How to Deal With a Boyfriend Who Is a Mama's Boy

Your guy may not be as bad as Norman Bates, but he’s definitely a mama’s boy. No matter how much you fret, moan, stew and try to break the umbilical bonds that continue to bind him, he’s still hooked on his mother. You can deal with a boyfriend who’s a mama’s boy with a change of attitude.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Accept that your boyfriend’s a mama’s boy and nothing is going to change it, not even love or clean laundry. Work with the situation instead of against it.

2. Make friends with his mother. As golden as your boyfriend is in her eyes, she’s probably the same in his. Turn her into an ally, not an enemy. This can be done by chatting when she calls 20 times a day, sending her special cards on holidays and taking time out to spend time with her one on one.

3. Take advantage of the situation. If your boyfriend is whining about not having clean clothes or a hot dinner, tell him to trek on down to his mom’s so she can do a load of laundry and feed him. When he complains about money, likewise send him her way to get some.

4. Ignore his remarks that may slip out during fights and meals where he says, “You’ll never be as good as my mother,” or “That’s not how mom makes meatloaf.”

5. Remain your own, individual self. You don’t need to start acting like his mother or making meatloaf like she does. Retain your own stellar personality that brought you and your boyfriend together in the first place.

Tips & Warnings

• None of this is easy but it can be fun if you look at it as a game.
• When you’re sick of the game, dump him.
• Never run to your mama's boy boyfriend to complain about his mother and never run to his mother to complain about him. The boyfriend and mother team will not be broken, especially for a lowly girlfriend.
• Don't get discouraged if your best efforts to befriend his mother fail. Some mama boy mothers are not going to like any girlfriend, no matter what.
• Never spurt out, “Well, why don’t you just go back to your mother, then!” because he will.

[maycee]

on 8/22/2009 I recently broke up with my boyfriend of 6 years, who is 46 years old, and still lives with his mother! He is not feminine in anyway, but this it just a load of crap! Run the other way! I am a single mom with 2 children, grown up, I raised on my own, I have a really good job and usually a second job on the side, a nice home. His mother was constantly looking for reasons for him not to like me! She was as two faced as the day is long. This is a woman who has nothing good to say about her own 84 year old mother or her grandchildren! She is manipulative and selfish! It makes me sick that he is never going to have his own life due to her disgusting selfishness! Never date a grown man who still live with his mother, it will never change and she will only cause you misery!

[ilivetoteach]

on 3/30/2009 Don't move to the South. It's loaded with Mama's boys.

[chelly35]

on 1/3/2009 It is sick and weird, to the point where I almost became ridiculous in thinking that maybe they are sleeping together. I felt like I was in constant competition with her. We couldn't even go to the mall without her being there. And on top of that his mother is a royal B---h! I can't stand her, and I don't, and didn't care if she liked me. I am still a little bitter about this because we recently just broke up, not because of her, but because he was cheating. You can't be a mama's boy and a cheater, no REAL woman is going to deal with that. I have to say that I am very much content with my decision.

[pbreak]

on 12/26/2008 This how-to checklist is horsesh**. I followed these rules and it only gets worse. Do NOT make friends with his mother, she will only use you to manipulate HIM, or to get personal information. There is nothing acceptable about a grown man who is overly attached to his mama. It's sick, and it's weird, and you should run the other way.