Tuesday, 29 March 2011

• My Grandmother Drives Me Crazy!

  
  It's not as if my grandma suddenly became a "know it all" or comfortable telling people what to do, she's just always been that way. It was slightly annoying, before a kid, but it's even more annoying now, with a kid. I saw her do it to my cousins, who were the first to have children.
  
  She would, of course, tell the parents what their children wanted, when they wanted it, how they wanted it and by golly, they better do it! Because she's a grandparent, well in this case great grandparent, she focuses more on the spoiling part and that passes down through how she wants the parents to treat the kids, which, of course, I disagree with.

  She's forever telling me what my daughter needs, or what she thinks she needs, and sometimes she's wrong. And she seems to get exasperated at how I do certain things. It gets to the point where she voices her disapproval, either by telling me or by sighing or gasping, in front of my daughter. I definitely don't appreciate her undermining my authority.

  Tonight was one of the nights that I almost, almost, said something. However, I try to avoid drama as much as possible, with my family. My husband has told her plenty of times, already, that she needs to back off and stop trying to tell us how to parent. Guess what? It doesn't ever work.

  We had to go over to my aunt's to do laundry, since our dryer doesn't work. We took over 3 loads. I had to carry most of it, of course, and I was fine with that. I also knew that I would be the one carrying them back up and out to the car, once they were done. I didn't see a rush in doing that, though, and it's not really MY fault that my aunt tries to be helpful.
  
  Yeah, she really has no business, herself, carrying a load of our laundry up the stairs. See, Bri had a really fun time running around the basement and, after a while, she really preferred not to go back upstairs. This resulted in me picking her up and carrying her back upstairs. We were going back up, after having folded the towels, and I had her in my arms and we were about half way up the steps.
  
  My aunt, then, decided to try and carry our big load of towels up, which she didn't need to do. I was ready to put brianna upstairs and then go back and get them, but my gramma got frustrated by it all. She then says, "Put her down! She can walk up the stairs just fine. Come carry the towels up" (said in a very mean and sarcastic way).  Of course Brianna can go upstairs well... when she's WILLING too.
  
  So, I did just that. I put her down, told her to go upstairs and preceded to go back down to get the towels, seething the entire time. We all ended up behind Brianna and what do you know? She really didn't want to go and took her merry old time, planting herself down on a step.
  
  Because I was lost in my angry thoughts, I didn't say much. I told her to go a few times, but my aunt and gramma had more control over that. They like having the control over my daughter. I mean, hey.  If you want to parent her, fine. Why should I bother, when you just butt in and do it yourself, anyway?
  
  Once she was finally at the top, my gramma goes "Go!". She was talking to brianna, of course. I was thinking, you know. We all could have gotten upstairs faster and I still would have gotten the towels, if ya'll would STOP being complete annoying control freaks who have to do everything YOUR way.

  Good gosh, I wanted to punch someone!

  It pretty much solidified my thinking that my gramma is just annoying with my parenting, in general. I carry her too much, never get around to brushing her hair quick enough, wash the socks that she "never wears", etc. It's just frustrating!
  
  Does anyone else have a know-it-all, bossy, interfering, undermining grandmother?
  

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