There's this lady I work with that although she's a sweet lady that I love very much and would do anything for drives me insane with how much she talks about her (grown) daughter. I swear I think I hear her daughter's name at least 100 times a day (no exaggeration and I only work part-time!). It's like you can't even talk to her about anything w/out her bringing up her daughter (ex: Me- Do you want some chocolate chip cookies, Her- Yes and oh my daughter loves chocolate chip cookies; Me- Do you like my new shirt, Her- Yes and my daughter has a shirt like that etc). And on the rare occasion that she's not talking about her daughter, she talks about her granddaughter. Look, I'm not at all against parents talking about their children and/or grandchildren but it's all she ever talks about and every other word is her daughter's or granddaughter's name as if she has no life or identity beyond being a mother/grandmother. Does anybody else on here work with people like this?

I've known people who talk about their kids a lot, but not as much as your situation! My take is that she's very lonely w/o her daughter now that she is grown....and that she was one of those parents that put her life on hold and devoted every waking second to the kid while she was growing up. Now that the kid is grown, the Mother has no life of her own.

But it's not like her daughter moved away and she never sees her anymore. Her daughter lives nearby and my coworker sees her daughter and granddaughter every day and talks to them all the time. I could understand the excessive family talk if she rarely got to see them, but that is most certainly not the case here. My conclusion is she just doesn't have much of a life beyond her family because I see no other possible explanation.

Thats the problem with work - we're not surrounded by like minded people like we were when growing up and we could choose who we spent time with. Anyway, thats another can of worms

Ugh, that must be awful to hear all the time. It's also pretty sad that this woman puts so much of her identity on someone else. My daughter this, my grandkid that...what about YOU, lady!?

Isn't that what happens when people procreate? Most (I'm sure there are exceptions) lose themselves in their child and then the grandchild...they have no sense of self and no identity outside of being a mother or a father. It is one of the biggest turn-offs to me and one reason I'm thankful that that is not the life I chose.

This is THE #1 reason I never wanted children. My mother devoted her entire life to me and my brother, and I always watched her sacrificing little things for herself so we could have things. As a kid, I appreciated it, and took it for granted in the sense that I thought, "This is what being a mom is about."

But I didn't really see how much of herself she had lost in the process until my brother and I were both grown. We've been out of the house now for almost 20 years, and she's a very depressed woman. She can't see the joy in my brother's happiness because she feels abandoned by him. She's never had a problem with letting go of me because she sees herself in me, and gets to experience the joy of seeing me live the life I want. My brother -- that's her baby, and she resents having to let go of him to the point that she's created a big wedge between them. Ugh, it's a long story.

Anyway, I think that's really the reason a lot of people DO have kids. They're not happy, and having a child to focus on gives them the perfect distraction from having to face the emptiness of their own lives.

I so totally agree!