KenF, it can get MUCH worse than that - does it stop it though?
Someone else once told me to do this - my therapist, in fact. Laugh it off, etc. I'm not great at that. Cause I just don't like being around that energy. I'm very (ahem, obviously) direct with others and not passive-aggressive, so it confounds me. It would be so much easier if BF stood up and was like "I can't stand it when you do that b/c it reminds me of my mother and she disgusts me and so do you!"
haha. Not really but you know what I mean. Like you have to put me down, do it, but don't make me second guess everything all the time. It's destructive.
So just my lightening it ... yes, I see how that makes it less destructive, but that is a trait that is VERY VERY hard for me to live with - exactly my mother too which is why I have that same issue with her.
It really pushes my buttons and I react very very poorly. I'm trying to respond more calmly and sincerely, so thinking about reacting jokingly feels like extra work or something I have to "remember to do" but I've actually made some progress and started doing it (I think when I'm tried and stressed I forget to do that, though, and let my guard down and I react poorly again)
