MIL gets weird

[Waterlight]

I have a Crazy Cat Family    No pets of my own (not allowed where I live  ) but my parents always had cats.

My dad and stepmom's cats always sent "love and pawprints" in letters to me at college, and I got gifts from my "brothers" at Christmas.  (The running joke was that the older kitty was more responsible and saved his money from a kitty paper route, while his bratty kid brother spent all his money on wild parties.)  Once I even got a valentine from Black Jack, the older cat (who lived to be 20 years old and spent his whole life from 5 weeks to 20 years spoiled rotten by my stepmom).

My mom has four cats and a Chihuahua and still sends me cards from them.

[Pen^2]

A lot of people like to be a bit silly with cute animals, and that's fine. Pretending to talk with them, sending cards, etc. can be cute. But there is a line that can be crossed where it just gets too much, and then it is weird. This line is in a different place for everyone depending on how used to the cutesy animal stuff they are. If one person is acting in a way that another person sees as just plain odd by being over the top, at least in their eyes, then I think it isn't rude to let them know (politely and discreetly!) so that they don't keep on making an apparent fool of themselves in front of their friend/relative.

If person A is acting in a way that person B thinks is pretty crazy, it is perfectly polite of B to let A know this to stop A from further embarrassment. A might instead find out years down the track, and feel awkward over the fact that they didn't know that B thought they were being weird the whole time. And perhaps B could just never tell A, but that's quite dishonest if it's a big enough thing to either of them (e.g. if A does it a lot). Dishonesty about big things can be fine, but not if you want to consider yourselves 'friends' with someone.

I usually just laugh it off when it gets too much, and say something non-committal like "don't be silly" or "I think that's a bit much now *chuckle and bean dip*". Most people get the hint.

[Twik]

My own, not very strange, mother once panicked me by telling me "your brother is in the hospital."

After I gasped, "What happened to him? Was he in an accident? Is he sick?" she explained she meant my dad had gone out to take the dog in for his shots.

So, I guess I don't find "grandpuppy" all that odd.

[TootsNYC]

I see/hear a lot of people talking about their "fur babies," "grand-puppies," etc.. I wouldn't do it personally but it seems pretty common to me. At one point my aunt and uncle tried telling me their dog was my cousin and I was kind of like . I just didn't really respond and they dropped it. Okay if they want to talk that way, but don't expect me to play along. I also don't include family pets in, say, Christmas cards (like, "To Uncle Bob, Aunt Jane, Susie, Joey, and Muffin"). But other people do. Shrug.

I will refer to myself as the cat's "mom" or to DH as "dad" in occasional instances where we are sort of acting a bit like parents ("daddy won't let you on the table? poor baby!"). And I'm an enthusiastic follower of the "If I'm interested in you, I'll be interested in your pets" concept. But to assign someone ELSE that sort of relationship? Kind of inappropriate, I think.

Actually, parent-type labels don't but me that much, but sibling ones do. I cannot ever imagine saying the cat or dog was someone's sibling.

My mom was a fond but not at all goopy pet owner. She took to referring to pets as "grand-dogs." And yet it was always clear that they were grand-DOGS.

[Ms_Cellany]

I tend to be leery of "mom" and "dad" in reference to pets. The Sweetie & I refer to ourselves as "The Big Pink Thing" and "The Other Big Pink Thing." 

"Awww...poor kitty! Did the mean Big Pink Thing not let you on the desk?"


The most genuinely disturbing one was when I was at a pet grief support group. A woman who had put down her elderly dog a few months earlier was sobbing, "I murdered my SON!"

[KenveeB]

My mom insists on talking to her grandcat every time she talks to me when I'm at home, but that's because that particular cat has a unique and very loud purr that Mom just likes to hear. I don't think it's necessarily a strange thing, but it's something that can be taken too far. If MIL asks to put Puppy on the phone, just beandip her with "we'll tell Puppy you said hi." I think like PPs have said, she's just over-connecting right now because she's a recent dog-owner herself and because Puppy has a uniquely interesting story. It'll probably die off soon if you don't make a big deal out of it.

[Jenny13]

although I find it a tad odd, she must really love dogs!!  on a side note, I think it's a subtle hint about children.