Pro tip: the "gray rock" method got my mom to stop calling me 4 times a day

I was cutting off my mom after she kept showing up uninvited to my apartment in Austin. A therapist told me to try being boring on purpose - no reactions, just flat one-word answers. After 2 weeks of that and zero emotional energy from me, she finally stopped blowing up my phone. I also blocked her on Facebook since she'd post passive-aggressive stuff. Has anyone else used this trick on a pushy relative?

2 comments

2 Comments

max_hernandez274d ago

Wait, she was actually showing up uninvited to your apartment in Austin?! That's next level crazy, I would've lost it way before the gray rock stage.

jamie_webb674d ago

Gray rock's fine for phone calls but actually moving across the country to get away from someone... there's a difference between setting boundaries and running from your problems... maybe she just missed you and didn't know how to say it right. Blocking her on Facebook after already ignoring her seems like overkill too, like you're trying to erase her existence instead of just having a hard conversation. Sometimes the direct approach where you actually say "mom, stop showing up or I'm calling the cops" works better than playing games for weeks.