Still in the closet about my chicks...

[casumm]

So, no daycare the first two weeks of summer break and my mom is coming over to hang with the squirrel monkey (3 yr old son) while I get some work done. I just remembered the brooder set up on the porch (chicks come next week) and quickly grabbed everything and hid it in my closet as she was walking in. How sad is it that I'm 30+ years old and I'm afraid my mom will be mad that I bought myself some chicks?!?!

DS and I discussed that we weren't telling Nana about the chicks yet. He'll probably spill the beans anyway. I just don't want a lecture about the impracticality of raising chickens in the city. (My neighbors and sibs think it's cool.)

How have you come out of the closet with the people you knew would "disapprove"?

-c

 

[HenPen]

I didn't tell them I just let them come for a visit and see them....my mom STILL will not eat chicken in my house unless she sees the package it came in and will only eat brown eggs that I bring to her and only because she believes they are from my coop that does not have a roo.

 

[casumm]

LOL... maybe you should have your mom do a hen head count before you serve Sunday dinner!

I'll probably do the same thing, just invite her over when they arrive. She's a TOTAL sucker for things that are fuzzy and cute. (That's how I got 2 unauthorized kittens in when I was a teenager.) She will probably sulk for a few days because I "didn't feel I could tell her" before hand. But, seriously, I'm over getting in trouble at this point in my life. ;-)

(I wonder how my mom will react to blue/green eggs since I picked out a couple of easter eggers!)

-c

 

[dreamwallaby]

LMAO, I could have written this email. I am 30 and I was worried to tell my mom I was getting chicks. However, my mom actually used to breed birds and has several birds right now so even though I got this HUGE lecture about how it will never work, she volunteered to babysit them when I went out of town for a few days and my stepdad is helping to build my coop. My mom is just one of thsoe people that always has an opinion and it's never a positive one, so she is usually the last to hear about any family news.
You are not alone!

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

I did the same things. hid my baby turkeys in the closet when my BIL came over... knew it was either that, or listen to a lecture...

 

[write2caroline]

You know at some point you will have to live with the idea you might just disapoint your mom. I would invite her over to show her what you get in the mail when you get the chicks all settled and let it be what it is and not worry too much about it. She may or may not approve and as you are an adult you are capable of standing up and saying you have come down with a slight chicken addiction and she should start enabling you pronto!

Don't worry - she will change her mind, I bet, when you start getting eggs!

Caroline

 

[Thundrr-Chicken]

hell i was so excited when we got chicks that i told everyone... even posted the pictures on my facebook page lol... i could care less what they think... the chickens make me happy

 

[Mervin]

I handled it like I handle just about everything...the heck with tact. My mom wasn't really a problem. My maternal grandmother was one of those Dr. Dolittle-ish people. She seemed to have a way with critters and there were always a bunch around. My MIL, on the other hand, doesn't really like anything. She has an electronic fish tank for crying out loud. The dialog ran something like this:

MIL: You got chicks?

Me: Yup.

MIL: Are you going to eat them?

Me: No, they're for eggs and to be pets. Maybe I'll eat the roosters. We'll see.

MIL: Why don't you buy eggs at the store?

Me: Eggs at the store s**k. The only time I've ever eaten store-bought is when we moved away. I didn't know anybody who kept chickens there.

MIL: Isn't keeping chickens a lot of hassle just for eggs?

Me: Probably, but the kid's think the cat's lazy and not much fun.

MIL: Why don't you get them a dog?

Me: Your daughter doesn't like dogs--probably b/c you're so animal-phobic--and I don't like dog pooh. If I'm going to clean up after something, I want a little ROI. It might be alright if I had time to teach a dog to chase rabbits for me, but I don't.

MIL: You could just get a small dog.

Me: I don't really care for small dogs. I like working animals. I already have one freeloader that won't even chase mice.

MIL: What if you get a rooster and it crows all the time?

Me: What if I get a dog and it barks all the time? I'm pretty sure the ASPCA would show up if I made soup out of a poodle.

MIL: What about bunnies?

Me: Bunnies are very tasty.

MIL: ....Uh

 

[kfchickenlady]

All of them!

This so sounds like my MIL, who TG lives far enough away....always has an opinion on everything, you know, the kind of mom who says, I dont care, just do what you want .....meaning youd better do things her way.
She figured she couldnt change her crazy DIL who came with horses and dogs, so whats a few goats, cats, chickens? Besides, my mother and her get along great and SHE brought a hen in tlhe house to show everyone!!!

Dear MIL couldnt say much negative after that......now she acts like she thinks her sons family is the coolest for having animals....LOL!!!

Tell her they make you happy and theres a backyard chicken revolution going on, she does need to be an enabler....

 

[MissJenny]

LOL My son is 30, with a 3-year-old, and I'm pretty sure if I began a lecture to him about anything he'd tell me it's none of my d**n business... which sounds pretty much like what I told my mom the last time she began a lecture to me... when I was about 30. We're like that.

Jenny