Mothering Forum banner

Things your mother says.

10K views 124 replies 77 participants last post by  akind1 
#1 ·
So last night (while visiting at my mom's house), I finally get LO to bed and my mom wants me to stay up and watch a movie. I told her that I haven't been able to get any time to myself and just felt like washing my face and brushing my teeth and going to bed, since DD would likely be up in 2 hours.

And then she just looks at me blankly and says, "But it's nighttime!"

Yes Mom, I'm a bad mama because my kid doesn't STTN.
I guess DD didn't get the memo on the fact that "it's nighttime."
 
See less See more
1
#77 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by mommy212 View Post
Yes, well... She's palauan, she eats whole fish- heads included- and I guess eyeballs are baby food over there, haha. At least she supports extended bfing.

My white-as-can-be Americam MIL once asked if she could give my nephew a chicken bone to suck on. My nephew was 7 months. At least she asked first, right?
 
#78 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Addie View Post
My white-as-can-be Americam MIL once asked if she could give my nephew a chicken bone to suck on. My nephew was 7 months. At least she asked first, right?

We give DS chicken bones to suck on from time to time. I just make sure it's free of choking hazards. he's not strong enough to break a legbone. He loves it. lol
 
#79 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by mommy212 View Post

mom: God, Carey. *sigh and shrug, with head in hands*

Haha this is so my mom. She does this exactly over all kinds of stuff.... Non-circ, natural birth, the idea of BFing a toddler, etc.

DH is currently worked up over HFCS and GMOs in food. We are planning on planting a huge garden this year, and made some other food goals for the grocery store. We told my mom about it last night (we all live together!) and she did THIS EXACTLY, just insert our names LOL.

Then she was like, well if we cant have HFCS, what are we going to eat?

-sigh-
 
#80 ·
Here is one my mom told me on the phone yesterday. Baby DD was crying, and I went to get her, and my mom was telling me the old "crying is good exercise for the lungs" and then the next one was, "make sure you let her cry sometimes; she needs to learn she has to wait her turn too, just like the other kids" Um, yeah, if she was a toddler throwing a fit because she did not get what she wanted, I could see your point, but for a 6 week old baby?? If you don't respond (at least talk to them) they eventually lose hope. Yeah, sometimes she does cry for a few minutes if she starts while I am in the middle of going to the restroom, driving, or helping an older sibling with something that I can't put down for a minute, but sorry, I am NOT leaving her to just cry to "wait her turn" at this age!
 
#82 ·
My mom is great! My MIL is alright (except for the part where she keeps asking me if I'm pregnant again -- DD is 10 months). But my husband's grandma? Drives me up the wall. She has some comment every 5 minutes, but she says them quietly enough that only I hear them. At first I tried to explain what was going on to her. At 3 weeks, she thought since DD kept wanting to nurse, maybe she wasn't getting enough. I explained that at 3 weeks she was due for a growth spurt.

But then I got tired of defending myself every 5 minutes, and decided to stop talking to her if that's all she had to say. I kept telling DH about her comments, but he never heard them! The last time we visited, *he* was the one defending our choices every 5 minutes! He was like, "OMG! Is that how she always is??" Yes.

At 7 months DD was munching on apples, and she said, "Oh, she'll be ready for solids pretty soon, won't she?" (Um, what are apples??)

She wanted to know why I hold DD so much, and suggested perhaps she was spoiled.

Overreacting when DD tries to stand up/walk and falls down on her (fluffy cloth-diapered) bum.

Wants to know if DD can eat some of her box mix strawberry cake. "No." "Really? Just a little?" ::happy voice::"Nope! Cake's not for babies!"

GAH! Shut up, woman!

Oh, and MIL says DH weaned himself at 6 months. That just makes me sad. She didn't know! No one told her about nursing strikes.
 
#83 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by samann1121 View Post
At 7 months DD was munching on apples, and she said, "Oh, she'll be ready for solids pretty soon, won't she?" (Um, what are apples??)

She wanted to know why I hold DD so much, and suggested perhaps she was spoiled.

Wants to know if DD can eat some of her box mix strawberry cake. "No." "Really? Just a little?" ::happy voice::"Nope! Cake's not for babies!"
1) Didn't you know it only counts as solids if it's from a jar?

2) I always answer this one with "Yep, he sure is"

3) We were at a friend's daughter's birthday and her grandmother walked up and asked DS (who was 5 months at the time) "Did Mommy give you some icing?" I just LOOKED at her and said, "he can't have dairy" And she laughed and said, "Aww, maybe next time."
 
#85 ·
from Step-MIL (currently visiting...ugh!)

"Well, (deep Southern accent) you stay home and don't have to work because your husband goes to work and brings home the bacon." (While this may be true, it was still weird to hear from her.)

and, when the subject came up (ugh) that DD doesn't STTN...

S-MIL- "Weeeelll...she'd sleep through the night if she were in her own room down the hall."

me- "Well, no, she'd still wake up, we just wouldn't *hear* her cry, which isn't the same thing." (an attempt to fight the good fight...)

S-MIL- "Well, you're just rewarding her for waking up, is all I'm saying."

I'll probably have more because she's staying until Saturday.
 
#86 ·
Well, my FIL tried to tell me that I "have to let him cry sometimes" when DS was 3 WEEKS OLD!

But I also wanted to post something that my own mother says that I think is really great advice. In response to my worrying a while back about DS's bedtime routine (what if I'm making it so that he'll never go to sleep without me... what if... what if...) My mom told me not to worry, keep on doing whatever was getting both me and DS the most sleep and that

"Whatever you do now can be undone later if you want"

I love it because I felt like my mom was giving me the "permission" I was looking for. AND she's been totally supportive of us co-sleeping, even though she never did that (unless we were sick or scared from a nightmare).

Finally, she apologized to me for letting me cry it out when I was a baby.
 
#87 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Beauchamp View Post
from Step-MIL (currently visiting...ugh!)

"Well, (deep Southern accent) you stay home and don't have to work because your husband goes to work and brings home the bacon." (While this may be true, it was still weird to hear from her.)
I had someone say this to me. My response: "No, I stay home because I breastfeed, use cloth diapers, clip coupons, cook from scratch, and keep us from having to pay for daycare." That irks the hell out of me. Yes, my husband goes out and works. But raising a baby and running a household full-time, on a very tight budget (we are not well-off), is work. The money I save through the aforementioned activities allows me to stay home as much as the money my husband brings home. As in, I bake all of our bread because it saves 3-5 bucks a week, for one example.

/rant, sorry
 
#88 ·
We;re thinking about maybe putting DD1, now 3.5 in pre-K in the fall. There's a free program through our local school district. We're not decided, for a variety of reasons.

When I told my Mom we were thinking about it and had reserved her a spot just in case we decide to do it, she said "Wow, I didn't think she was that independent yet!"

Huh? You're constantly telling me how surprised you are that she's as independent as she is, since I nursed her for soooo long (19 months, she weaned when I was PG with DD2) and since I always just pick her up and since I never just let her cry, and...

What do ya know? Now, despite all of my parenting, she's grown "independent" to you. Whatever that means!
 
#91 ·
step-MIL-- "The sleep experts say that having a baby in your room for more than a year is a boundary violation."

me-- "Oh, I hadn't heard that. Have you heard of Dr. Sears?"

step-MIL-- "No, not *prominently*" (whatever THAT means.)

me-- "He's a well known pediatrician, his wife is a nurse, and they have about 8 kids, many of whom are well known doctors as well. He is a big supporter of sleep-sharing, in whatever way the family sleeps best."

step-MIL-- (laughing snootily) "Well, how did he even GET 8 kids if they slept with the first one?!? How did they even make a second baby?"

me-- "Well, you don't exactly need the master bedroom to make a baby."

step-MIL-- (eyebrows in hairline) "You mean you're telling me the PARENTS had to make some kind of appointment to have their bedroom to themselves?!?"

me-- (trying to laugh it off) "no, I'm just saying there are other rooms in the house, aren't there?"

step-MIL-- (getting nasty now) "I just don't understand how they can with their child in the room."

me-- "Well, that's what the kitchen table is for, isn't it?"

step-MIL-- (Silence. Eyebrows in hairline. Shakes her head.)

Yep, she hates me now.
 
#93 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Beauchamp View Post
step-MIL-- (laughing snootily) "Well, how did he even GET 8 kids if they slept with the first one?!? How did they even make a second baby?"

Whenever people say things like this to me, I want to make a joke about how boring their sex life must be. I'm a single mom though, so I'm not really one to talk about sex lives....(I don't have one, but I'm 100% ok with that!)
 
#94 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelly1101 View Post

I am guilty of sometimes attributing to the mythical doctor things I don't feel like arguing about: "the doctor says that co-sleeping is good for the baby" "the doctor says that picking up babies when they cry improves their social development." Etc. Haha.
Dr. Sears TOTALLY counts!!! He's a Dr right??
 
#95 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Beauchamp View Post
step-MIL-- "The sleep experts say that having a baby in your room for more than a year is a boundary violation."

me-- "Oh, I hadn't heard that. Have you heard of Dr. Sears?"

step-MIL-- "No, not *prominently*" (whatever THAT means.)

me-- "He's a well known pediatrician, his wife is a nurse, and they have about 8 kids, many of whom are well known doctors as well. He is a big supporter of sleep-sharing, in whatever way the family sleeps best."

step-MIL-- (laughing snootily) "Well, how did he even GET 8 kids if they slept with the first one?!? How did they even make a second baby?"

me-- "Well, you don't exactly need the master bedroom to make a baby."

step-MIL-- (eyebrows in hairline) "You mean you're telling me the PARENTS had to make some kind of appointment to have their bedroom to themselves?!?"

me-- (trying to laugh it off) "no, I'm just saying there are other rooms in the house, aren't there?"

step-MIL-- (getting nasty now) "I just don't understand how they can with their child in the room."

me-- "Well, that's what the kitchen table is for, isn't it?"

step-MIL-- (Silence. Eyebrows in hairline. Shakes her head.)

Yep, she hates me now.
Nice one!!
 
#96 ·
Ds has food sensitivities, and I was on an ED. I lost a little bit of weight. My grandma left a phone message that I should stop nursing and give ds formula
yeah right!
My grandma has strong opinions- cd'ing is too hard, I was mean for not giving ds1 candy (even if he didn't ask for it. lol) etc. But she's a *total* believer in holding babies a lot, and always comforting them when they cry, so she gets a
for that.

My mom just had some generic "giving him water to drink might help his rash" and "breastfeeding is so hard" and "give him cereal before bed and he might sleep better." But she's really accepting of what I do, and doesn't mention those things more than once.

My MIL thought that EC was awesome, and kept saying that she hoped ds2 would be potty trained before he was 1yo. We were totally laidback about it, and he's on a major potty strike atm.
However, when ds1 was was little, she was different. He HATED being put down. She was pretty sure we made it up, I think, because she'd just take him from me and put him down. And yeah, he cried. Dp was just like "uh, we don't want him to cry!" and she backed off. I asked him to talk to her, and she's improved greatly since then.
 
#97 ·
For a while my mom was referring to DS as "MY baby" too.

She would call and say "So how is MY BABY doing?" and I would respond, "Well, I'm doing ok, things are a little tough at work, but whatever..." and on and on.

Or when she was over she would say "Oh let me see MY LITTLE BABY" and I would say, "Well, I'm a little busy right this second but give me a minute and I'll come over and give you a hug."

And so on and so on. She got the hint and we all had a good laugh.
 
#98 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Beauchamp View Post
me-- "Well, that's what the kitchen table is for, isn't it?"

step-MIL-- (Silence. Eyebrows in hairline. Shakes her head.)

Yep, she hates me now.

*wild applause* I love you now.

I know. I don't understand how people don't realize that sex IS in fact possible in other places around the house....
 
#99 ·
Ooooh man.

My mom is big on trying to talk us into doing things she did.

Its time for the chicken bones....at 5 months. I wouldnt let any of my kids chew on a bone at any age....

I just got out of the hospital...was gone for 2 weeks. Was so sick, couldnt pump and baby is now on formula. EVERYONE thinks this is great, as I had to cut out dairy and soy due to his sensitivities. Mom, stepmom, and dad all said " its been long enough....how long could you have wanted to nurse?"
longer than 5 months......

Oh my mil.... and dhs nana....ugh. Dd1 had severe allergies and was formula fed. We went through lots of formulas before finding out it was dairy and soy allergies. In the meantime, they were all pushing for every other feeding to be water and telling dh it couldnt possibly be anything other than gas, no such thing as allergies.


Oooh my favorite. I let my ds1 spend the night with my mom over the weekend. He comes home insane, throwing fits, melting down, etc... I asked him what he ate. two ice creams, chocolate milk, juice (hawain punch), skittles, chips, sugary cereal, and maple candy. I called and asked her why she gave him that much junk, told her he was off the walls. "Oh, hes probably just tired....that stuff wouldnt have messed with how he acts!!"
 
#100 ·
This thread makes me so grateful for my mom. Today we were grocery shopping and there was a table of baby stuff on sale. My mom picks up a tube of teething gel and says "Look Honey! This is approved by that Dr. Sears that you like so much!" So she got if for us. It was very sweet because it just showed how much she pays attention to all the details.

My son is HUGE- just turned three months and is in 9 month clothes. I mean, I don't know if he is, but everyone seems to thinks so... Someone suggested we give him bottles of water as a "diet" and my mom was quick to tell them I was nursing and he was "genetically engineered" to be "tall and strong." I loved that.
 
#101 ·
best advice from my mom- I had called asking if she could come over b/c i was about to pee my pants but the baby cried everytime i tried to put her down. "it's okay Courtney, you can lay the baby down while you pee."
me- "but she cries."
mom- "you have to take care of yourself, she will be okay while you pee."
that was the beginning of a much happier bladder.

step MIL- after we had been mean and yelled at dd#1 the night dd#2 was born. she kept coming into the room (of course she did, she had a brand new baby sister), and we were soooo exhausted (43 hour labor) that we just yelled at her and then dh chased her out of the room (okay yes we still feel bad about this) "imagine a scale, on one side put the things you have done wrong or regret and on the other put all the times you have done a good job and been a great parent. You're a great mom she knows that."

My mil does not agree with us on any parenting thing, but she NEVER tells us what to do, although iwas shocked when she told me that she just doesn't like baby's, she can't stand their crying. If they were dry and fed then she would just shut them in a room and let them cry. (she has 4 kids, the last has downs), my DH says they always propped the kids bottles. The ONE thing she did is when dd#1 was spending th night she cried at night and wanted to call me. I told her she could call me whenever even at night. MIL told her she couldn't call me b/c it was night. she never spent the night again.

my mom is/was pretty crunchy, i sontinued BF my first even though it hurt b/c i was afradid of her. When dd#1 was 2 and i was pregnant she kept trying to get me to quite breastfeeding b/c you can't feed 2 babies at the same time! I am a twin. she has often talked about football hodling each of us while e nursed. I told her this, her response "well you were the same age, it isn't fair to the baby to make her share."
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top