We did have an interaction a few nights ago about selling the house, and W spewed snide commentary about my home repair skills. I told her I have no interest in listening to her insulting comments, and that we can continue the conversation at a later time when she can interact with me like an adult. I then left the room to go work on a task.
W followed me and angrily said "why are you so angry? why are you running away and hiding? you are so sensitive, you get butthurt so easily" etc etc. I thought it was funny that she was angrily asking me why I was so angry, especially when I was stone faced calm. I said "I'm not angry and I'm not butthurt, I just have enough self-esteem to not sit there and listen to you insult me. I don't have a second of time for you when you speak to me like that. Let me know when you think you can stop with the snide comments, and we can try again later."
Great, you handled that perfectly! She's probably wondering "who is this person?" And that's a good thing!
LOL yeah the old me would have sat there with her and defended and argued. It is so much more effective to avoid doing that reactive type of response and instead just calmly maintain boundaries. I used to defend my boundaries with a flamethrower, now I am placid as a lake on a windless day.
