Now, I’m going to have some full disclosure on this one, though. I abuse this birthday privilege that people have to do what I want. My daughters often fight like cats, so on that one day, I say, “No fighting allowed,” so they have to hold their tongues all day. It’s all the gift I need, and it’s really manipulative because their silence—whatever, it’s my once-a-year silent retreat. I would give up cake, gifts, all of it for that. And honestly, at the stroke of midnight, the gloves come off, they start fighting again. What am I going to do?
So yes, I kind of get that whole “people have to do what I want today” thing. But strategically, whether you forget or remember a narcissistic person’s birthday, it can be unsatisfying if you’re someone in their life. If you remember, they may not be grateful but instead play it down like, “Oh yeah, sure, thanks for remembering.” If you forget, they will go at you for forgetting. And now it’s a day they also get more enabled than usual. So if you have someone narcissistic in your life, be prepared that their birthday is when they will behave more poorly than usual.
I bet you didn’t think this elevator could go down any more floors, but yeah, it can get worse. I don’t know how many of you watch the show Succession, but there’s that great scene in Succession when Kendall throws himself that big, sad, ridiculous birthday party. He spends a fortune, and it still didn’t feel good. And his even more narcissistic siblings managed to shame him and mess it up for him, and so he sat victimized and dejectedly in the corner of the party. Classic narcissistic birthday look.
Continue reading on the next page
Sharing is caring!
