Competition

[MilkMonitor]

I feel really weird and uncomfortable about this.

DH's mother is very competitive when it comes to her GCs. For example, she prides herself on the fact that a couple of them will only go to her and not the other grandma. "They love me best," she says. They're only 2 and 4 and probably love the chox she gives them. They are DH's nephew and niece.

She was absolutely delighted when my DS called her mummy by mistake and is always telling my DC that she's still young enough to be their mummy, you know.

I feel like she's in direct competition with me and anyone else who is a candidate for the GCs love. Now, kids have relationships with many people but why does she feel the need to make a competition out of it? It really irritates me. I didn't expect to have this kind of scenario! Anyone else got this? I find it completely bizarre behaviour.

Did she say "they love me best" etc in front of their other grandma?
If so, that is really mean.
If not, she is probably just being a really proud grandma.
Try to ignore her comments.

Yes, to be honest Milky, however irritating, it's far better than the alternative!

No, she's only said, "They love me best," to me. I did say to her that it wasn't a competition but it clearly is.

It is better than she does care about them but sometimes I wonder if it's all for her own need to be No. 1 all the time rather than actually loving the GCs. It's her triumph that bothers me esp. when DS called her mummy. Why did that please her so much?

MIL has always tried to get dd to call her Mummy - she often used to call herself Mummy then pretend to correct herself. She often called me Nannie as well. Smiling sweetly then saying something to dd in a slightly patronising manner was always my tactic ... "Silly old Nannie, fancy forgetting who she is!" "Oh Nannie, you've forgotten your name again!"

With the gloating about loving her best, when MIL tried this I used to treat it as a joke - I'd laugh and say "You know it's your chocolate she loves, don't you!"

Let her make it a competition if she likes, because there really is no competition; your children know who Mummy is, and they know that you're the one who's always there for them.