[markbarnes19]

Although she is loving and very generous, my mother can be emotionally ebusive, because of the way she says things, especially to my wife. For example, she will volunteer to give us a much-needed night away from our two small children. "I'd love to watch them," she says. "I'll keep them all night, and you guys can get some sleep." We exuberantly accept. Then, when my wife delivers the children to my mother's home she says, "I remember when I had five kids, I never had anyone to watch them for me. Of course, I didn't need time away from them."
This is just one of numerous examples of this type of discourse. I try to tell my wife to ignore her, but she is very sensitive to the issue and has difficulty doing so. I'm certainly no psychologist, so I'd lvoe some advice. Thanks.