Does this bother you?
This doesn't bother me at all and never has. I feel like grandparents are just shortening "My grandbaby" to "My baby" and I guess I'm just not ever worried people are confused as to who the actual parents are.
But I have lots and lots of friends IRL that get really angry about this--and if they are honest, mostly angry about MILs specifically using it.
Does this bother you?
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
I don't think it would bother me unless everything else about the person annoyed me?
nectarine / 2834 posts
It actually kinda does bother me. My mom and aunt (who i really don't care for) call her "my girl" all the time. It's one thing when they say it to her but they ask me "where's/how's my girl?" And that annoys me.
persimmon / 1313 posts
My mother calls LO "mini me" and it grates my nerves like no other, especially since she's never met her. 
Otherwise, if I were close to that family member, things like that wouldn't bother me. My sister calls her "my baby" and it's not a problem.
watermelon / 14467 posts
It depends on the day. 95% of the time, it doesn't bother me. Days like today, when I've had 4 hours of sleep and am not feeling well, it bothers me.
pear / 1787 posts
UGHHHH i am pregnant with my first and my mom does this and it drives me NUTS. every time i am like SHE IS NOT YOUR BABY, SHE IS MY BABY.
i guess reading your post makes me realize that maybe it's a bit silly for me to get so upset about it. but it really really bothers me for some reason. i think it's probably because i don't have the best relationship with my mom and she is horrible about overstepping boundaries. i think i'm worried if she starts thinking of it as her baby she is going to take liberties with "parenting" her in her own way and undermining me as her actual mother.
eggplant / 11716 posts
@loki: your feelings are really common though! I have a group of mom friends and this comes up often--especially if a MIL says something on a facebook post like "our baby is so advanced!". I'm totally in the minority among my mom friends--I think a comment like that is totally benign and sweet--some of my friends get absolutely livid over those comments.
pear / 1787 posts
@Anagram: i don't think it would bother me so much if my MIL did it. so i guess it's probably on a person to person basis. also i'm the one who has suffered through this pregnancy, no one else gets to claim the end result! haha.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
It definitely bothers me. I think partly because I don't understand it! The only person that does this is my SIL and she calls my kids "my baby". I'm like "WTF are you talking about? YOUR baby is over there. MY baby is just fine, thanks for asking." Why would you ever refer to someone else's child as YOUR baby??? I just don't get it!
clementine / 770 posts
I think it really would depend on your relationship with the person saying it. And how clearly they respect parenting boundaries.
My little girl has extreme anxiety with visitors so even if someone says something like that I know they very clearly know she's mine. Since she's trying to get back to me the moment they touch her.
eggplant / 11716 posts
@Adira: I think it's just a colloquialism for our times. I hear about it often enough that I assume it's just a phrase that's pretty popular.
pomegranate / 3872 posts
When I was pregnant and when she was so new it annoyed me a bit. Now it doesn't bother me at all. Even with my MIL who annoys me in general lol. I guess now I just feel like the bond between my LO and I could never be changed and it's obviously said out of love.
hostess / papaya / 10219 posts
Not in the least. I don't think any of them is under the impression that my child is their child. It's just a term of endearment. I find it very sweet and all his grandparents call him "my boy", or "my baby". And I distinctly remember my grandfather calling ME "my girl".
eggplant / 11716 posts
@travellingbee: now that you mention it, maybe that's why I don't find it offensive? My grandmother always called me "my girl", like "how's my girl?" and I loved it.
grapefruit / 4997 posts
No it doesn't bother me. It's just a term of endearment like my sweetie or my boo boo. I think it's really sweet when people do that.
hostess / papaya / 10219 posts
@Anagram: yes mine too. I can't really understand being threatened by it. His family loves him dearly but they aren't trying to replace me. I'm his mom. I love that they are so bonded with him.
pomegranate / 3272 posts
Not even a little. I love that there are people in my children's lives that love them as much as I do.
I feel like most people I know that get irritated by this only do so if they don't like the person saying it.
blogger / pomegranate / 3300 posts
I't doesn't bother me. I also had grandparents who called me my girl and even though he has been gone for 15 years I can still very clearly and fondly remember my grandpa saying there's my girl and how's my girl doing today. Some times my dad calls my daughter Papa's little girl and it just melts my heart.
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
No my dad always says "how's my girl" and I think it's adorable. It doesn't bother me, I think it's sweet that they love her that much and it's just a term of endearment.
pear / 1547 posts
It bothers me, but I try and ignore it. It's really just because it brings up the boundary issues during maternity leave where family stayed with us (we live across the country so they either had to be here visiting or not at all) and I really felt like they interfered with my bonding with LO and would steal away time from her. So I'm a bit touchy about that. I know it's all well meaning but it still just pokes at those memories! The first time I cried postpartum was when my mom wouldn't give LO back to me to hold after she had been helping me out when I did something like take a shower, and then I sat downstairs and cried because she wouldn't give her back to me and I felt like I couldn't force her.
pomegranate / 3565 posts
It doesn't bother me at all. My sister says it all te time and I used to say that about her kids. My boys are her babies too! It just means she loves them.
But I do think it would annoy me if a family I didn't like said it.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
Doesn't bother me at all, but it actually bothers my son when you call him a baby, so we try not to say it!
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
It bothers me when my mother does it and I had to get her to stop. There's a lot of back story and context as to why it pushed my buttons, though. My MIL says "my girl" and stuff like that and it doesn't bother me.
Basically, if you have a good relationship with my daughter and see her and prioritize her, I am 100% cool with it. If you forget her birthday and put down my parenting choices, I am not cool with it!
cantaloupe / 6164 posts
Doesn't bother me at all. I'm glad my parents and IL's have so much interest in her!
pomegranate / 3791 posts
I don't like it. DH isn't a fan either, the first time his mom asked him, "How's my boy?" he was like, "I'm fine." Haha! Maybe it's possessive but I've been through a lot for these kids and they're mine!
pomegranate / 3845 posts
@Adira: I'm with you. I never call other people's kids "my baby". I don't even call them "my nephew" or whatever. It's just weird. Everyone knows I'm married to their uncle, which would make them my nephews, no need to emphasize it.
If my mom or MIL says "how's my baby?" I tell them how me or DH are doing lol
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@Applesandbananas: Yes! It's weird! Whenever someone does it, I'm just like "Do you mean MY baby?"
coffee bean / 33 posts
I think as a term of endearment it's cute and harmless but what bugs me is when it becomes possessive. I'm already hearing "you're not doing such and such with my baby, ha ha." It's like they stress the my. I'm not due until next month so I'm hoping this eases up when she gets here.
pomegranate / 3706 posts
My SIL does this-- looks me in the eye, holding my eldest, and says, "she's MY baby, not yours. She's mine!" Drives me nuts because I think it's weird.
I should add, I do love my SIL very much, just not this particular weird behavior.
honeydew / 7444 posts
@Anagram: @autumnlove: LOL before i saw any of the comments i thought, "it's usually a BEC thing."
I don't care - in the end, my baby knows who his mama is!
hostess / eggplant / 11068 posts
I only hate it when my MIL does it because, well, it's my MIL and I pretty much hate everything she does when it comes to my kids. 
grapefruit / 4455 posts
I think it's sweet.
Eta- but we haven't had any issues with people being possessive or whatever! In the very beginning it might have bothered me but at this point I've stopped getting a ton of unsolicited advice as dd is 2.5!
pomegranate / 3350 posts
My mom did it when i was pregnant. I thought it was a little weird but it didn't bother me. Probably would bother me if MIL did it but only because she barely shows any interest in them. The thing that does annoy me is when my step-mom calls my kids "Baby" as if it's their names. Like "Hi Baby!" to a 2 year old. Drives me crazy.
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