A few examples of crazy making

My mother has taken up the habit of finishing my sentences.  I'm not sure if she has always done this and I'm only now noticing it or if it is some sort of recent desperate attempt to enmesh us.  It drives me crazy.  She will but into the middle of a sentence, attempt to guess what I'm going to say, or even worse, say the same thing I say two seconds after me.  And then she acts like it was her original idea.  When I first noticed it I thought she was loosing her mind.  Now, I know it is her way of stealing the spotlight.

We often spend the day together while my husband does things with my stepfather.  When they come home, she will rush to the door and start barraging them with a "show" she puts on with my son as a puppet.  They haven't even hung up their coats before she starts with "show grandpa how I showed you blah, blah, blah".  Say "polly wants a cracker" (or whatever ridiculous thing she thinks she has taught him).  She then recounts the day with the royal "WE".  As in WE did this, WE did that.  The thing is mostly, WE didn't do any of the things.  She recounts diaper changes and naps and things that I did as stuff she did.

My MIL and Mom both have the annoying habit of staring off into space as you are talking to them.  They then turn and say "Hey!"  and then repeat back exactly what I just said to them!  This is infuriating to me.  My MIL recently did it to my husband.  He was worried about her mental health.  I'm not worried at all.  She, like my mother, is so self absorbed that even external voices are attributed to themselves.

My MIL covets.  When she enters my home, she's always remarking on something.  I often feel I am under a microscope.  She then exclaims "OH, FIL, isn't this great!  I want to get something JUST LIKE THIS!"  I assume she thinks this is a compliment.  But it has grown extremely tiresome that this woman, who has no identity for herself, steals mine.  I know they say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, but it can be overdone.  It can feel like nothing you have or are belongs to you.  And she can't be that in love with everything I do.  Anyway, cut to a few months later, and we will visit her in her home.  Of course, she will have gotten the item/stolen the decorating technique and then she has the nerve to act like it was her idea.  She'll make a big fan fair and brag as if she did something special.  She has "adopted" my hobbies, my way of wrapping Christmas presents, my interests, remodeled her kitchen right after we did, and followed us to Europe on a trip (she attempted to "meet" us there, but thank god husband put the hold on that!).  Then, she goes around acting all worldly and involved to her friends like she is actually the person instead of the sham that she is.  Enough to make me insane.