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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to ask what's the popular Mumsnet advice you think is bollocks? [edit: lighthearted added at OP's request]

351 replies

CoolToned · 16/09/2016 23:05

Game.

OP posts:
Lweji · 17/09/2016 09:02

Yes ltb, no unless he is actually abusive, otherwise work on your relationship.

It takes two to work on a relationship. So, if one can't be arsed, you can work all you like that it will still be shit.

It takes two to build a relationship and only one to ruin it.

RoseDeGambrinus · 17/09/2016 09:03

No personal experience of this (thank goodness) but I can't see why 'look for evidence that he's cheating' is always bad advice. Because it's not like he's likely to own up if asked. And surely few people would leave a marriage just on suspicion?

daisychain01 · 17/09/2016 09:05

LTB 99% of the time is sound advice. It rarely gets "trotted out" - it's usually to women in very abusive and unequal relationships. Same with NC

YY and to those on here mocking the LTB advice, you need to follow some of the threads and read what those women have to live through (a significant % Relationships Board). And witness the amazing handholding those women receive to help them get RL support they need to move on and rebuild their life.

LTB will reduce when we rid the world of dickheads

Chippednailvarnishing · 17/09/2016 09:06

"There's no real problem having a baby at a young age."

Except there is.

yorkshapudding · 17/09/2016 09:09

If your DH is lazy and treats you like shit he's "probably depressed".

Anyone repeatedly behaves badly or is dishonest has a "personality disorder".

Some people are just twats.

Lweji · 17/09/2016 09:11

You don't need to book plane tickets because the airline will have to move people (who have booked) to accommodate you and your child.
Seats.
Plane tickets are mandatory just to board. Wink If you don't book a plane ticket you will have no problem with the seats. Because you won't even get through to security.

Inertia · 17/09/2016 09:17

It's not really advice, but I hate the word 'bits' being used to describe either a meal or baby equipment.

' I passed on a few baby bits to my sister.'

' Just get picky bits for lunch.'

Crunchymum · 17/09/2016 09:17

Spa days
Call 111 and log a complaint
Go to A&E
Leave the kids and go out for the day (usually when the other partner has been out for the night and got drunk and isn't feeling great the next day..... yeah because people want to subject their kids to a hung-over, poorly, pathetic 'childminder')

Pagwatch · 17/09/2016 09:20

Telling someone what they should have said after the event always strikes me as particularly unhelpful.

Any advice that is just retaliation - ditto.

The 'did you mean to be so rude' snarking annoys me. The only time to use 'did you mean to be so rude' is when you have endlessly to deal with someone who says shitty things but pretends they didn't mean them or that you misunderstood. In my case it worked. I started mentioning it every time she did it and she had to stop. It was great. I'd had years of 'are you ok, you are not looking well' 'did ds2 dress himself this morning' 'DH has been away a long time - he must need the break' 'that dress is always so flattering on you when you are carrying extra weight' 'I admire how you don't bother the children with too many rules and manners - I couldn't'

When I started replying with 'gosh, that's not very kind' , 'I'm not sure how that sounded in your head but it's pretty rude' 'are you criticising the children - again?' 'Was that intentionally rude' it was all played out in social situations and it stopped her. She wanted a free pass to snipe but I made reference to it, asking her intention, every time.
She initially said 'oh sorry, I didn't mean it like that' a couple of times but it shone a light on it so she couldn't pretend anymore.
Her choice was then either to stop or to plough on with everyone aware of exactly what she was doing.

If you have never had to deal with someone who does endless low level sniping but acts like a victim when you eventually snap and say 'will you fucking stop' then it probably makes no sense. Equally if you are the sort of person who can say 'oh fuck off' straight away and don't need to keep a family social relationship going then sure, say that.
But if your wider family/social life is played out alongside someone who pretends to be lovely and smiles and says shitty things to dig at you, this might just help.

Of course it's fucking stupid thing to say to someone who is just being rude. But that was not why it was originally suggested.

Lweji · 17/09/2016 09:22

Call 111 and log a complaint

This is definitely bad advice, because 111 is the NHS non emergency number.

And go to A&E isn't bad advice. Some people do need to go.
In the same way that some people do need to call the police or 999.

hollyisalovelyname · 17/09/2016 09:22

Put Veet/ Nair down the plug hole to get rid of hair blockages.
That didn't work.

Ciutadella · 17/09/2016 09:23

don't be 'that parent'.
Which parent? why not?

Champagneformyrealfriends · 17/09/2016 09:23

You don't have a MIL problem, you have a DH/DP problem.

No, I do have a mil problem, and he has a DM problem.

Pagwatch · 17/09/2016 09:24

Rose,

If my marriage deteriorated to the point where I was trying to sneak around and find evidence that he was cheating then I absoloutely would end my marriage.
Because I married a man who I loved respected and trusted. If the trust and respect has gone - which it would have at the exact point I started trying to look through his phone for signs of sexting - then that relationship is pretty much over.

TheFallenMadonna · 17/09/2016 09:33

But Pagwatch, that's the way of things. It has entered into MN lore as what to say when someone is rude. People think they are sharing the collective wisdom, when in fact the original context is lost.

Ciutadella · 17/09/2016 09:34

Slightly tangential, but also, has anyone noticed a recent tendency to add a rhetorical 'not' in advice on mn?
So, instead of saying 'could you use online shopping instead of having to go to the supermarket?' A poster may say as 'could you not use online shopping....etc'

To me it somehow changes the tone of the advice to sound vaguely accusing rather then 'helpful suggestiony' but maybe it is just a new turn of phrase!

228agreenend · 17/09/2016 09:35

If you are short of cash this month, can you sell a few things on EBay...?

this seems to assume that if you sell something on eBay (or other selling sites, then:
A) it will sell,
B) it will sell quickly and you get the money quickly
C) you will get decent money for it

Doesn't happen in my experience, Clothes etc only sell for a few quid each, and by the time fees are deducted, you are not left with much. If I put 10 items on, I'll lucky if half will sell. Admittedly, a lot of £2 sales can add up, and are better than nothing, but it's not a quick way to bring in lots of money.

Cocklodger · 17/09/2016 09:37

OP: I'm on my knees financially, I cannot find any work within 2 hours public transport commute. I'm desperate for something but turning up totally empty. I am barely keeping my head above the water and only just, I had to go to the foodbank yesterday as I couldn't afford both food and electric.
suggestions like
''Can you do childminding'' yes because that doesn't take money (CRB checks etc) experience and a passion for the job.
'Can you do babysitting' I particularly hate this one. In my area at least you won't have a cats chance in hell at babysitting as thats something those who are halfway through a child related degree do for £4 an hour.
''Can you move'' what with no money? :S Are you offering to stump up a deposit, first months rent and the difference between prices of rent where you have no work vs lots of work (Cardiff, somewhere with lots of work is about 2-3x the price of the valleys, a place with very little work. I'd imagine english cities are the same....)
I always feel for people who have the courage to ask for help and get such stupid suggestions over and over

RideLikeTheWindBullseye · 17/09/2016 09:38

Well said woowoowoo: According to research, it takes a woman seven attempts to finally LTB. There is so much other 'stuff' to consider when LTB that is just seems easier to stay put.

Leave him with the kids and book a spa day?

Show them this thread.....really??????

BeMorePanda · 17/09/2016 09:39

Put Veet/ Nair down the plug hole to get rid of hair blockages.
That didn't work.

I see this all the time on here and it totally does not work at all. Glad I'm not the only one.

Pagwatch · 17/09/2016 09:42

Yes Fallen. You are right, of course. It gets trotted out as a way to deal with rude aggressive people .

It's just annoying because it gets ridiculed as shit advice when, in the right circumstances, it's pretty effective.

totalrecall1 · 17/09/2016 10:03

LTB
Go no contact
And my personal favourite last week
"I see going to a good school has not helped you understand the use of the possessive pronoun" for using myself and my sibling instead of my sibling and I. That was their only input on the entire thread. Fuck off!

PageStillNotFound404 · 17/09/2016 10:04

Any advice where the poster clearly has not read the OP properly and suggests something - often quite dismissively as if it's the most obvious thing in the world - which the OP has already explained is not possible. Eg "cancel the cheque" or some of the 'advice' in the recent frozen sandwich thread.

Lweji · 17/09/2016 10:08

Why do people keep mentioning advice that can be bad or good depending on the situation? Such as go/don't go to A&E, LTB, work at the relationship, call the police, go no contact, even to leave him with the children for a day/week.

Sometimes IT IS the best thing to do. Sometimes it's not.

Unlike advice such as to use veet to remove hair blocks or specific stain removers. It either works or it doesn't.

CandODad · 17/09/2016 10:20

"You shouldn't have let yourself get in this situation" - Yeah, thanks that's helpful since I felt crap already and came on asking for help not criticism.

"This must be a reverse/troll because (picks up some slight insignificant details and runs with it"

Whoa betide any man that come on here for advice. They will immediately be told it is all there fault no matter what.