To find it weird when parents refer to their children as their “best friend/s?”

Love it. 😍I have 4 cats. All my best friends as I cant find any adult humans to be my best friend. Tried my dc to be my BFF. That didn't work. Trying kitten stuff now instead 😂

@Endofyear I agree that the emotional support is the key difference. My Dad relies on me for emotional support and it can be wearing tbh. I don’t think I’ll never rely on my children in the same way.

I think this is just weird. Do you not have an adult friend who is your best friend?

Do you talk about your hopes and fears and issues in your life with your 8 year old? Do you pop out for coffee or a glass of wine with your 8 year old to catch up with stuff.

I think your issue is you need some adult chums.

Just weird af and to call your 8 year old your bf.

For those of you saying you're (best) friends with your children why is that preferable than being their parent?

Surely if you're close, enjoy spending time with them and have a positive relationship that's a very admirable relationship to have achieved with your child and you can just be proud you're a good mum and you have a close relationship.

My mum was my best friend. I’ll never have another like her. We knew each other inside out and could communicate with a single look. I miss her dreadfully.

So my 4 year old and 2 year old call my DH and their best friends. Nothing we imposed on them, they just picked it up from nursery. Is this weird? No I don’t think so, it’s cute if anything and some days apparently im
not their best friends!!

Totally agree. Your kids should not be your best friends. Nor you theirs.
I am my children’s parent. We are very close. But I am their parent. And I parented them well!

I feel the same about referring to one’s child as “the love of my life” and an evening together as “date night”.

Ok I get that. But from the other side do you really want her thinking the same about you. She's 19. Surely she needs to have proper friendships with people her own age aNd have best friends in that group.

Of course none of that detracts from get close relationship with yiu. But surely yiu don't really want your daughter thinking you are her bf

You are never your child’s best friend

and yes I do think it’s problematic having seen adults say this - their boundaries are all over the place

I have adult sons and I would say they're my favourite people in the world ☺️ I love spending time in their company. But it's not a 'friend' relationship. I talk to my closest friends about things I wouldn't talk to my sons about. I wouldn't lean on my sons for emotional support - I have my female friends for that.

I think it's odd. My experience is that the parent often overshares with their "best friend" child.

My kids are all adults. We are definitely friends, if by that, we share common interests, actively enjoy doing things together etc (eg I went snowboarding with my eldest yesterday... bad move.. I'm too damn old!) but at the end of the day I am MUM, and that is a far more important relationship.
We share thoughts, and advice (goes both ways) and I value them as adults. There is friendship in our relationship but I will always be their parent !

Meh, I can see why it bothers people as it implies a lack of parental boundaries but I think it’s possible be both.

My DS is 8 and is definitely my best mate. I love hanging out with him and have so much fun together. Same with my mum tbh!

But I’m also a very authoritative parent to him too.

I don't think it's weird when you are talking about grown up children to be honest. I think it's lovely that they have level relationships with each other. My parents were shit so I like seeing healthy, happy family relationships.

My dd is 15 and she is great to be around. We are a lot alike and our relationship is very easy. Obviously there are boundaries there but we both enjoy spending time together. I'd like to think that that will continue as she gets older.

I think it blurs the lines between parent and child. Its not a term I've ever used.

Me too, there’s not a chance I’d have a best friend that treats I’d die and to me the way my 15DS does.

I agree.

I love mine but I don't want to be their best friend. I'd think I'd failed if I was tbh. Their bf should be someone they are at school college uni work with etc.

The mothers I know that say this about their adult daughters seem over invested / involved in their daughters’ lives. And I think that it has hampers the daughters’ independence

Same here. One acquaintance actually moved to be close to her daughter at University! How about letting the young woman assert her independence??

And a family member's suffocating relationship with her adult daughter ended up playing a big part in the daughter's divorce. Who wants their MIL glued to their wife like a barnacle?

Those here who have said they call their DD their best friend, do you have other children?

@weareallcats That’s how it is with my children as well. I’ll always be there for her and listen to her problems, for example, but I don’t expect her to listen to mine. I phone a friend if I need a moan and vice versa. 🤣

YANBU. There’s an Insta mum blogger who calls her toddler DD this. Drags her round coffee shops, cinema and hair appointments all day… she’s 2. Hopefully she has a life outside of this but virtually every minute of their day is accounted for on stories and she never seems to have any play dates, toddler groups, family visits… it’s all a bit sad, literally just them 2.

I think, as another poster said, it's a turn of phrase! I'm a single parent to a young daughter. We spend all our time together and j often refer to her as my little best friend! That doesn't mean to say we stay up drinking wine and gossiping together!!! I think you're overthinking. I have a lot of boundaries and can be very strict when I need to be. But we also have great fun together and are a little team.

Absolutely agree. I love my adult children dearly and I am there for them through anything. We are close. We are not friends. We are Mom/Daughter and Mom/Son

Yep. Weird.