That one time my mother went to a birthday party and didn't talk to her family

Party animal

My nephew turned one in September and I recently realized that I failed to mention my trip to Pennsylvania for his birthday party on this here blog- whoops! While it was great to see my brother, sister in law, grandma, and nephew (and witness his first steps!), my mother provided her usual damper to the occasion.

Shortly before my nephew was born, my brother tried to talk to my mother about her hoarding and how she needs to change. He was attempting to help her and, unsurprisingly, she lied and pushed him away instead of accepting the offer. Ever since, my mother has been very distant from my brother and very uninvolved with his son. We all think this is an incredible shame and know that she will ultimately regret missing her grandson grow up, but you can't help someone who doesn't want it.

We were half expecting my mother to just not show up to the birthday party, but she did come... and then promptly ignored us. She barely talked to my brother, sister in law, and me and barely interacted with my nephew, the birthday boy and reason for the party, while she was there. She mostly talked to my sister in law's mom and aunt. An incident involving the grill, my brother, and singed hair didn't even elicit a reaction from her and she just continued to sit and chat as if nothing had happened.

As if her cold demeanor weren't enough, while saying good bye to me, she half heartedly wished me luck with my job interview and told me that if it didn't work out I should keep applying for jobs. Umm thanks for your vote of confidence. I feel like that's something you tell someone after they interviewed and they don't feel like it went well, not something you say to someone before they've even had the interview.

My expectations for my mother are so low that her behavior barely even surprises me any more.