Things that annoy me when parents come to stay

[3in4years]

Whether it is mine or dh's:

• they don't shower
• they don't take their shoes off
• they dot their belongings all over the house
• they eat in the lounge
• they read instead of actively watching the kids

And lots more. IABU but needed to let someone know.

We were never allowed to have shoes on or eat in the lounge growing up and I don't do this in their houses, so it feels a little disrespectful They probably wouldn't let you do those things because children are hopeless at wiping their feet and drop crumbs everywhere. If this is the case, then asking them to take their shoes off and not eat in the lounge might well feel to them that you're treating them like children.

but I do wonder if ours just aren't good enough either Even if it were that, think of it as being "different tastes" rather than "not good enough". They might like hard invigorating towels rather than soft fluffy ones, for example.

We have the opposite problem with our adult kids. They insist on taking their shoes off. We have a tiny hall that I don’t want filled with shoes and we wear ours indoors. Why do they do this?

I find my parents hilarious and it's become a sort of Attenborough esque nature study when they come now. We're thinking of making it a bingo style game.

She wants to know what's for tea at 8:15
They constantly ask if we are thinking of tidying up
They can't sit still
They always make comparisons about their other grandchildren - nothing can be special or different.
They like to talk about random friends and all the holidays they're going on
They drink 18 billion cups of tea a day
My mum sneaks to coop under the auspices of buying the kids a treat and comes back laden with snacks and treats as we only really have very limited junk in our house (we're not mean or under feeding them it's that my mum is addicted to sugar)
They can't understand that we don't consume 4 bottles of wine of a wwwkend

Thanks OP that was cathartic. I do love them and I hugely value their presence- as my FIL died and we miss him hugely. But people are weird and quirky

DMIL is lovely but she picks her dandruff openly. Bless her. I used to SEETHE about it 15 years ago but now I just think "Bloody hell DMIL!"

Does "actively watching the kids" mean sitting and staring at them constantly. If so YABU.
Its perfectly possible read/mumsnet/do a jugsaw and keep an eye on what they're doing.