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What are some good responses when my mom gives me unwanted advice in reference to my parenting of my daughter (her granddaughter)?

Asked by jca (36062points) September 21st, 2010

I have a daughter who is 3. My mother frequently gives me her advice on how I should parent my daughter. The sentences usually start with the following:
“you should”
“you might”
“you need to”
“you need to control her”
“you could”
and today what was really annoying was hearing her say “so and so down the street has a 3 year old daughter and she is training her to…” That was annoying to the point where I just got up and walked away.

The “advice” is not helpful (at least not presented in that fashion) and just annoys the crap out of me. Just as an aside, my mom speaks this way regarding non-parenting issues, also. We had seen a therapist together a few years ago, and he told me (when she was not present) that she “just can’t help herself.” In other words, she is probably not going to change this behavior any time soon, and she is now 68, so I am not expecting her to suddenly stop it now.

What are some good responses or what are some ways I can respond to this “advice?”

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