So this post is basically to find out what are some annoying questions you get as parents?
Some I have gotten are:
“Now that you are having a girl, are you done having children?”
“Did you plan to have this many children?“
“So, what do you do all day?
I’m not a parent but two family members (who are married to each other, but with no kids) once asked my mom: “are you really going to let them watch TV all day instead of entertaining them creatively like you’re supposed to?” They now have children and their kids watch more TV than my siblings and I ever did LOL
[name_u]Love[/name_u] your kids names by way!
Not a parent yet, either. Many people in our lives know we are trying, though, so we have already gotten pestered with really arrogant questions.
- “Are you going to use a midwife? You have to!”
- “If you have a boy, will you circumcise him?” (really, why would my child’s genitals be appropriate dinner conversation?)
- Epideral vs. none
- Breastfeeding pressure vs. the loving encouragement from my bottle-feeding friends to do what is best for us.
“When are you going to have another?” Was the one that always annoyed me the most. Not only is it nobody’s business, but it took nearly 2 years and a deployment in the middle to conceive our 2nd!
@auroracallista Thank You!
@namergirl3 Having two boys I always got “will you circumcise him?” More so with my Oldest
@julylacs I still alyways get “When are you going to have another?”. My favorite time was when I was taking my son to park. I had the twins in their stroller and I was sitting down on a bench watching My son [name_m]Wilder[/name_m] play. Some lady I never met comes up to me and asks
“When are you going to have another?” I just looked at her and said “not anytime soon seeing as I just had twins a month ago”
Not a parent but I’m the oldest of three girls and my mom used to HATE getting asked if they were gonna “try for a boy next.” We were literally at the pumpkin patch once when a family with three girls and a boy just randomly came over and asked if she and my dad were gonna try for a boy, insisting that “fourth times the charm” like we don’t know you? Mind your own business? My parents actually did want 4 kids but had issues with miscarriages between me and my sisters so they decided to be done after my youngest sister was born.
Thankfully, since I’m almost 19 and my youngest sister just turned 11, most people aren’t thinking my mom is going to get pregnant again so they stopped asking.
I have two boys, so I’ve gotten the “are you going to try for a girl?” A LOT.
“Did you plan them that close?” (They’re 14 months apart)
Uh, no! I planned on having my kids about two years apart… I didn’t plan on getting pregnant when my son was only 5 and a half months! Looking back now, I love it, I wouldn’t change it.
I just had my second daughter in [name_u]December[/name_u] and people don’t stop asking me:
Are you going to try for a boy next? I bet your husband wants a boy.
Are you going to have any more? When?
Did you get any sleep last night?
Is she sleeping through the night?
With my first girl I was also asked: Why did you name her that?
And I’m sure I’ll get asked again with this one: When are you going to be done breastfeeding? ([name_f]Noemi[/name_f] was breastfed for 2 years)
I can’t believe people actually ask about circumcision–that’s so private and such a creepy question to ask??? Like why would you ask about somebody’s baby’s genitals???
Oooooh, I have some good ones. These are my personal favorites.
-“You have a boy and a girl, you’re done now, right?” Why does it matter?
-“Why don’t you breastfeed? It’s so much healthier for you and your babies. I did it with all of mine.” It’s called a personal choice and severe breast pain, but thanks for the judgement.
-“So, what do you do at home all day?” Uhhhh… take care of my kids?
-“You’re planning on taking a vacation this summer? Why not just stay home, they won’t remember it.” At this point I just feel like this one was my aunt trying to find anything about my life to pick apart and ridicule, LOL.
I’m not a parent yet but when we (my parents and younger sister) went on holiday once a guy who worked at the airport asked my parents why they didn’t have any boys. My mum’s first child, a boy, died.
I’m not a parent, but I’m 13 years older than my brother and sister and I’ve always looked a bit older than I am so people used to think I was their mum a lot when they were babies.
The questions I remember being asked were:
“Was it a hard birth?”
“Did you mean to have them?”
“Are you breastfeeding?”
Except the last one, which seems to be pretty universal, I wonder if the first two were because they assumed I was a teen mum, not that it makes it any more of their business.
My step-mum has also only just been stopped asking when she’s going to have another one, and my brother and sister are 10 next month. It really pisses her off, understandably.
“[name_f]Do[/name_f] the clothes I bought fit him yet? I haven’t seen any pictures of him in the clothes I bought”-[name_f]Do[/name_f] you really want me to come out and say we didn’t like the outfits? Also, I’m not dressing my kid up like a doll to send you pictures
We also received many inappropriate comments in regards to circumcision.
“When are you getting him circumcised? It’s really expensive, but it’s so important, we would all chip in to help pay for it.” My SOs brother asked us this. Uhm, what the ? We can afford it, we just think it’s wrong so we aren’t doing it…one of our couple friends who had a baby boy the same time we did also very “helpfully” sent us a judgmental message full of useless misinformation, strongly encouraging us to change our minds. Yuck.
I can’t think of too many others. I do really hate it when people ask me how breastfeeding is going, haha! I do not wish to discuss that at family gatherings (or anywhere at any time, really) and do not feel that I need to keep everyone up to date. You reeeaallly want to know if my nipples are sore?
Also, I get that everyone wants to come visit the baby, but it’s kinda rude to keep asking when you can come over. We would invite you if we wanted you to come visit! As first time parents of a 3 month old, we are preeetty busy
This is my dad! He doesn’t want me taking the girls to Mexico until they are like 6 and 9 years old… I took [name_f]Noemi[/name_f] two years ago when she was 2 years old and he was the same. “Why are you going? Go when she’s older and she will remember it”
“Are you going to try for a boy?” - I get this a lot. My husband says he will be perfectly happy with four girls, though.
“But you husband must be upset you are having a girl!” - [name_m]Just[/name_m] because I’m of Egyptian/Lebanese descent doesn’t mean my husband wants a son. In fact, he isn’t even Middle Eastern and loves having three daughters.
“Your daughters are so close in age…You didn’t even wait, did you?” - Why is it even your business?!
Also: “[name_f]Do[/name_f] your regret having them that close? It must be hard.” - Of course I regret having my children. That’s what all mothers do. (sarcasm)
“But <insert name> isn’t Arabic! Why did you use it?” - If you think people can’t use names from some culture different from their own, you are extremely narrow-minded.
And breastfeeding…Why do some people think it’s okay to ask such personal questions?!
Friends from large families have told me about complete strangers asking their parents “[name_u]Haven[/name_u]'t you ever heard of birth control?” and “[name_m]Don[/name_m]'t you know what causes that?” in public … Right in front of the kids! [name_f]Do[/name_f] not make comments to parents about the number of children they have. It’s just not cool.
I’m about 19w pregnant right now and I have been absolutely floored by questions (and comments) we’ve gotten.
“Why did you announce so early? What if you miscarry?” I announced at 4 weeks because I wanted to be happy and excited the whole time I was pregnant, no matter how long… Geez.
“Why does your registry have/not have this on it? I [name_m]WILL[/name_m] find something to replace it because XYZ is better than what you picked.” Um no thanks?
“Where did you get THAT name from? Why are you naming her that? I don’t understand.” Cool, you don’t need to understand.
and my least favorite: “Was this baby an accident?” Um, not at all. Please ask my husband about the months of anxiety, depression, OPKs, timed sex, and temperature taking we had. Who asks this anyway? Like why would it matter?
We have had a ton of questions, and most of them are definitely not appropriate. Most people want to focus on our ages (23 for both DH and myself), but no one wants to talk about how we’re married, financially stable, own a house, etc. More people are focused on my career and education than anything, which is annoying. No, I am not becoming a SAHM after the baby comes, and yes I am taking one semester off of graduate school to be with my baby. So what? Are they going to start paying my bills, too? Please do.
So, no kids yet, but, I’m the only one of my friends who doesn’t have kids/isn’t expecting, and the comments my friends have gotten are appalling.
All three were relatively young when they found out they were expecting (17, 20 and 21) but all three were in committed relationships, with partners who had stable jobs, their own places and together they were all able to support themselves by the time their babies came along.
The main comments I’ve heard are “you’re not even 30 yet, how do you have a 10 year old?!”, “you’re SO young - are you sure you want to have a baby?”, and “you have to have a boy/girl next (one friend has a son, the other is expecting a girl)!!!”
My parents were often asked if my sister and I were even related as kids, because I was blonde with green eyes and my sister was a redhead with blue eyes. I remember at one point we were out shopping with my mother, I was about 6 and my sister was around 2, and someone asked my mom if she was babysitting. My mother replied with “no, they’re mine” and the woman kind of, smiled and nodded, then leaned in and went “oh, different fathers then!”
We have the same parents - my dad’s family is redheads with hazel eyes, my mom’s is blondes with blue eyes. [name_f]Mikayla[/name_f] and I just got a combination of the two.
@jennilynn91 / I have two daughters as well and am constantly asked about “trying for a boy” or “gonna get a boy next time” constantly. I absolutely hate it when people ask me this question. Personally, we are done, but if we were going to try for another baby we wouldn’t be trying for a specific gender. So frustrating! And I know that people do the same thing to my friends that have all boys, just asking about if they’re going to try for a girl.