Hellobee Boards

My Dad kind of treats my daughter (who is 9 months old and crawling) like a dog. He makes kissy noises and calls her over like he would a dog. It drives me nuts, but I also kind of get it.

@SteelerGirl: Haha to be fair I catch myself doing that with my 4 month old sometimes, whistling to get her attention or something.

My MIL was visiting and we had the TV on in the background and DD looked at it for a bit and MIL told us to be careful or she'd turn into a "TV moron." DD is too young obviously to understand that but it is something I wouldn't want my MIL to call her when she's older! MIL does a lot of shit that bugs me so I'm sure it'll get much, much worse as DD grows up.

FIL calls LO hyper. It drives me insane. He's a normal 3 yo boy with a normal amount of energy for a kid his age.

@mediagirl: My dad did that too - "Papa isn't having a cookie because I already have a big belly." I asked him to try to not say stuff like that around the kids.

My mom is a total sugar addict, and she watches my DS 2 days a week. The other day my son said that Grandma has a special box where she can lock up candy because she can't control herself and she'll eat all of it. My mom's boundaries are nonexistent But when I talked with her about it, she understood that perhaps a 3 year old doesn't need to be exposed to the idea that people can't control themselves around sugar and need to lock it away.

My in laws are always calling DD1 tiny but they just don't stop at that one word. They go on to say how it looks like she hasn't grown much because she is a picky eater...etc! She is healthy and strong so I just have to ignore them.

@mediagirl: Nothing major but they use made up words like ba ba for bottle. And I'm like why.....he's already a late talker! Why confuse him?

My MIL has referenced cigarettes to my daughter and it is so weird. When she was only 3 weeks old and MIL was holding DD she said "a cute little pocket to put your cigarette in" while commenting on her outfit. Huh? Then a month or so ago (DD was 17 months) she said to DD she was "holding onto her paci like it is a cigarette". They don't smoke. It is so weird. Each time I was like did I hear that right? If she says it again I think I'm going to say something. She also said DD was wearing "sexy underwear" when commenting on her cloth diaper and another time said Emma is smart unlike those other dumb babies. The woman has no filter and says the weirdest things.

@travellingbee: My in-laws once wanted to buy my (then) 2 year old a present at the aquarium. He picked up a pink seahorse. My father in-law took it out of his hands, replaced it with a blue one, and said "Ok, you can have this one." I was furious. As revenge, when they asked us to buy him a Christmas present from them I bought a baby doll and stroller.

ugh. My mom will tell my boys I can't eat something because I'm "on a diet". Like if they are having ice cream and are like "momma, do you want some?/why aren't you having any?" she will say "momma, cant have that, she's on a diet"

I'm very careful to never say that. I always correct her and say "no, mommy could have some but she doesn't want/ is choosing not to right now"

I can remember very early both my parents always being on different diets. They have both been overweight my entire life and weight and diet is also something I have struggled with my entire life.

my husband and I eat very differently than our families and so do our kids. We talk about eating healthy food and limiting special treats but try not to focus on it.

I also am trying to teach my kids not to comment on or monitor others food choices because this is one of my pet peeves of other adults.

My MIL uses the word "caca." She also made a comment about my baby grabbing her daddy a beer. I want my girl to keep it classy and both of those things make me cringe.

@catlady: can you share why you don't like your daughter being told she is smart? I'm just so curious because I always tell my girl that she is smart and sweet!

@agold: We prefer to comment on how hard she works or how much she practices as opposed to how naturally smart she is. This is partially due to research that is out and partially due to my own experience as a kid.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-secret-to-raising-smart-kids1/

@catlady: That's pretty cool that we were thinking of the same article. I agree that commenting on hard work is better in the long run!

@winter_wonder: oh. I love chunky baby thighs and comment on them on my own kid's also other people's.

DH's grandmother always asks DD when she is going to "piss on the pot." It's gross and trashy to me. She says a lot of other obnoxious things but this is the one that gets me.

I'm not super picky about what people say because I figure I can't control everyone and not everything that everyone does has to be our common practice at home for the at home stuff to be effective.

That said when they let my kid/s pretend to drink beer it makes me cringe and I let it be known!!

I haven't heard it about my LO yet, but my MIL has a tendency to label my niece and nephew in ways that drive me crazy. In response to what I saw as normal toddler busy-ness, she told my SIL, "I have four letters for you: ADHD." I replied, "How about B-A-B-Y?!" I know I will lose my shit if she tries to pathologize DD like that.

Other than that, though, we are pretty lucky both with my parents and my in-laws.

My mom is constantly telling DD how pretty or cute she is. I get that we're on Skype and she lives too far away, but it's like she can't have a normal conversation and DD is now old enough to actually share stories.

I don't want to put emphasis on anyone's physical attributes. I've tried telling her, but it hasn't really helped.

I don't like when the in laws say to dd "big girls don't...xyz" meaning she's a big girl so she shouldn't be doing those things. Ok. Excuse me but dd is only THREE. Let her be!!

They also got her a book about giving up her blankey. Infuriates me. I hid that book. She can have her blankey for as long as she wants!