# Feeling sad about my mom's "funny" story about me as a baby



## Jesskathand (Dec 30, 2007)

My mom was telling me today that when I was about a year old, I had some toy with a little compartment to put toys in. One day I tried to climb in there and got stuck. I screamed and screamed. My mom was laughing as she is telling me "Hold on, I'm getting the camera!"

She ran, got the camera, took a picture, then took out her screaming child out of the toy.

I would never ever do this to DS!

All I said to my mom was "that's horrible. I would never do that to DS." She laughed........


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## maddymama (Jan 5, 2008)

Hi Mama,
I'm sorry this made you sad. I'd be a bit upset too....
Now, if DD wasn't screaming her head off, I might take a pic, too... but definitely not if she was upset.
~maddymama


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## BaBaBa (Jun 30, 2007)

When I used to watch America's Funniest Home Videos I often wondered why someone was filming instead of helping.

My mum's 'funny' story involves putting me in my pram in the street because I was crying too much. The neighbour came to the door and asked if she knew I was crying out there and she told them that's WHY I was out there.


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## heidirk (Oct 19, 2007)

Oy.


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## Jesskathand (Dec 30, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *BaBaBa* 
When I used to watch America's Funniest Home Videos I often wondered why someone was filming instead of helping.

My mum's 'funny' story involves putting me in my pram in the street because I was crying too much. The neighbour came to the door and asked if she knew I was crying out there and she told them that's WHY I was out there.



















I dont like AFHV for that reason, makes me cringe and upset at the same time...


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## Mary-Beth (Nov 20, 2001)

I've been there...my Mom told a "funny" story about how when I was a newborn sleeping in a bassinet which was in my 4yo sisters room...my sister tried to change my clothes. She got my clothes stuck over my head and couldn't get them off. My Mom said I was crying and my sister was crying. Somehow my Mom thought that was funny and still must since she retold the story as if it was going to be funny.

Sorry...
I have taken pictures of my kids doing outrageous things but its not funny if they are hurt or scared-- then I just help them.


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## journeymom (Apr 2, 2002)

Jess, I'm sorry, that's sad. Is it possible she exaggerated how upset you were for the sake of the story? Maybe you weren't screaming? Still, I think I'd choose to get my upset child out of a bind, over taking a picture.

America's Funniest Home Videos. Yes, it's funny to see small, terrified children dragged across the lawn by big dogs on a leash. It's funny to see children playing and falling and coming up crying. It's fun to see women in beautiful wedding dresses get shoved into the pool. It's fun to see guys get hit in the nards repeatedly.















:


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## Theoretica (Feb 2, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *journeymom* 
Jess, I'm sorry, that's sad. Is it possible she exaggerated how upset you were for the sake of the story? Maybe you weren't screaming? Still, I think I'd choose to get my upset child out of a bind, over taking a picture.

America's Funniest Home Videos. Yes, it's funny to see small, terrified children dragged across the lawn by big dogs on a leash. It's funny to see children playing and falling and coming up crying. It's fun to see women in beautiful wedding dresses get shoved into the pool. It's fun to see guys get hit in the nards repeatedly.















:

I can't stand that show. Those reasons.


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

My mother likes to tell the story of when I was a young infant and had colic. Apparently she was rocking me in my bassinette but I wouldn't stop screaming so she rocked me faster, faster, faster until my grandmother (her mother) had to intervene because it was getting so out of hand and I was shrieking with pain and terror. She always tells this story with a girlish smile and a small giggle, as though it's just the most charming thing in the world.

She also muses about using CIO on me and how sick I used to get crying myself to sleep every night for years...

My mother is a very toxic person.







:


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## foreverinbluejeans (Jun 21, 2004)

I'm so sorry about your mom hurting you. You responded as you should. It probably didn't do any good.

I hope you are able to keep her in your life without letting her hurt you over and over again. Sometimes a thoughtless mom is better than no mom. It depends on how thoughtless she is. Few of us are blessed with wonderful moms.

I have one on the thoughtless ones.


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## dogmom327 (Apr 19, 2007)

Wow


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## OkiMom (Nov 21, 2007)

Here I thought my Dad was the only one with a bad sense of humor. I was telling him about DD1 potty learning and he told me a story about how they would use a belt to tie me to one of the little potties and then they would leave me in the bathroom alone. He thought it was so funny that I would come out crying with pee and poop all over me because I would have to stand up with the potty still attached.
He also thought it was funny when I would get really upset in my crib and scream. He said I had such a loud cry it always mad him laugh.


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## jennybear (Sep 4, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *OkiMom* 
Here I thought my Dad was the only one with a bad sense of humor. I was telling him about DD1 potty learning and he told me a story about how they would use a belt to tie me to one of the little potties and then they would leave me in the bathroom alone. He thought it was so funny that I would come out crying with pee and poop all over me because I would have to stand up with the potty still attached.
He also thought it was funny when I would get really upset in my crib and scream. He said I had such a loud cry it always mad him laugh.


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## Anglyn (Oct 25, 2004)

Those are all horrible stories! Especially the tying to the potty seat...









I also hate AFHV for all the stated reasons. See the one where the dad puts on the disguise and tells the kid to go to sleep and the child stops crying (because he's in the room all alone and its pitch black) and drops down, terrified? Hilarious. Ditto on the kids getting hurt. Its why I quit watching it.

DS got stuck once in a doll stroller, an older, wooden one, he was wedged good, it had to hurt and he was screaming and obviously terrified. We had to CUT pieces off the thing to get him out. It never even occured to me to let him be scared and hurt while I went to get a camera....


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## Mamafreya (May 13, 2004)

Man, these are sad. I can remember my mom running to get the camera for things like.... My 2 year old brother found the diaper cream, snuck outside, got naked and spread it all over himself from head to toe. That sort of stuff. I'm pretty sure that she wasn't running around getting the camera when one of us was distressed about getting hurt or stuck. Jeez.

When I first met my MIL she would tell the most horrible stories about her kids and then crack up laughing. They were awful things. Like she loved to tell me how when dh was an infant he had colic so one day he wouldn't stop screaming which prompted her to take dh put him in a crib and then go take a long walk with her oldest son. She said that FIL came home from work to dh hysterical and so upset that he was traumatized. Then she would laugh.







:

Or the gem about how when dh didn't win a game or wrestling tournament she wouldn't speak to him for days so that he knew how ashamed she was of him.







:

Once I asked her if she had any baby pictures of her kids and she said that she probably threw them out and that she really wasn't that kind of mother. Said in a snotty tone.









Anyway, what in the world is up with this sort of thing? Why do parents think stuff like that is funny?


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## Lisa1970 (Jan 18, 2009)

My son pulled the bowl part of his potty seat out and then tried to crawl through the hole where the potty bowl belonged and got stuck. He was not screaming his head off, but he was unhappy. He was a very happy baby so he was not fussing or anything. So I grabbed the camera and took the picture.

Of course, if he were crying or in distress, I never would have gotten the camera or taken a picture. I don't even put things that might be upsetting in the baby book. I only want stuff that my children will like. Oh, and DS is 7 now and loves that picture. But he was not crying in it of course.


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## spero (Apr 22, 2003)

Just a week or so ago, I was telling my kids the story of being barely three and getting my first toboggan for Christmas. Dad took me outside to pull me around in big circles in the driveway, and Mom was there with the camera snapping away. The rope on the toboggan snapped, and I went hurtling into the brook. It wasn't deep, but I was three and very much afraid of the brook, and I was certain I was going to drown. I was screaming in terror for Daddy to come rescue me, and my parents were laughing their butts off and telling me to just climb out. Mom just kept taking pics ... and I still cringe every time I see them.

Oh, there are other photos, too. I had a HUGE irrational fear of fire, and always kept my distance from any sort of flame - be it a backyard bonfire, the burn barrel, a candle, my parent's cigarette lighters, whatever. When I turned five I had a big party, with all my cousins and several friends from school. Mom brought out the beautiful cake she'd slaved over, ablaze with candles, and set it in front of me; and I got completely hysterical and burst into terrified tears. No doubt exasperated by my ridiculous histrionics, Mom implored me to blow out the candles before the whole cake caught fire - and, imagining THAT conflagration, I REALLY lost it.







My cousins were laughing their heads off. My classmates were staring at me in confused disbelief. I was consumed with tears and hiding my face.

And every humiliating moment is preserved on film.


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## lolar2 (Nov 8, 2005)

OP, is your mother toxic in other ways too? Or is she just clueless about the one incident? If she is generally toxic and this is just one among many examples, there isn't much you can do except avoid her as much as possible. If it's just one incident of cluelessness, you might be able to get her to at least stop telling the story if you talk to her about it enough.


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## MommytoTwo (Jun 20, 2004)

I wouldnt stop to take a pic or laugh if my kid were genuinely upset. But it was a long time ago. I have taken pictures when they are stuck (or whatever) but not upset or freaked out.
Sometimes things that arent funny at the time seem funny later, now that she knows you are ok etc. Not saying its right, just saying the perspective is different for her now.


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## Jesskathand (Dec 30, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lolar2* 
OP, is your mother toxic in other ways too? Or is she just clueless about the one incident? If she is generally toxic and this is just one among many examples, there isn't much you can do except avoid her as much as possible. If it's just one incident of cluelessness, you might be able to get her to at least stop telling the story if you talk to her about it enough.


My mom isn't toxic but she's very very clueless to the point that I would never leave DS alone with her. She's been on a lot of prescription meds for the past 35 years that she really cannot think outside of the box. It's quite sad, but the fact is she would not know what to do if DS hurt himself or anything outside of the norm. And she has no tact, she says a lot of things that come out very mean sounding but she does not mean it that way. She means well, and DS has fun with her, but I have to be right there to guide her on how to play with DS. "Sing to him. show him this. play with this."

Everyone who commented, thank you and some of your stories were very sad.


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## Super Glue Mommy (Jan 4, 2009)

i could never understand why people take a picture of a crying/upset baby.


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## ncas72 (Sep 7, 2006)

This makes me so sad.

My parents also have those lovely childhood stories. One of how my mother let me CIO when I was a baby until I vomited and she would come in and clean me up and put me back in my crib to continue vomiting. Her justification was that I was sticking my fingers down my throat so I was making myself vomit...therefore...my fault. As I was growing up, this story was always told to my parents friends who just had a small child so they knew how to deal with them. And it was told with lots of laughter on both sides. Personally, I always felt sick hearing this but it made me into the person I am today because I vowed never to do this to my child.

Lots of spanking stories too. Ugh...


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## chipper26 (Sep 4, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *OkiMom* 
Here I thought my Dad was the only one with a bad sense of humor. I was telling him about DD1 potty learning and he told me a story about how they would use a belt to tie me to one of the little potties and then they would leave me in the bathroom alone. He thought it was so funny that I would come out crying with pee and poop all over me because I would have to stand up with the potty still attached.
He also thought it was funny when I would get really upset in my crib and scream. He said I had such a loud cry it always mad him laugh.

This makes me very sad, too! did he ever hear of the word respect?


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## OkiMom (Nov 21, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *chipper26* 
This makes me very sad, too! did he ever hear of the word respect?

Im thinking no. He also thought it was funny when they would lock me in my brothers and my room until they thought I was "punished" enough. I remember how upset I got those times (they did that until I was 10 and would just climb out the window)...

When I got married he told me I should take pictures of DH in the shower because it would be funny and break him out of his "rut". My DH is VERY modest and it would be humiliating for him to have someone take a picture of him naked. I don't know why I would do something so cruel to the man I loved. Dad just laughed and told me thats what he did to my mom. He told me to take a belt to my then one year old because she wouldn't be quiet so I could talk on the phone.. Lets just say, I love him because hes my father but the older I get the more I don't remember why that fact is important. Hes not allowed alone with either of my daughters and I don't follow any advice he gives me.


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## Smylingeyz (Dec 2, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *OkiMom* 
Im thinking no. He also thought it was funny when they would lock me in my brothers and my room until they thought I was "punished" enough. I remember how upset I got those times (they did that until I was 10 and would just climb out the window)...

When I got married he told me I should take pictures of DH in the shower because it would be funny and break him out of his "rut". My DH is VERY modest and it would be humiliating for him to have someone take a picture of him naked. I don't know why I would do something so cruel to the man I loved. Dad just laughed and told me thats what he did to my mom. He told me to take a belt to my then one year old because she wouldn't be quiet so I could talk on the phone.. Lets just say, I love him because hes my father but the older I get the more I don't remember why that fact is important. Hes not allowed alone with either of my daughters and I don't follow any advice he gives me.


That's so horrible! My dad was abusive, but I don't think I've heard any stories he thinks are funny. I can't imagine what would make anybody act like that, especially to someone they care about. All these stories... so awful.


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## Materfamilias (Feb 22, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *journeymom* 
America's Funniest Home Videos. Yes, it's funny to see small, terrified children dragged across the lawn by big dogs on a leash. It's funny to see children playing and falling and coming up crying. It's fun to see women in beautiful wedding dresses get shoved into the pool. It's fun to see guys get hit in the nards repeatedly.















:

Makes me glad I don't have a t.v.
to the OP:


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## BookGoddess (Nov 6, 2005)

My mother shares stories about my childhood that are not the least bit funny to me. She's not toxic. She's clueless and doesn't have a filter in her mind for what's appropriate and what's not.

She used to tell me when I was a kid that I was so plain and homely as a baby that she and my dad would joke about giving me up for adoption if I didn't get prettier. The punchline to this _funny story_ is that I apparently got prettier as the months went on. Yeah, I'm rolling on the floor laughing.








I can't ever imagine saying that to one's child. But she's like that. Very clueless about people's feelings.


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## journeymom (Apr 2, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *BookGoddess* 
My mother shares stories about my childhood that are not the least bit funny to me. *She's not toxic. She's clueless and doesn't have a filter in her mind for what's appropriate and what's not.*

She used to tell me when I was a kid that I was so plain and homely as a baby that she and my dad would joke about giving me up for adoption if I didn't get prettier. The punchline to this _funny story_ is that I apparently got prettier as the months went on. Yeah, I'm rolling on the floor laughing.








I can't ever imagine saying that to one's child. But she's like that. Very clueless about people's feelings.

Thanks for putting that into words. I've had this sense that there's a difference but hadn't formulated it.


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## rightkindofme (Apr 14, 2008)

I feel so sad for all of you with these stories. Uhm, on the bright side: it won't be hard for you to be a better parent?


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## AkRotts (Sep 2, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *OkiMom* 
Here I thought my Dad was the only one with a bad sense of humor. I was telling him about DD1 potty learning and he told me a story about how they would use a belt to tie me to one of the little potties and then they would leave me in the bathroom alone. He thought it was so funny that I would come out crying with pee and poop all over me because I would have to stand up with the potty still attached.
He also thought it was funny when I would get really upset in my crib and scream. He said I had such a loud cry it always mad him laugh.

I am shocked!!! How very sad


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## NoliMum (Jan 18, 2007)

Belt + Potty + Urine and feces on child = Neglect and Abuse.

I'm glad I never heard any stores like these from my own parents.


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## Jennifer3141 (Mar 7, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Materfamilias* 
Makes me glad I don't have a t.v.
to the OP:









Definitely! I had no idea the show was still on. Isn't Bob Saget like 70 now??








It wasn't funny when it came out like 20 years ago...


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## spero (Apr 22, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jennifer3141* 
Definitely! I had no idea the show was still on. Isn't Bob Saget like 70 now??








It wasn't funny when it came out like 20 years ago...

Bob Saget hasn't hosted in a long time ... it's Tom Bergeron now, the same guy that hosts Dancing with the Stars.


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## jjawm (Jun 17, 2007)

Well, I have to admit that one of the funniest pics of dd is when she was so so so mad. She was furious at the cat for sitting in her chair. Was I a bad mama for getting the camera before shooing the cat off because she was upset, even though she wasn't in discomfort or pain? I'm also guilty of taking pictures of temper tantrums.


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## ewe+lamb (Jul 20, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *journeymom* 
America's Funniest Home Videos. Yes, it's funny to see small, terrified children dragged across the lawn by big dogs on a leash. It's funny to see children playing and falling and coming up crying. It's fun to see women in beautiful wedding dresses get shoved into the pool. It's fun to see guys get hit in the nards repeatedly.















:

My dd watched one of those shows once and came through in tears wondering why people were laughing at others getting hurt - we don't watch those things either.

On my mother and me crying - my Mum thought that my crying as a one year old was because i was drawing attention to myself, she sat me on the floor put a cushion behind me and let me cry until I passed out, when she told me this I just said a baby cries because s/he needs help, not to draw attention to itself (in a negative way - it's not a show), she didn't reply but has never mentioned it again, I did have this thing that followed me that everything I did was for 'sensationalism' even when i married dh it was to shock people, of course not because i could actually love someone







, it was the family dr that instilled this in my very young mother - sad really.







At least we as mothers know a little better!!


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## Hoopin' Mama (Sep 9, 2004)

I was left to CIO as a newborn. Until I had ds and my Mom saw the positive results of no CIO she "firmly believed that babies needed to cry to settle themselves down. It's good for their lungs." She also used to laugh at the story of leaving me at the grocery store, when i was 1 or 2.

My Dad always laughs when he tells the story of having to intervene when he thought my mother was going to hurt my brother when he was a crying infant.

And these people wondered why I am completely detached from them?


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## mom2cash (Sep 24, 2007)

Hrm, do we have the same mom?

My mom thought it was sweet to share with me what she had written in my baby book around 9 months.... that she had already "had" to spank me. That made me really sad.


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## holothuroidea (Mar 30, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *peainthepod* 
My mother likes to tell the story of when I was a young infant and had colic. Apparently she was rocking me in my bassinette but I wouldn't stop screaming so she rocked me faster, faster, faster until my grandmother (her mother) had to intervene because it was getting so out of hand and I was shrieking with pain and terror. She always tells this story with a girlish smile and a small giggle, as though it's just the most charming thing in the world.

This happened to me. I had severe PPD. When DD was newborn, she liked to be bounced gently to calm down. One day, I just lost it. I was bouncing and she was still crying, so I would bounce harder and she would cry harder and it got so out of control that I was jumping up and down and yelling. I had to put her down, go in the other room and throw myself into a wall for five minutes.

I would have LOVED to hear this story, complete with girlish smile and small giggle so that I wouldn't feel as guilty. Like a "it happens to the best of us," kind of thing.

Now if your grandmother had taken a picture and laughed at your mother while it was happening. THAT would be an entirely different story!


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## Pookietooth (Jul 1, 2002)

What a weird story. I have vivid memories of my brothers strapping me to my potty chair, but I don't know where my mom was at the time. I was probably about two.


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## becoming (Apr 11, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *BaBaBa* 
When I used to watch America's Funniest Home Videos I often wondered why someone was filming instead of helping.









:







I don't think most of those videos are funny at all.

OP, that is really sad. I'm sorry baby you had to go through that.







:


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## sewcool (Jan 25, 2009)

i can see how it might be a little silly taht you climbed in there but the fact that you were screaming would quickley change that and snach the child out not run to get the camera YIKES


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## Veronika01 (Apr 16, 2007)

My mother thinks it's funny that she "had to" spank my twin sister as a newborn because she was "spoiled" and wanted to be held all the time. My sister only weighed 4 lbs at the time and my mother laughs when she says that my sister was so small, she had to use two fingers to spank her instead of her whole hand.


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## holothuroidea (Mar 30, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Veronika01* 
My mother thinks it's funny that she "had to" spank my twin sister as a newborn because she was "spoiled" and wanted to be held all the time. My sister only weighed 4 lbs at the time and my mother laughs when she says that my sister was so small, she had to use two fingers to spank her instead of her whole hand.

















:


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## haurelia (Mar 12, 2009)

:
Spanking a baby? Crazy.

I was talking to a new co-worker about her son (6 months old) when she told me that she had to put him in time out a couple times last week because he was "spoiled" and "always wanted attention." She was totally unreceptive to my attempts to get her to understand why this is totally screwed up....so very sad.


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *holothuroidea* 
This happened to me. I had severe PPD. When DD was newborn, she liked to be bounced gently to calm down. One day, I just lost it. I was bouncing and she was still crying, so I would bounce harder and she would cry harder and it got so out of control that I was jumping up and down and yelling. I had to put her down, go in the other room and throw myself into a wall for five minutes.

I would have LOVED to hear this story, complete with girlish smile and small giggle so that I wouldn't feel as guilty. Like a "it happens to the best of us," kind of thing.

Now if your grandmother had taken a picture and laughed at your mother while it was happening. THAT would be an entirely different story!

You put her down. You removed yourself from the situation because you saw you were possibly going to hurt your DD. That is respectable and humane and I think most of us have been there at some point or another when dealing with our newborns.

But my mother had to be physically stopped by my grandmother. She tells the story with glee and a smirk. Not because she is ashamed or embarrassed or as a cautionary tale, but because she has always enjoyed hurting me and revels in the thought that I'm uncomfortable or in pain. That is what I mean when I say she's toxic.








mama. You are nothing like her, and that's a GOOD thing.


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## Gabe'sMummy (Dec 4, 2008)

these stories are sad









My mother told me a similar thing. She came home from the hospital with my little sister when she was 8 days old. And from that moment on (It was a 2 bed house; I was 17months and slept in my own room) she was so sick of my sister's crying that she just put her bassinette downstairs







so my mother could sleep while she cried. And I don't mean a little nap, I mean half a night's sleep...she would only go downstairs at 3am to change her diaper and give her a bottle! After that she was on her own and left to cio again. My mother didn't even own a monitor - anything could have happened to her!

I'm not sure if I was left to cio, I don't think I was, mom said I rarely cried anyway. My mom and sister have a terrible relationship btw


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## holothuroidea (Mar 30, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *peainthepod* 
You put her down. You removed yourself from the situation because you saw you were possibly going to hurt your DD. That is respectable and humane and I think most of us have been there at some point or another when dealing with our newborns.

But my mother had to be physically stopped by my grandmother. She tells the story with glee and a smirk. Not because she is ashamed or embarrassed or as a cautionary tale, but because she has always enjoyed hurting me and revels in the thought that I'm uncomfortable or in pain. That is what I mean when I say she's toxic.








mama. You are nothing like her, and that's a GOOD thing.

Oh. I read your post as your Grandmother told this story, which is entirely different.

I would never smile or giggle while telling my story.

You know, that's just not cool.


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## felix23 (Nov 7, 2006)

I think one of the main reasons my mom was so ap was that she had to grow up hearing my Grandma tell "amusing" stories about all the horrible thing she used to do to my mom.

My MIL told me once that she would lock my dh in his room when he was three so that she could go shopping in peace. She thought it was cute that she would come home to find him curled up in his toy box surrounded by stuffed animals having cried himself to sleep.


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## philomom (Sep 12, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Super Glue Mommy* 
i could never understand why people take a picture of a crying/upset baby.

Yet folks take those "crying on Santa's lap" pictures every single year. Sigh.

It's a wonder any of us speak to our parents once we are grown.


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## Keria (Sep 27, 2008)

Honestly, I believe most parents did the best they could, there are things from my childhood that I don't remember being pleasant, but I know my mom loves me tons, and wouldn't have done them knowing they would hurt me like they did. I choose to forgive her and will try not to make the same mistakes maybe I'll just make new ones.
She does feel terribly about some of the things that I have told her later on she had no idea how they affected me. One of the stories, is that I was a very intense kid and apparently cried a lot, heck I still cry a lot as an adult, anyways we lived about 4 blocks away from a funeral home, and my mom jokingly said when we went by that she was going to find me a job there as a crier and leave me there, every time we went by the funeral home I tried so hard not to cry but I ended up bawling asking my mom not leave me there, I remember feeling such anxiety when we went by that street, but my mom had no idea she just thought she was being funny. She does feel terribly about that now.


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## KBinSATX (Jan 17, 2006)

I have moments like this. Like my mom always complained about me having a reflux problem as a baby and crying a lot but when she calls and asks where DD is and I say 'on my lap/in my arm' she says 'don't you ever put her down? we put you in your crib when you were that age' and I cringe thinking no wonder I had reflux and cried a lot...

Times have changed I guess ... luckily for DD and DS.


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## Luckiestgirl (Nov 10, 2004)

When I was four, we were visiting family friends who had a dog. My family didn't have a dog, so I was kind of clueless about them. These people gave me a dog biscuit to give the dog, but didn't tell me that was what it was for. I thought it was a cookie and ate it. My dad laughed about this all day and for the next twenty years. When I was little and they told the story, I'd feel so ashamed and dumb. I just can't imagine laughing at my child like that.

My dad was missing a sensitivity chip. He also used to laugh about a cruel nickname a boy used to call me on the bus.


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## Smokering (Sep 5, 2007)

Quote:

When life gives you gators make gatorade
*Louise*, that is hilarious!









Mum didn't do anything too awful with me, although I wince a bit when she tells me how upset I got when she weaned me... but I was two and a bit, so I figure I got way more breastmilk than a lot of babies, and I know she loved me and all, so I'm over it.









I did used to _hate_ it when I was younger and she told embarrassing stories about me, though. Like once at a tender age we were at a buffet restaurant, and I came back with my bowl of dessert and said proudly 'Look what _I_ got!', and promptly fell over and spilled the whole bowl everywhere, getting hundreds-and-thousands in Mum's handbag in the process. For some reason Mum told that story to everyone for YEARS, and for some equally vague reason I hated it every time and dreaded it, and either smirked lamely while I was dying inside or threw a tantrum as the mood took me...


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## jenjenl18 (Jul 6, 2007)

We were on my front porch with DS at age 9mos? talking about how I love taking him out there but I have to watch him like a hawk so he doesn't fall on the concrete or go over the edge. MIL tells me I should do what she used to- tie a walker on a rope. Then MIL had the stupidity to tell me how she used to put my sister in law in a walker on the front porch tied to something (so she couldn't go over the edge) for hours. Then proceeds to tell me how she got to cleaning finally goes to check on her and sees the neighbor walking down the street holding her and yells at the neighbor (who she knows) until the neighbor tells her that she just found her crawling up her steps and was bringing her back...she had climbed out of he walker, down the porch and steep drive way, down the street at least 100yards and up multiple steps! Are you kidding me...she wasn't even walking yet! I grabbed DS and just gave her this look and said, "why would you tell me that?"
Then she tells me how same SIL had *awful* colic and she HAD to let her CIO, there was no other option. My DS truly did have it awful, never once let him CIO. I remind her of this and and she says yeah your DS had it way worse than your SIL. I just kind of sat there thinking...well its a good thing I'm his mother...
My mom isn't too bad luckily.


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## mags (May 4, 2004)

Oh, add my dad into the mix of parents with a demented sense of humor. My dad's two most favorite memories of me that he likes to talk about are both ones that make me feel bad. He has a home video of me in a johnny jump up, I look like I am maybe about 6 mo old. He loves to point out how stupid I look, just dangling there, drooling. Yeah, dad, that's what baby's do... drool! Then there is another story where he said he had these scary Chinese opera puppets and he would use them to frighten me and keep saying my name over and over again. One time I was in the back of the car screaming my name over and over again and it was b/c I was scared of a fly or bee that was in the car. My dad said, "Yeah, you were so stupid, you didn't know the word for, 'scared' so you kept saying your name instead." I'm sitting there thinking, that he is a demented jerk who got joy out of scaring his baby daughter and it's pretty messed up that I would associate my own name with fear...


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## Sierra (Nov 19, 2001)

Many of these stories are making me depressed







.


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## Qestia (Sep 26, 2005)

I did snap a picture of DS as an infant when he was starting to cry... I took it to remind me how cute he was even when he was mad. Those baby frowns are really cute to me on some level, they frown so much more deeply than an adult--but I do normally always try to catch it and comfort them at a frown and before the cry starts. However, most of these stories are horrifying.


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## geiamama (Feb 3, 2009)

My mum has a similar story...
She tells how she took my brother to the doctors because he had mumps and that when the doctor turned to look at me to say "How long has your daughter had mumps?" she couldn't tell him because she hadn't noticed.
She thinks that it's so funny. I just think it's a telling story on what an inattentive mother she was, how she was completely wrapped up in her little world.
She hasn't changed much...


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *geiamama* 
My mum has a similar story...
She tells how she took my brother to the doctors because he had mumps and that when the doctor turned to look at me to say "How long has your daughter had mumps?" she couldn't tell him because she hadn't noticed.
She thinks that it's so funny. I just think it's a telling story on what an inattentive mother she was, how she was completely wrapped up in her little world.
She hasn't changed much...


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## Mama Dragon (Dec 5, 2005)

I was 5, opened a xmas present, it was a doll that talked. I couldn't make it talk, got ticked off, and parroted a phrase heard hundreds of time "stupid piece of sh#*". I got "whipped with a belt". I don't remember this. Small wonder why


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## ElaynesMom (May 24, 2008)

I really wonder why some parents think it's hilarious when their child is terrified. I get upset just _thinking_ about my dd being scared or hurt. It breaks my heart.

When I had just urned 3 I went with my parents on a trip. We visited some type of aquarium and there was one section where you could look over a railing and see sharks, sting rays, etc. swimming below. There was a glass or lucite, or whatever covering on the top, but I had no idea. My dad proceeded to pick me up and held me over the sharks by my ankles and kept telling me he was going to drop me and the sharks would eat me. I was terrified and crying and he wouldn't put me down. Him and my mom just laughed at me. It still makes me really sad.

OP, I'm sorry your mom's story upset you.


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## Marsupialmom (Sep 28, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *BaBaBa* 
When I used to watch America's Funniest Home Videos I often wondered why someone was filming instead of helping.

My mum's 'funny' story involves putting me in my pram in the street because I was crying too much. The neighbour came to the door and asked if she knew I was crying out there and she told them that's WHY I was out there.









I would wonder how old you were and if your mom might have been battling PPD. Even though I am not a fan of crying it out, walking away from a crying baby at times is the only option. I know she finds it funny but it might be more funny that she did it and she was more "distressed" than you realize.

I can laugh at myself know. I had PPD with my 3rd child and can remeber having a major panic attack and puking in a store. It was horrible at the time a lot funnier now.


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## Marsupialmom (Sep 28, 2003)

I have a few.

When I was about 2 we went camping with a bunch of their friends. They had pony bottles of beer. Everyone thought it as cute to give me sips. Then they got drunk and started thinking about how fast they were drinking................apparently I had been drinking a lot. My mom found me passed out drunk.

She laughed about it. She has stopped repeating the story. My dh told her that didnt' sound to bright of her....2 year old accidently getting drunk then not having the common since to take her to the hospital.

******
Then she likes to laugh about how much I slept as a baby. I was a "good" baby. At 2 and 3 even up till I was 4 I would often sleep 18 - 20 hours a day. She never thought this was wrong. As an adult I sleep when I am depressed.....she doesn't get the connection. My dad at least apologized and gets the connection.

*******

She laughs at the fact until I got to big 10ish I would hide myself to nap. I can't get her to understand I would hide from my brother to protect myself. She had a water bed. There was a cove were it was up against the wall. I hid there because my brother couldn't get me. She thinks it is funny.

*****

My dh and I have major issues with sibling riviraly and what is normal. He didn't have much because of the age difference between his siblings. Mine was abusive.

*****

I really can go on but not tonight.


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## aran (Feb 9, 2005)

When I was a toddler I evidently liked to play in the toilet







so my family would keep the bathroom door shut. One time when my mother was out of the house, my father "set me up" for a picture, by leaving open the bathroom door an waiting with a camera. When I took the bait, he took pictures of me playing in the toilet, which are still in our family albums









I hope he cleaned me up afterward...

Here's another:

My mom laughingly told me a story about forcing my nephew to stand near an animatronic (sp?) dinosaur at a museum to get his picture. He was terrified and crying, but she ridiculed him for it because "it can't hurt you!" Obviously he didn't know that! I berated her for that and she just shrugged it off. This - from the woman who melts into a ball of fear over any dog at all, of any size at all, anywhere near her... and expects the people around her to be compassionate







:


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## kriket (Nov 25, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *journeymom* 

America's Funniest Home Videos. Yes, it's funny to see small, It's fun to see guys get hit in the nards repeatedly.















:

DH and I call it "Ow My Balls" borrowed from Idocracy. Watch it if you haven't already. It would have made a better book.


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