like the music my sister was listening to. She started to get onto my sister about her choice of music, which then led to it's obviously because she doesn't go to church any more, and that she is leading a trashy lifestyle. (Which for the record she is not. She just a normal 24 yr old.)

An Aside: Several years ago, my sister gave up a baby for adoption, and while it was the absolute right thing for her to do, my mother has never really accepted that or my sister's decision not to be involved in my parents' religion. (I also feel that mom has never really accepted the fact that I've also chosen not to live my life based on their religion or lifestyle, though she says she does.)

So back to the argument in the car....then she went where no mother should go. She told my sister that she thought that my sister was "whoring around." As soon as mom said it, she knew she'd crossed the line. But you know what? It doesn't matter. She has hurt my sister's feelings beyond any compare. My sister feels that my mom's true feelings came out and she now feels that that's what my mom really thinks of her.

At this point, my sister has cut both of my parents off. My mom for obvious reasons, and my dad for being there and not defending her to my mother. He just sat there and said nothing. As if nothing inappropriate has transpired.

I'm not sure at this point how long the hurt feelings will last or if there's a reconciliation in the near future. Of course the family won't fall apart over this. As typical, it's an issue between my mom and sister. But I can already sense that mom's going to try and drag me in as her go between. Nope. No way. No how. You said, so you own it.