They feel like cult leaders:
They told me: “Only us, as your parents, care about you, don’t trust anyone else…”
Which reminds me: There’s actually a common phrase in Chinese culture: “世上只有妈妈好”, it’s a common “nusery rhyme” thingy but its one of the most subtle propaganda in Chinese culture. Roughly translates to “The only good person in the entire world is your mother”. (I guess they forgot the bit about abusive parenting… 🙄)
So, people are just suppose to believe anything your parent say?
Very cult-like…
Anyone else have parents like this?
Sort of, I grew up in a “because I said so” home with one parent a drug addict and alcoholic (dad) and the other a narcissist (mom). It didn’t exactly equip me with the proper tools to deal with a lot of curveballs life threw my way later.
The addict eventually left and then the narcissist married a really nice, stable, caring guy so I did actually get 1 decent role model out of the three. But I did have to cut the narcissist out of my life for the most part, later, when she ditched my father after he was done raising her children.
Long story short, don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself and use critical thinking. We are most susceptible to gaslighting and manipulation from those we care about.