I love my mom. She’s a great mom and a wonderful grandma.

But her and money irritates me to no end. Everything is about the dollar. And throwing money in my face. How much a meal cost she paid for. How much gas cost for a trip she took to see us when nobody asked her to come. How much the car seat cost that he’s already outgrown when nobody said we couldn’t transfer the one we have from our car to yours.

She loves to go buy stuff for her grandkids or she will text me a really good deal she found for my kids, then send me the bill. I’ve had to start being like cute but I’m not buying toys right now. Or he has enough clothes, thanks.

And the thing is, we make our own bank. We don’t live high in the hog. But I have a house. Two cars. One of which is paid for. And by the end of this year we will have eliminated the majority of our debt. But we live on a budget. And my husband is considered self employed so I just wrote a check for over a grand to the government. And I had it because we know it’s coming and we budget for it so it doesn’t sink us.

Everything is about money for her. If she does buy something for me, the kids, my brother, even if nobody asks, it comes back to bite us. She buys dinner. She’ll throw it in our faces. Buys something for the kids nobody asked her, she’ll bring it up two months later we’ll I got such and such and that has really strapped me.

She showed up for my son’s birthday party and we were short on drinks. She offered to run and grab some sodas from the store. I paid for them. Not only did she take the excess home but she still brings up spending the money...I PAID FOR

THE DRINKS when she got back. And what kinda Grandma insisted on going and getting drinks and is still complaining 3 months later when I paid her for them?

And her favorite phrase is “oh you know I don’t keep track of that money!” Bull. She keeps track down to the penny and makes sure she can hold it over you even if she wasn’t asked to buy or pay for something. She will even act out out. Like she pressured me to getting some things for the kids that I forgot when I came to see her. I went and purchased what I forget. And she was all “we would’ve gotten the kids that stuff.” No you’d have thrown a fit later. Just stop.

So the other day, I was having a bad day. I was on the phone with her and the kids were bad the day was just rough. My one year old threw a light up elephant and it stopped working. It was his older brother’s favorite, and I’d just pulled it out of storage for him a few days before. And you can’t buy it in store anymore. It wasn’t like it was a keepsake. Just a plastic Fischer price light up elephant.

I told her he dropped it right off the changing table and it wouldn’t turn on again. And it really bummed me out. That’s all I said. It wasn’t an heirloom. Just a plastic toy that had been well loved and I was really bummed it got busted before he got to love it too. I never said a word about replacing it. We have enough crap. And we have other light up toys. One busted elephant wasn’t a big deal in the toy store that lives in my house.

So my mom goes and finds some used off amazon and sends it to the house without telling me. Then she text me that she also got one for her house. To anyone else, that’s a sweet Grandma thing. She replaced a loved little light up elephant. To me, I’m gonna hear about this. She’s gonna throw it in my face and then get defensive.

Worse? My husband fixed the original. It’s working just fine. And if she’d have said something I would’ve told her we had it or not to bother. She just had massive construction done to her house. So I know she strapped for cash. And this is just something that she will throw in my face at and in opportune time. And if she finds out that the original works that’s liable to go over like a lead balloon. Or she will be mad at me I said it was broken which at the time before my husband got to it, I couldn’t get it to work.

She wants me to put it up so she can give it to the baby at my oldest birthday party in a few weeks. My 5 year old is liable to be like why do we need two?

My MIL can be a real pain but at least when she shows up with stuff for her grandkids or takes us to dinner there are no strings. And there are plenty of times we pick up the check. Nobody is asking my mom for a handout. She does stuff...Then holds it to cast over me. I’ve even confronted her and she plays a total martyr and that she never keeps any records and never does anything like that and all she ever does is love on the kids and us.

I wish I’d never mentioned the stupid elephant.