Dealing with a mom who dominates every conversation

My mom is incredibly difficult to communicate with.

First of all, she talks so loudly that I have to hold the phone far away from my ear. Secondly, she asks me questions without waiting for an answer and immediately jumps to another topic, leaving me no chance to get a word in.

This has been going on for a while, so I decided to tell her directly that I need a chance to speak too. That didn’t work. Then, I tried a new approach: answering her questions without letting her interrupt me. But it turned into a competition—both of us talking over each other, almost like a shouting match. She’s like a runaway train, determined to talk the loudest and the most. I stayed persistent, repeating myself even as she kept rambling.

Finally, out of nowhere, she snapped: “YOU, THE PHONE IS MAKING ALL THIS STATIC!” As soon as I stopped talking, everything was fine again.

What is it with people who don’t understand the concept of give-and-take in a conversation? She’s only 74, not hard of hearing, and her phone works perfectly fine. Strangely enough, she behaves completely differently when talking to her doctor or anyone she considers an authority figure.

This has been her pattern for years, and honestly, I’ve started putting my phone on airplane mode when I need peace. This behavior can’t be normal. Has anyone else experienced something similar?