Every mom I know has a knack of insulting their children without knowing it. There are various methods my own mother employs.
The back-handed compliment:
The “helpful” work she does:
The comparison to other women my age she knows:
The comparison to her own mothering skills:
And my personal favorite, the completely nonsensical remark:
I’m so glad I’m not like that with my own kids.
My grandmother had to go to the hospital about 20 years ago or so, so my mother went to meet the ambulance there. My grandmother saw her as she was being unloaded. “My sweet Marian is here for me!” she said, and then immediately followed it up with “Marian, you know you’ve got to cut your hair. It’s far too much hair for that little face of yours.”
Oh, MOMS.
I heard about 80% of these comments from my mom this weekend. GAH mothers…
and i think their memories get a little exaggerated, too. apparently i was talking full sentences at 9 months.
With me it’s my Grandma who was filled with these witticisms. As in, “You are really too fair-skinned not to wear lipstick.” I think Grandma’s comments are the reason why my mom is so forgiving of my pallid complexion. After all, Grandma had all the kids out of diapers before they could walk, and still managed to never leave the house without lipstick.
My grandma (at almost 92) likes to put herself to work at my mom’s house or my sister’s house working on the plants. Of course she can’t resist making the little comments about it being “so easy” to tend if only you’d spend the “couple of minutes” that it takes to keep it up.
When my mother came to visit last time, I made sure to clean my apartment top to bottom. I came home three days later to find her scrubbing my shower.
Oh no!!!