Aibu my mil told my son he had dirty teeth

[LizziW]

Ok deep breath. Last night my MIL popped in. She told my 5yo ds his teeth looked dirty. He replied well they probably are I've been eating all day and you did bring me biscuits. Anyway she the proceeded to explain how to clean his teeth in front of me. I said are you serious he cleans his teeth they are fine (dentist confirmed) I feel like you are calling me a bad parent?
My ds 2 was in tears at bed time in case his teeth were dirty (they were sparkling)
Never posted on here but feel cross on my sons and my behalf!

Not great but my gran is like this as she has dentures so is keen to get people to care for their teeth! I'd let it go.

Hmm. She probably did speak out of turn but your DS's answer was much better than yours! His upset is more likely to be because you made a big deal of it than that he was actually worried about this teeth, especially as he'd given MIL a perfectly good reason why they might have been dirty at that time.

My test in these situations, is how would you have reacted if your own mother had said the same thing?

Yabu, what's wrong with telling them their teeth were dirty? They will hear a lot worse in their life.

Everyone's teeth need a good clean at the end of the day so YABU to get defensive about the state of his teeth. Id probably be a bit peeved that she'd said it though (whether it was my MIL or my DM!) as obviously I would be making sure they would be cleaned before bed so seems a bit pointless IYSWIM?

Is it just me wondering how teeth can look dirty? Unless someone has a mouthful of food?

I like your son's riposte to her. Genius!

Did she even flinch when he said that? I'm not sure I could have kept a straight face myself.

Let it go. If she starts again then tell her to leave it alone, and remind her about the sweets and biscuits she very likely brought round for him earlier.

Just to confirm his teeth looked beautiful and I made no issue whatsoever I front of him so he didn't know I had a problem at all, we made a joke that nanny said thirty teeth not dirty teeth! To be honest I think it's just a bit of a dig at me ... Hey ho! Thanks for all your responses, dh is working away so just needed someone over 7 to vent on;-)

Maybe it's a bit of a MIL thing, wanting to be part of the caring side of things with Grandchildren? (thought she absolutely was overstepping the mark saying that to a 5 year old). Mine likes to wash the children's faces as soon as she's near them, and will try to spit on a hankie and smooth down their hair (using the spitty hankie) if they'll stand still long enough. 9 year old now shouts "No, Nanna, we don't spit, it's rude and we're not camels", but 4 year old loves it. Vile.

You are over-reacting.

Teeth definitely can look dirty, my sons' teeth look furry some mornings! It's a bit weird that she said they were dirty when they weren't though but I wouldn't assume this is a dig at you unless this is part of a wider pattern.

Blimey! I think you over reacted a bit.