Beat me to a pulp all while growing up, for stuff like not picking up my socks/forgetting to feed the dog, etc. That was one thing, but then the abuse turned less physical and more emotional/passive aggressive as I got older. I was 18 and it was around Christmas. My mom went out of town and promised she'd be back in time for the 25th. Instead she spent the holidays in another state yukking it up while me and my brother worried about her, alone at home. She finally returned a couple days after and acted like nothing had happened. She did things like that increasingly often - conveniently disappearing without notice just so we'd worry over her, staying away for long periods, avoiding us.

The next summer when I was still 18, she did something fairly uncharacteristic and took us all on a vacation (I have 4 other siblings). It was to a summer camping/resort-type lodge about 45 minutes from home. When we got there however, all she wanted to do was sit around the cabin, watch TV, and nap. (Mind you, this resort has everything from museums to animal shows to water sports to hiking trails, etc.) She also claimed she didn't 'feel well'.

So a few days of that go by and then I have to leave the rest of the family to go to my job about 45 minutes away. I figure I won't be missing anything, all we've been doing is sitting around, right? Well, I come back the next day and while I was gone, she organized a family game night with my other siblings, they went for a moonlight swim on the beach, went to a circus show, biked the trails, went to the restaurants, etc. My youngest sister spilled the news of this to me. When I confronted my mother about it, she acted (in a very phony way) like she had "no idea" what I was talking about, told me I was "overreacting" and said "well, what was I supposed to do? You were at work!" We went back to doing nothing while I was there.

She was trying to turn the family against me because I was the only one who didn't play by her rules. I left a month later and never came back.