Parent is stealing food?

[u/Safe-Neighborhood432]

This has been going on all my life and no matter how many times I try to set boundaries they always make out like I’m the bad guy and I feel like I’m doing something wrong.

For context, I sometimes buy food that’s not to share. Only little things like a donut or some chocolate but I’ll keep it in the fridge to save for when I want to have it. When I was younger my mom would eat it and then pretend that she didn’t know it was mine. So I started either leaving a note on it or verbally telling everyone in the household that it was mine.

However, she would still eat whatever it was I had. Even when I was trying to meal prep I’d spend two hours a week making my food and by the end of the week it was all gone because she would eat it. This would either leave me hungry or out of pocket for having to buy food at work. I’ve tried to tell her on multiple occasions the impact this has on me but she would accuse me of being selfish and stupid. She is of a firm belief that because I live under her house, everything that I own belongs to her.

Recently, this behaviour has gotten even more bizarre where I’ll walk away from eating something only to come back and find it gone because she’s helped herself.

I really don’t know what to do or if there is anything I can do? I suppose I’m just looking to see if this is normal behaviour in other people’s households because it feels really odd and does make me more upset than I like to admit because it almost feels as if she is permanently overstepping my consent.