I'm a single parent. I had my kid young. I receive some government assistance (WIC, some SNAP benefits, and it's a toss of the dice each month on whether or not my ex will pay his child support). I know I'm not the only one where things are getting tight. I'm having to skip meals to make sure my kid eats and has enough food to take to daycare for lunch and snacks. I'm not even bothering to get her Christmas presents because I simply just can't afford it. I'm pretty much counting pennies from paycheck to paycheck and can't even afford a fricken Happy Meal for my kid.
I found myself in a tight place. SNAP benefits are out, my ex did not pay his child support for the month of November and we needed food. I found some local food pantries by Google and went to the one closest to my apartment and received help. It's what they're there for. Somehow, my very conservative mother found out and rang me to fuss me out. I think, since the food pantry was church based, someone from that church told her, even though it was absolutely none of her business. Calling me a 'welfare queen' and how I'm 'not providing my daughter with a good example' of how to 'work hard' and I 'obviously can't provide for her'
Not the first time my mother has pulled this. She loves to criticize, but never offers any help. She's even told me how I deserve to be a single mother due to having sex before getting married. Total 'rules for thee, not for me' type person.
She just kept going on, and on. Every time I tried to talk, she'd interrupt and kept attacking my parenting. Over going to a food bank because I wanted to make sure I could feed my child. I finally had enough and snapped at her. Told her if she couldn't help by paying a few bills or making sure her granddaughter had Christmas sorted, she could keep her mouth shut. Told her to not to call me if all she wanted to do was shit on me.
My phone is getting blown up by my father, my aunts, other relatives I am not particularly close to about how rude and ungrateful and shitty I was to my mother. I have no doubt she probably made me look worse in her version of the story. My father is begging me to apologize to her so we can 'keep the peace' and I'm just not interested. I'm too busy worrying on whether or not can I take a second job to keep a roof over our head. I don't make enough to really live off of, but here comes my mother with her holier-than-thou attitude and shames me for making sure my kid is fed. Life is grand.