Parents google my life

[Anonymous]

With the internet, there is no longer an expectation of privacy

[Anonymous]

I have had media stories written about me, but I don't think my family reads them, even when I send a link or copy. Wish there was a happy medium between your mom and mine!

[Anonymous]

Anxiety is the problem here, not curiosity.

You need to develop a avoidance response to questions/discussion about what they've discovered, if that's what's bothering you.

"I can't believe there's a sex offender 5 miles from you! You need to move!
- Hm-mm Mom. So yesterday Larla read her first book!
- And that school you're considering has 0.1 ranking lower than that other one down the road!
- Yes, Mom. Larlo and I really enjoyed going to the zoo yesterday and seeing all the animals: guess which is his favorite one!"

[Anonymous]

np: Sometimes dealing with parents is like going to the dentist, getting a pelvic exam, etc. It's intrusive, maybe painful, annoying. But we're expected to do it as responsible citizens, patients, daughters. I'm the op of "Can you convince me to call my mother", so probably all of you who are dealing with your parents are stepping up better than I am.

[Anonymous]

Give them a job to do that might actually help you. What are some summer camp options in your area? Where can you pick up healthy dinner on a busy weeknight? Are there free activities and festivals for the family nearby? Any good landscapers? Where can you get your oil changed in a pinch? Any decent workout facilities? Cool places to have kids' birthday parties within 5mi? What places deliver to your house when they are over watching the kids on date night? Where is the closest urgent care? Can they list all nearby parks and playgrounds? What are all the options and rates for cable and internet providers? Who is running for local office and do they have 1-pg fact sheets?

There is just so much stuff that they can google away that might actually be helpful and not give you an anxiety attack, lol. Lots of this stuff requires a follow-up call to get exact details (eg summer camp) and, if you're anything like me, there's no time or enough privacy at work to get this little stuff done.

[Anonymous]

Googling is fine but using the info against you to second-guess your decisions is definitely not. I would just refuse to engage with those conversations. "Mom, we've made our decision about where to live/where to send the kids to school/etc. and it's not up for discussion. We can talk about something else now, or else I need to go and will talk to you next week."

[Anonymous]

My mom used to and then got all freaked out because of one those "get the arrest record of MY NAME" popup ads.

[Anonymous]

I wish my parents were limited to just Googling my life. When my mom is in my house she goes through my stuff just as she did when I lived in her house while growing up. She writes down names of my prescriptions in order to go home and google them. Then she sends me "helpful" articles like "common side effects of taking x medication", just "randomly" and "in case I'm interested".

When I tell her that her behavior is inappropriate she plays the victim and acts hurt that I would accuse her of going through my things. I now do everything I can to keep her out of my house.

[Anonymous]

^^^ Whoa, that is invasive!

[Anonymous]

My Mom stalks me on Facebook. She has friended all of my friends and our family, of course. And if I comment on anything, she immediately comments behind me and also 'likes' my comment. It's suffocating and made me self-censor! I opened an Instagram with friends only and a select group of family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^ Whoa, that is invasive!

Yes it is. She was like that when I was growing up and it made me crave privacy so badly. I never had any. The worst part is her gas lighting me (I think I'm using that term correctly) because she ends up making me feel badly for making her feel badly. She is the perpetual victim who doesn't understand why her behavior is inappropriate.

She also does the FB stuff that the poster above stated. I have an Instagram account that she didn't know about and made the mistake of uploading a picture from there to Facebook, which states "from Instagram". I got a phone call that night admonishing me for having a secret Instagram account. I'm 35.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mom would do this. She would never admit it but she would. She keeps tabs on our local weather and local news. I fully expect that if she knows the same of my kids activities, preschools, etc she looks them up online and especially likes to take note of the cost.
I agree I think it is weird and creepy. I can chalk some stuff up to curiousity but I think a lot of times it crosses the line. My mom doesn't really have a life so I guess she has a lot of time to snooping and judging how others live theirs.

I worry about you, sweetie. I can Google stalk you and never talk about it, or I can drive you crazy with a million phone calls or texts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Anxiety is the problem here, not curiosity.

You need to develop a avoidance response to questions/discussion about what they've discovered, if that's what's bothering you.

"I can't believe there's a sex offender 5 miles from you! You need to move!
- Hm-mm Mom. So yesterday Larla read her first book!
- And that school you're considering has 0.1 ranking lower than that other one down the road!
- Yes, Mom. Larlo and I really enjoyed going to the zoo yesterday and seeing all the animals: guess which is his favorite one!"

Google is cocaine for people with anxiety issues.