It’s not my job to be fascinated by your child

[Worryinglyworried73]

My friend is pissed off with me because I am not enthralled & fascinated by her baby. Before she had the baby she never showed the slightest interest in my 2 kids, never remembered birthdays or Xmas, never asked about them etc. I have never been one to talk incessantly about my kids as I recognise that they are really only very interesting to me.

The friend’s partner deleted me on Facebook because I wasn’t liking enough pictures of their child & she has been constantly dropping hints about being fed up with ‘friends who aren’t interested’ in talking about her child.

The bottom line is that I am not interested- she’s got an NCT group to talk nappies and stuff with- I didn’t expect her to listen to me talking about my kids and actually I didn’t really go on and on about feeding and sleeping etc anyway as it’s dull.

Having a baby has turned her into an utter bore frankly and I just feel like telling her to jog on with her guilt trips and snide comments.

aibu?

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Christ. I am interested in my friends kids up to a point. And I do share some info about my kids to my friends but not much. But I have a friend that when we go to her house we have to listen to her children play the piano etc. Don't ever ask your kids to perform for your friends, it is really annoying!

Ah, so now we have to feign interest in babies, or we aren't 'kind.'

Nope.

Let them cull you from Facebook. Problem solved.

She is just a bore and not much you can do about that.

Somewhat unfair calling op pathetic when the other party involved is spending their spare time counting social media likes.

YANBU. I don't think your friend is being fair. No one is as interested in a child as it's parents. I'd have muted them by now so I wouldn't see them blocking you as a loss from your perspective. Perhaps they've always been this self centered but you've only just seen it.

On a wider level, there are also many reasons why people don't want to be bombarded with baby updates. I don't want to be. I find babies extremely dull so I avoid... but I also love children and want a family and my body clock is ringing. Despite finding the babies themselves boring, any baby news and the wider promise of a family it hints at is an absolute knife in my heart. I drop likes & congrats and stick people on mute. Someone trying to shove their baby in my face would be blocked so fast. Your friend can be kind of forgiven for her excitement, being wrapped in a baby bubble- but how she reacts to other people's thoughts on the subject really tells you who she is.

I had a friend who posted each month with the list of people being defriended from her FB due to not liking or commenting enough on her baby/toddler updates. Like it was some kind of Mum Validation Hunger Games and we were all deeply invested. I was culled in one of the first rounds, sadly…

YANBU. There’s nothing worse than a baby bore. Get rid.