UrbanBaby - When there are family events that involv...

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When there are family events that involve the inlaws, my MIL is quick to point out differences in my DCs versus her "other" grandchildren. Examples: My 3YO DS takes naps, still. When I try to get him to lay down or if he just passes out, she'll say, "Well Ryan never took naps at that age. Can't believe he still naps." My 12YO niece just got a cell phone and she asked me if my 6YO DD will be getting one. Things like that. Drives me crazy. Not sure if she says these things because she is disapproving of her "other" grandchildren's habits (trying to give the benefit) or what. Her tone suggests disapproving of me. WWDYT?
9 replies
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11.06.09, 09:14 AM [ Flag ]
- sound like normal MIL stuff. As usual, nod and ignore.
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  11.06.09, 09:17 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
  - agree. i know it's annoying!
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    11.06.09, 09:30 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
  - ita. smile and nod. no use in starting anything. this type of woman is ALWAYS right. in fact, for fun, you can pretend that she's right sometimes. she will EAT IT UP.
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    11.06.09, 07:18 PM [ Flag | link to this post ]
- Here's what I do with my similarly annoying MIL, just with a different theme: I ignore her as much as possible and answer her as briefly and unemotionally as possible. Over time I have trained her to make the annoying comments less often because the don't get the rise out of me that she's looking for. It works, I promise. Just don't engage.
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  11.06.09, 09:18 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
- Just find a standard response and use it every time. Eventually she will get sick of hearing it and stop.
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  11.06.09, 09:27 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
  - yeah I put on the deaf act-try to put someone's head on her body that I like in my mind
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    11.06.09, 09:59 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
- just say something like "all kids are different" and move on. She may simply be bad at conversation.
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  11.06.09, 10:22 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
- People are just annoying that way. My mom used to tell me that my nanny was forcing dc to nap during the day when he was 3yo so that she could have time off in the afternoon. Meanwhile, when he didn't nap, he was a whiny cranky disaster by the time I got home. But since I had not napped past the age of 2, in her mind, no kid should.
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  11.06.09, 10:28 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
- I always just say 'yes' to any nutty suggestion mil has and then ignore advice and do exactly as I was planning to anyway. She's satisfied because she gets a positive response, and I'm satisfied because it never escalates into a conversation about who should be making the calls on how to raise my children. Perfect.
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  11.07.09, 09:28 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]