Things that make you RAGE about your parents?

[Derby2022]

Okay, bit of a light-hearted topic whilst dinner is cooking

What things make you RAGE when talking to your parents?

This has all stemmed from a bit of a snappy row Ive just had with my mother this afternoon for context:

My mother has this thing where if, in the first 10 seconds, she isn't interested in a topic or what I or my sibling has to say she'll sigh and go "yeah yeah get to the point" - I've always found it quite rude, YES I know there are some people who do waffle (looking at the woman at the end of every staff meeting with the questions...) But I just find it so rude to say that, especially when the "point" is what you/I am currently explaining! It comes across to me that the person has zero interest in the conversation and just wants you to shut up.

Does anyone else think this is so rude?

ANYWAY, was talking to my sister about Mum and she mentioned she finds it really rude/irritating when Mum makes comments about the neighbour's garden...it's nothing to do with her and my sibling is getting sick of hearing about next doors bloody rotten fence!

So MN's tell me things that make you RAGE about your parents - to give me a chuckle!

So many of these things are relatable!!

My mum moans about my dad, but does absolutely everything for him. Won't hear of leaving his dirty pants to pile up on the floor till he realises, just moans about it in a joint WhatsApp group so my dad can read it too,its excruciatingly awkward!!

My dad is also turned into a closet racist and homophobe which is a big surprise to me given that I wasn't raised that way and had no inkling of it at all. If something gets him started he goes on about how easy all the LGBTQ+ and non-white people have it now, that black lives matter is racist against white people. But I suspect that's quite a common thing in his generation sadly

Oh god yes and bloody Brexit of course!

My parents have always been like that.

You sound lovely so I'm fairly confident you've nothing to worry about as you'll stay lovely

I absolutely love my parents and IMO they are streets ahead of most other people's (I don't tell people this obviously) but they still manage to do some things that drive me bonkers.

They're both going deaf but each insists only the other one is, and furthermore that everyone around them "mumbles".

My mum: flatly deny that I've told her things and get very offended when I insist I have - even if it was 3 days ago and I can recount everything about the circumstances. It's not dementia she's always done this. But at the same time gets very offended if I ever forget anything she's said.

Let half the fridge go thick with mould/soupy/way beyond the normal realm of out of date, but get extremely cross if they catch me binning it. "That yoghurt is fine!" "But it was best before last October, smells like a rugby club septic tank and is climbing with green fur" "Tsk honestly just scrape the top off it!"

(I'd like to say on the very plus side my mum always puts fresh flowers in my room when I visit which is just lovely.)

Same here! Like, seriously. How are they busier?

Are you my sister? 😂

Oh the busy-ness! My mum will ring me (very full on full-time job) to ask me to do an errand for her which she could easily do, then continue to hassle me until I've done it. She's too busy, you see.

I have got better at handling this one over the years - unfortunately sounding upset and overworked is the only thing that works! Back when I'd ask a logical question like "Can't you pop down the road and ask in the shop?" would just cause The Wrath.

An inability, or unwillingness (I’m not sure which) to use google. It seems they’d rather wonder and speculate, or wait for someone else (me) to look it up rather than access information which is at their fingertips (both are quite capable of using their iPad).

@Frazzledmummy123 Mayyybeeee

So many comments on here are relateable to my parents, not listening, talking about people I don't know, the ins and outs of every medical appointment, negative about everyone, never makes an effort to invite us anywhere, right...etc etc.

And @maddy68 Brexit, made worse by the fact that they worked in Europe, amazing life, moving cities, on contract for many years, making really good money. They retired to the sun in Europe, owning a house with a pool. DF had the most amazing treatment, for a serious health issue, whilst in Spain, life saving ( yet they call out our ‘foreigners’ for using the NHS.
They have had amazing adventures and experiences yet are happy to deny me and my children the right to experience the same.

My worry is, we alllturn out the same, self centred, old people.

My mum didn't drive but wasn't keen on walking/cycling/getting public transport, so dad (and when we were old enough) me and siblings were required to give her and friends lifts. She would be really dramatic about either pulling out in front of something "gawd do you want us to be killed by a bus?" 😳 when the bus was about half a mile away, or massive loud tuts (possibly winding the window down and yelling "bloody fool!" ) if any other vehicle pulled out in front regardless that there was plenty of space. Also lots of complaining if you parked in a space which was the tiniest bit inconvenient to where she wanted to go, even though there were no easy/available spaces nearer.
It used to wind me up at the time, but she died 12 years ago and now it just makes me laugh

My mum bit me as a teen, raged at me, had sex in front of me and my little db, spent all my childhood drunk, made fun of me growing up, made fun of me as a parent...and now wonders why i don't visit.

It’s been so interesting reading all these. It seems that the older you get the more attention you need, and the more unreasonable you get.

My mum is jealous of me having close friendships, I have a really lovely friend who literally wouldn’t say boo to a goose and my mum dislikes her because ‘she has a feeling about her’. She’s also horribly vitriolic about another close friend. A girl I was close to in my teens and am still friends with she had a feeling ‘I’d come to great harm with her’. Funnily enough it hasn’t happened in 34 years, I wonder when the prophesy will come true!

I agree with you,that is very rude! My DM (who passed away just over 11 years ago) had a bit of a hang-up about her next door neighbours' cars. Barely a day would go by without some comment along the lines of 'Oh Christine's car is parked on their driveway now,it was parked on the road earlier',or 'Derek's car hasn't moved all week'. Harmless stuff,I know,but for some reason it used to really irritate me!

There's a theory that chronic exposure to lead from leaded petrol has turned the baby boomers into borderline sociopaths (on average! I'm sure some of them are ok). So the younger generations should be safer from this decay.

Oh my goodness. I had no idea this was a "thing".

That's reassuring.

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2020104118

Oh my lord. I can so relate. Since they got married 50+ years ago, they’ve always had two towels in the kitchen. A hand towel (smaller than a guest towel) and a tea towel. And god forbid that you ever, ever use the wrong one.

This one makes me sad rather than ragey really.

My kids are quite clued up politically because Brexit was discussed a lot in our family. Misinformation and whataboutery etc pointed out.

They adored their grandad when they were little.

However since watching the Brexit debacle from the promised 350 million fir the NHS, the EU is on the verge of collapse, chewier energy, cheaper food, cheaper clothes and shoes back in 2016 to how things are now. They've had quite a political education.

And they think my dad's a fool.

Now it's more about the Tories. He doesn't want to talk about Brexit these days.

My dad says things like however bad the Conservatives have been funnelling billions of pounds of our money to their mates via for example: the VIP Lane for substandard PPE that cost millions to store and then had to be burnt Keir Starmer is doing worse.

The kids ask him how that's possible when KS isn't in power and can't funnel public money to anybody and Dad says "He's up to worse you just don't hear about it because the British press is anti Conservative!!" The kids say "Reaaallly Grandad?! You think the Times and the Telegraph, The Mail, The Express and The Sun are lefties?!" Then we usually get a diatribe about all the news programmes on tv are biased against Boris and if the kids don't give up it ends with "You'll grow out of these socialist ideas and something about Harold Wilson or Corbyn.

I think it'll get worse as they get older and it makes me sad.

My DM has this awful habit of asking me how I am and what I've been up to and before I've even finished a sentence in reply she will get distracted and start talking to someone else! She emphatically denied she does this when I got fed up and told her! Makes me feel like she has zero interest in me.

My dad being racist. Calling Indians Put-Puts, moaning about Asian nurses he can't understand because of their accent. He went through a stage of making these comments every time my parents came to dinner. FYI, my DH is Anglo Indian and my DS is therefore mixed race!

I'd forgotten about this thread.
I'm sorry you're experiencing that @L4R4CR0FT it sounds horrible.

The poster who said mine will probably moan about me in 30 years time. They already moan about me ( they're adults ) and tell me off on occasions 😂

I'm sorry that some of you posters have had awful times with your parents, it makes me thankful for mine, despite their ding dongs over silly stuff, they're fabulous parents / grandparents.

It's not.

@Maireas

This is a bit of a zombie thread from last February- but just looked back to see the relevance of my comment in relation to a thread I had completely forgotten (I had the alert you had mentioned me) .

The OP's opening line was

Okay, bit of a light-hearted topic whilst dinner is cooking

Morning! I didn't realise it was a zombie!
I was just agreeing with your point! 😊