Book #2

mood swings

I've only ever seen my mom in one of three moods. I'll call them "lemon", "cinnamon", and "navy".

Lemon corresponds to the good mood, her being party- or exercise-high.

Cinnamon is the mad mom. Surprisingly often. I'm never surprised anymore.

Navy is for mourning. This is rare, but has been happening more often.

Lemon is very easy to deal with. She is generally satisfied and distracted. A few simple tasks at most. This is when we can do whatever we want to get done. Everyone wants her to be lemon.

Cinnamon... We've gotten used to it. It isn't fun, but we know how to work the system, dancing lightly on the eggshells of keeping her impressed. She is irritable and illogical. Heavier narcissism is visible here. She'll ask you to do something difficult and time-consuming, then slap another task at you while you're doing it. Of course, if you don't do it to her high standards, it's a bout of emotional and verbal abuse. Fits of yelling/screaming aren't uncommon either. We heed her threats, having been smacked around many times before. It's unfortunate how often she's in this state.

Navy is actually quite bad. Just enough narcissism and too little experience makes this almost worse to deal with than cinnamon. She'll only cry out loud if she thinks we can hear her. If we leave the room, she'll stop after a few seconds. We re-enter and it's not long before she starts again, like she's venting onto us without consent. She'll tell/ask us things we don't know how to respond to, then cry louder to us when we don't respond. She will get physical. Less hitting, more dramatic groping. Navy pisses me off because I can't deal with it easily. She'll cry across rooms if she thinks we can hear her, and you can't walk away because her cinnamon will be worse.