Complaining about Complainers

I've been in college for a few weeks now. This, of course, comes after living in London for two months, living at home for a week, and retreating as fast as possible in the course of a week. I remember two distinct things happening in that week I was home. First, my mother complained non-stop about how much her foot hurt and how our dog always snores and it's horrible. I also went to a grad party, had a bonfire, and spent a great deal of time with Eleanor Smith, who is perhaps my best friend even across great distances. She's in the top 5 without a doubt. I've never asked her if I'm her best friend; I'd be curious to find out, though I suspect and hope I'm in her top five as well.

This isn't about Eleanor Smith. This is about my mom. My mother cares an awful great deal about me as most mothers do. She calls me to tell me my dad is about an hour away from picking me up since I do not have a car, (nor am I sure if I even want one given the expenses). When I spoke with my dad last and asked about my mom, he said she complains a lot about her foot, to an annoying degree.

So having had enough space and sincerely wanting to make an effort to reconcile what my mother believes is wrong with me, I politely explain I'm excited to be back. I'm not lying. I spoke with my sister over text a few days ago and she's excited for me to come back. I'm going to invite her to Elle's bonfire if she's ok with staying out late and I sort-of hope she is. I'm excited to see my dogs. I'm not too excited to get yelled at for going to King's Island which she was worried about after my brain injury despite being cleared to play sports and other intensive tasks... but hopefully we can put this behind us.

But I try, and I really, really try to be nice. I want to tell her things, but every time I talk to her, I'm starting to ask myself "what's the point?" She went on to tell me about how much her foot hurts and how Alex Dude keeps snoring. She's probably going to tell me that I'm stupid for going to King's Island and staying up late and never spending time with the family...

It's like every time I want to share my life with her, she just points out all the errors and goes back to trying to shape me into the person she wants me to be, but the person she wants me to be just isn't the person I am anymore. I feel like I'm disappointing her because of that, and I feel bad, but at the same time, hearing about her foot for at least the 10th time (I'm being literal here), isn't making her win any sympathy from me nor is it making me happy.

So instead, I find myself surrounded by my friends as I talk to them wondering what the heck to do. I've found myself much more relaxed and open to her when I separate myself from her. I hope she's relaxed too now that I've done the same. I keep hoping that past performance doesn't predict future results, but I'm growing scared... but it usually does, and I'm scared of what's to come.