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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be wobbly about the relationship with grown dd?

83 replies

Eeehbaheck · 09/07/2025 14:33

Dd ,26, is very kind and empathetic when she wants to be and is in the mindset.l
I find the dynamic between us challenging .. aibu ?

Examples

she lives quite far away . Understandably when she visits she wants to cram in doing as much as possible with us .
This involves us at night time watching tv she likes and games - which dh and I do not like - but we do a couple and engage.
Then after a few rounds dh and I usually want to stop and do something else.. when we see her its “ oh you dont want to play games/ why dont t you like them and there is definitely a tension around it - as if we have to be seen to play games each visit as she brings them .

We have just been on holiday with her.
we had a fab time but also she told us that she felt she had to look after us , plan And that it was tiring.
She did not have to do that- but if she had noy booked taxis etc , we wd have done do - maybe to diff places and at a different pace .
i seem to remember going to the local market and cooking also so its not as if was doing nothing

It feels to us that if we do what she wants she is happy but if we step outside that she is easy to flip into irritation.

for eg when she visits - sometimes for a week , if I go upstairs to read for a while - it gets noted.
she says something like oh when zi come you go up to your retreat - cubby hole. ( a small bedroom i use to read)
when out ds comes he chills, goes to his room for a bit but when dd comes we feel ‘ monitored’ - an to be seen to be ‘lacking ‘
/judged - this has led to us feeling a little on edge when she comes which compounds the issue.
She seems to want us in her life but we feel we are a disappointment !

exa

OP posts:
OurMavis · 09/07/2025 15:35

I understand the feeing that you’re not “fun” enough for your bright-eyed, bushy-tailed young human. Life has tired us out and we’ve done everything thousands of times, they’re just getting started.

Haha I love this. I do struggle to be "interesting" to my late 20s DC.

My DC are very different.
DS2 lives too far to just drop by so he comes for a weekend. He's very chilled and easy going, great company, no demands. He's even been on holiday with us.
DS2 lives nearer and comes over for dinner sometimes. He fills us with his news, he's always enthusiastic about something, often work or sport, but he's exhausting!

I love and adore them both but only one I would choose to live with.

Eeehbaheck · 09/07/2025 15:35

OriginalUsername2 Whilst I get what you mean - I often go to a local gig x1 a week and sometimes fri , sat and sun .
I often do much more than dd.

I wd be more than happy if she came with us - when she comes she does not want to .
She wants to fo things together on her terms.

OP posts:
Eeehbaheck · 09/07/2025 15:32

TomatoSandwiches
Yes .
I used to think it was lack of confidence as a child.
I remember as a teen we went shopping tho and I feltv faint and she was happy to continue shopping for clothes when I was literally lying down in the changing toom.
She often seems ready to be angry and suggests that we treat ds morelike he is a child so I wonder whats going on there if anything.

When she comes if we suggest an meal - she wants to organise Also she does not want us to see , or meet or friends when she comes- she wants just us .
I am a socialble introvert - if love to have parties or get together s when she comes so she sees our life ( balanced with downtime) but she says she has come to see just us and a lotof local s are werid.
So when she comes we spend little time in out little village but outside it .
I had a professional occupation , had X 2 dc and have good friends amd an active social life ,and I feel an anxious , walking on egg shell person when she comes - I never know when this ‘ disaproval ‘ will emerge- we end up exhausted.

OP posts:
OriginalUsername2 · 09/07/2025 15:28

When our DS comes home for a few days we all gather together for the first day to catch up, then he basically slots into our home lives. He goes to the gym, visits a friend, grabs some groceries, does some work, plays video games, reads, cooks, catches up on Netflix, etc. We aim to book a few days out and trips each year but mostly it’s normal life he’s joining.

I think your dd expects too much.

You should be able to disappear off to have some alone time. In our house we all like a bit of that time for ourselves.

I understand the feeing that you’re not “fun” enough for your bright-eyed, bushy-tailed young human. Life has tired us out and we’ve done everything thousands of times, they’re just getting started.

TomatoSandwiches · 09/07/2025 15:05

She sounds like a control freak, has she always been this way?

Eeehbaheck · 09/07/2025 14:57

We have talked about it . We have explained that to us there is nothing wrong with alone time and its not personal to here .
That we comprise this when she comes as we want to see her , and alongside that we need sometime to charge out batteries.
for eg when my brother visits he sits and reads . He would hate ut if he did not feel he could do that .

Its the annoyance , despite doing more , that we somewhat dread !

OP posts:
Thingsthatgo · 09/07/2025 14:46

It sounds to me that DD someone who likes to do things, to fill her time with activities and plans ahead to do so. She finds it frustrating that you are more passive. Is she extraverted?
I need time to decompress, but my sister does not. We are both aware of it though, and plan accordingly. Neither of us take it personally, it’s just a difference of personality. Maybe try talking about it.

Eeehbaheck · 09/07/2025 14:37

Its like she wants to see us , but within days we are on pins as we feel like we are an annoyance .
for eg she also commented on how often we speak to ds but when we see her she seems keen but then is snappy or on the verge of it quite a bit unless we centre out activity around her .
its like being organized for a week 😂

OP posts:
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