My sister is currently at my aunt's, so I thought I could pitch in a little more around here since I had today off and I know my mom's been tired lately. I have picked up the bad habit of doing less in terms of cooking or chores while my sister is here since some part of me wants my mom to force her to actually contribute, and as long as I pick up the slack my sister will sit on her ass and not even be aware of, or appreciate that we take care of everything for her. She also tends to eat more than her share of whatever I bake, so if I'm making something special for my dad I wait until she's gone so he can have more of it.

So on Saturday I made a lemon meringue pie (my dad's favorite), maple blueberry muffins on Sunday, and made homemade pasta with my dad today and meringue cookies from the leftover egg whites from the pasta. Today alone it was about 3 hours to make the pasta dough, whip the meringue while the dough was resting and slide the cookies in the oven as I rolled out the dough with my dad, and of course cleaning up afterwards. 

We all went for a short walk afterwards as far as my dad's hip allows right now, and my mom starts in about how I was sitting and relaxing most of the day so I need the steps. Um, I was working in the kitchen so she could have a fancy homemade pasta dinner and dessert, wtf? She can praise my sister for unloading the dishwasher occasionally when ordered to do so but can't seem to notice I've been busting my butt for hours this weekend to make her life easier? Things like this are also why I've stopped doing much to help out, as it's rarely appreciated and often actively ignored or downplayed.

I really do look forward to work days since I actually feel valued and that the effort I put forth makes a difference, the opposite of how my family makes me feel. I also realize that this pattern of my sister being the golden child is a lifelong dynamic and it's not going to improve, but that's why I need to move out. I lived through this situation when I was growing up and I can do it again, but I really hope this is the last time I have to live with my parents.