How do I tell my friend

[Kel801]

How do I tell my friend to reduce talk about her children, she has become really boring and even started a what’s app group to share his life with me (and others).

Your dd is having a bath?

My ds washes his own hair and demands conditioner. I think I'm rearing a metropolitan man.

Find images of book covers of Chaucer, Milton and Dante and carefully fold/loosely stick them over your own children's Peppa Pig board books.

Casually post pictures of them propped up next to the books 'reading' them.

Make clear your desperate disappointment that they can only manage the abridged/bowdlerised/translated versions for now and that you really hope they'll develop to the standard original versions very soon - otherwise you'll be too ashamed to look their teacher in the eye once they start nursery.

I'd exit the group chat with the old "I'm cutting back on my usage of social media, as I found it was taking up too much of my time. We'll have to catch up the 'old fashioned way' with a cuppa and a slice.

My mother bores everyone to tears about my dd. Like to tears. She even bored me to tears one day telling me that my dd should be tested for membership of Mensa. My own mother can actually bore me to tears telling me about my own child. That's how fucking boring it is listening to this shit.
Then she'll come back and tell me that such and such is only getting to grips with algebra now........ And on and fucking on and fucking on she drones. If it's boring for me, I can not imagine how insufferable it must be for her colleagues, hearing about this genius.

And my genius, much and all as I love her, is decidedly average except in grandma's eyes

None of my colleagues know I have a child (I sound like an awful mother).

I get shocked looks when I happen to mention her. It's like well 'that's the first I've heard of her! Are you sure you have a child? You don't look the type'

I suppose I know my audience. I know that grandparents are delighted to hear about the geniuses latest achievement, but nobody else gives a fuck.

Knewhigim .. I’m with you on this one. I’m so happy to have two average and well (she also goes on and on about allergies despite negative allergy tests) little boys !

Ye, it's hard to endure. Oneupmanship is the way to go

What about the suggestion of a child free 'what's app' group. To discuss 'grown up' play dates or news, holidays, gossip or sharing funny stuff. No harm in wanting to get away from sharing baby photos all day. Why are we not discussing Rate my Plate, we all know what kids do?

I think the key here is that she is a mum friend, and she may have been boring before she had kids but you didn't know her then.

Mute the WhatsApp group, then her feelings are spared and yo h don't have to be bored by it.

Unfollow on Facebook- does the same job.

I'm sure she not looking for replies all the time but if she is then just say you've been too busy to loom at phone or social media.

Do people realise you can mute chats? I swear half of these threads wouldn’t exist if people realised that.

And for heaven’s sake turn off automatically saving WhatsApp images

PurpleDaisies was that the charity thread?

No I totally missed that one. The op posted an exact duplicate of this thread on another board.

Oh god, this kind of thing about making friends with other new mums bothers me. I'd be shit at getting out of a situation like this. Fortunately, not happened yet though. I guess if I were in the same position I'd just mute the chat, but secretly would want to tell the person that it's great her DC is developing as a child should but my own child is developing at roughly the same rate so I don't need to know all the details!

Perhaps I would start my own chat with her and my mum and bombard with photos/stories of my DC and demand responses. If she got annoyed I'd just say I thought hers was such a great idea (and try not to be sarcastic saying that). Turn maybe she'd get the message.

Honestly, DH and I take a million photos of our DS but we send maybe 3 a week to grandparents and the very occasional nice/funny one to close friends. I'm well aware no one else cares that much!

Mute the WhatsApp group, then her feelings are spared and yo h don't have to be bored by it.

Yup.

Rename the WhatsApp Group '(Friend's name)'s children's news'.

Then set up a 'Kel's children's news' group, and one for each of the other members for their children.

sausageroll - I don’t want to challenge her on why she drones on about the minutiae of her kids’ existence yet has no interest in hearing even bullet points about mine. It’s a confrontation I don’t want to have. If she was a really close friend, I would possibly attempt to navigate through the problem...but she’s a ‘mate’...you know. I’m not deeply invested in the relationship and haven’t the time (or the will) to work through this with her.

Last time I saw her, I let my feet do the talking. I listened to half an hour of stuff about her dc without interrupting, before changing the subject during a natural lull in the conversation. After a couple of minutes as I was talking, she interrupted me mid-sentence to tell me her friend got a new job. I let my face register the rudeness then stood up and cheerily announced I had to go...then did.
I have established friends of years I trouble finding time for. It’s not up to me to nurse her social skills.

OP - regarding the WA group...if she asks if you’ve seen whatever photo/anecdote/update just say “Ehhm I haven’t really read it/looked that closely” and change the subject. Do this every time until she grasps that you don’t give a shit and stops bothering you.
Mute the group.

I wouldn’t tell her. She’s so self absorbed she will see it as an attack. I agree with muting the convo.

Can you block others from knowing when you were last active on WhatsApp?