15 of the Worst Things Grandparents Do to Annoy Us

When "no" isn't a part of a grandparent's vocabulary, it makes it even more frustrating to try to discipline your kids around them. Just as you're telling them they can't do something, Grandma is hovering over, saying, "Oh, it won't kill her to have one more cookie!"

Often before even hearing the name of your hours-old baby, the questions start pouring in: “This won’t be my last grandchild, will it?” “When are you going to have the next one?” “How long do you think you’re going to wait? You’re no spring chicken . . .”

Contrary to popular opinion, just because there’s a grandparent in the room doesn’t mean no one else has a right to hold a newborn. Sometimes an exhausted parent just wants to keep a sleeping baby asleep in the carrier rather than risk a botched handoff. And it’s very likely a nursing mom won’t be too keen on pumping just so a demanding grandparent can feed the baby a bottle.

Grandparents forcing our babies from our clutches wouldn’t be nearly as annoying if they didn’t hand them back the moment they started to cry or showed signs of a wet diaper. And this action is made all the more frustrating by the fact that they seem to revel in their ability to – and this is a direct quote from grandmothers everywhere – "have all the joys of the baby without any of the dirty work."

First words, first taste of chocolate, first successful swim at the pool — parents eagerly await experiencing these milestones with their children, and although the timing of some developmental benchmarks are out of anyone’s control, they always seem to happen on the grandparents’ watch. And when your avid crawler takes his first steps with Grandpa, you can bet he didn’t think to snap a photo or remember any detail of the experience whatsoever.

At mom's house, pizza comes premade right out of the freezer. But at Grandma's house, it's a whole fun, extrasensory experience, from kneading and throwing dough to splattering marinara sauce to shredding cheese.

"You don't come over enough — we've only got a few good years left!" "You only stay here for half the day!" "You only stay here for a short weekend!" No matter how hard you try, you are never giving the grandparents enough quality time with the little ones. And such behavior is so egregious that they spend the entire time you are all together letting you know it.

When you’ve arranged free childcare from the grandparents, you have to remember that you are getting what you’re paying for. As much as you’d like Grandpa to stick to your guidelines on the two days of the week he watches your kids, you know he’s letting them do whatever they want, which certainly includes eating sugary cereal and watching SportsCenter.

From impromptu haircuts to getting your 6-month-old baby's ears pierced on a seemingly harmless trip to the mall, you never even get a call to ask if it's OK first.

One new toy every now and then is fine, but five? They go overboard on gift giving, and it's as if they purposefully try to find the gizmos with the loudest, most annoying jingles.

It’s amazing that they want to spend so much time with their grandchildren, but they simply will not perform the most basic of childproofing tasks — even when you offer to pay for the outlet plugs and stair gates — for reasons incomprehensible but likely having to do with the fact that kids these days are too soft and need to learn limits on their own.

You're well-versed in the dangers of making your child feel entitled, and you expected your parents — the ones who bemoaned you getting a trophy just for trying — would understand, too. Instead, they are constantly putting your children on sky-high pedestals and complimenting them on their cuteness rather than a more well-earned personality trait.

From big things ("You need to discipline her more!") to the most innocuous ("That's not how we took their temperature . . ."), they have an opinion about everything, and they aren't afraid to let you know what you're doing wrong at every turn.

You didn't like when they played favorites with you and your siblings, and you certainly aren't thrilled that they're pitting cousin against cousin when they make subtle comments about which grandchild seems to be the better athlete or the star student.

It's adorable how much they love our kids, but would it kill them to remember we're their kids every once in awhile? If you're running a slight fever, their first thought is if you've selfishly infected their grandchildren. And when they call to ask how their baby is, you know they aren't talking about you.