Dear Prudence,
My mom made me a tote bag as a birthday gift. I love it. She gave it to me early, on Mother’s Day, because she said she couldn’t wait. I stared at it in awe for a few seconds, said thank you, hugged her, then immediately took pictures to send to my friends. I didn’t post the pictures on social media, partly because I thought people would think it was weird that my mom gave me a present on Mother’s Day. Three days later, my mom posted a picture of the bag on her Instagram with the text “made this tote for my daughter. Did not get the reaction I hoped. Making it was fun because of the anticipation she would be excited.”
What the hell? First of all, who posts something like that on social media? Second, I was excited! I guess I didn’t express my excitement in a way that satisfied her? I commented on the post saying that I love the bag and I was excited, but I don’t know how else to address this. My husband thinks that my mom is stressed about other things in her life and taking it out on me, which may be true, but that is the kind of thing my mom will not ever admit to. I feel very hurt by the public Instagram post. Can you offer an objective opinion as to how this should be handled?
—Tote-ally Grateful