“The younger daughter is so sensible! My older one also stopped listening after I had a second.”
“Good thing this mom has two kids. If it was just the eldest, she’d be miserable.”
“This eldest daughter is useless. Where does she work? Not even filial to her mom—you should go make trouble at her workplace!”
Expressionless, I watched as my mom enthusiastically replied to these comments criticizing me.
“Yes, the elder daughter isn’t as considerate as the younger one.”
“Ah, she’s so hot-tempered. Can’t argue with her.”
And then, under the videos about our upcoming trip and the new furniture at home, she responded again,
“My baby girl really knows how to care for me.”
But it was me who paid for the trip, stayed up late making travel plans.
It was me who used my salary every month to replace the furniture.
It was me who took on all the household chores.
Yet she happily went along with the assumptions of strangers, giving all the credit to Emily.
And she let strangers online insult me endlessly.
I gave a bitter laugh.
They say never empathize with parents, because they’ll never empathize with their children.
Now, I realized how true that was.