Anybody else being personally attacked by teenage daughter(s)

I'm wondering if anybody else is having similar problems with their teenage daughters since after surgery. It seems like every chance they get, they are personally attacking me and making me feel selfish and/or vain. Examples: I recently got my teeth ZOOM! whitened at the dentist. Yes, it was $300. Yes, I could have gone without. But, I went ahead and did it FOR ME. Boy, did that create problems with them--"I didn't need it, the $$$ could have went elsewhere, I could have used Crest White Strips, they still look yellow anyways, blah blah blah . . ." This weekend I spent about $125 on new makeup for myself. Result--last night I got to hear "how ridiculous it is to spend $7 on a L'oreal eyeliner pencil when I could have got Wet & Wild for .99 and then I bought one in every color; I'm stupid for spending $11 on makeup base when I could have bought Jane for $2; I look ridiculous w/lipstick because nobody my age wears lipstick anymore; I'm stupid for spending $12 on a 2-inch tall tub of special eye cream; I'm trying to look like a teenager; blah blah blah" First of all, they usually don't talk to me this way, so it is catching me off guard--I find myself justifiying myself to them (I could have went to the mall and bought Clinique cosmetics and spent even more $$$ . . .) Secondly, the $$$ is not even really an issue--we are far from the poor house. Third, I didn't go home flaunting what I bought and how much it cost, I simply went home and put it in my make-up drawer; they were obviously in my make-up drawer, as well as looking at the receipts in my purse. This morning I simply told them that for at least 11 years I have felt like a fat, old, ugly, worthless piece of crap. Because of this surgery, I have lost 56 lbs and becoming thinner again is helping me feel young and cute and alive. I asked them to please be happy for me, and bear with my while the feeling is still "new". Any ideas why they are being so critical of me? How long will it last? And how can I NOT take it so personally? Any similar stories? Thanks! Audra, Open RNY 8-7-03 248/192

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