From MN – can confirm Walz is extremely likable. I said this the other day – he’s not elitist, he can talk farm policy because he actually understands it, he’s positive and upbeat – and MN has a strong bench and would survive without him. It wouldn’t deliver MN to Dems (that was already in the bag) but I think he’d do very well campaigning in the less urban parts of the upper midwest that are essential to a win. No one feels threatened by him.

I think Kelly is ultimately the better pick but Walz has been vetted (no skeletons, he’s pretty boring) has been in congress, military, and has run a couple of very successful campaigns where he won well above the margins of other statewide Dem candidates. He’s pro police, pro union, pro bodily autonomy, and has a real ‘aw shucks’ appeal that is not an act. Could potentially deliver the not-MAGA craze old white person vote, who might otherwise stay home.

I don’t know about condescension, but I do view people like your sister as people who got theirs’ and pull the ladder up after them. Those aren’t people I think highly of.

The Onion has long done “stories” on Uncle Joe washing his Camaro shirtless and having beers with the boys. If you go digging, I’m sure you can find them and they’re a good laugh.

Camero? He owns a Corvette.

Counterpoint, I was a competitive figure skater from ages 8-18. My mom skated recreationally but got more involved over time because she was spending so much time at the rink for me and ended up eventually getting her own coach and competing on the adult track. It didn’t bother me at all, and I never felt like she was trying to make my skating all about her. She left me alone to do my own thing, and never tried to participate in my lessons or correct my technique. There were lots of moms at the rink who DID make their daughter’s skating about them, but they were sitting in the stands and yelling down at the ice. These moms saw their daughters’ competitive success or lack thereof as a reflection on them, and they centered themselves in their daughter’s sport without ever stepping foot onto the ice.

tl;dr: don’t be an overbearing stage mom, but how overbearing you are has nothing to do with your hobbies.

🙄

I can understand being irritated if your mom was offering you piano tips you didn’t want. But as I said, that’s not what OP is talking about. If your objection is simply to your mother playing the piano because you also decided you wanted to play piano — when your mom did it first, and piano was only one of several instruments you tried out as a kid — your mom is not the one in the wrong here. Good moms don’t martyr themselves at the altar of their kids and quit every hobby their children happen to express interest in.

Also I think you’re reallyyyy projecting your own Mommy Issues here. Most kids are happy to share stuff with their parents if the parents aren’t overbearing. My mom participated in my main activity (which I did 20+ hours per week) when I was a tween and teen, even performing in shows with me, and it was fine. Of course I had moments of not wanting her around or being embarrassed by something she said or did, but all teens do. It’s not something I harbor any resentment about as an adult.