Writing on the Wall
1 min readFeb 20, 2023

Another time, my dad waited until I was about to drive home -- I had a nine hour drive because Dad insists that the only "fun" places to visit are nine hours or more from where I live (I live in a beautiful area with a lot great places to visit near me, but he says all of those sound boring or if he's been there once says he doesn't want to visit them again). And I had to work the next morning. And it looked like a snowstorm might be moving in. (See "Your responsibilities don't matter" above). I said I needed to leave and why didn't he see me off and then take a shower after, but for some reason he suddenly insisted he NEEDED to take a shower before seeing me off. I asked why he hadn't taken a shower before I got up or while I was packing and he said he was trying to be polite -- he'd wanted to leave the bathroom open in case I needed to use it. I said I needed to leave, so he could do whatever else he needed to do after I left. He mumbled, "Just give me a minute" and went into the bathroom and then I heard the shower water running. I was going to just leave but my sister supported his gaslighting about his waiting for me, blamed me for sleeping until 9 and then getting ready too fast without giving them adequate warning I was leaving, and guilted me into waiting for him.

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Writing on the Wall
Writing on the Wall

Written by Writing on the Wall

Suzie Null is a former middle and high school teacher and former Professor of Teacher Education. Follow her on Twitter at WritingontheWall @NullSet16

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