1 “XYZ has got better marks than you”. Other people’s children don’t just fare far better in the scorecard. We are also totally clueless about the ways of the world unlike the cousin sister who is smart and clever!

2 Coming and checking in on us especially when we have shut the door for some privacy.

3 Talking loudly or switching off the AC deliberately to wake us up.

4 Entering the room and judging its cleanliness quotient. C’mon, life’s too short to clean the room every day, ma.

5 Switching off the light the moment we leave a room, even though we were going to go back to the room in five minutes!

6 Talk to us about everything under the sun just when we’re watching our favourite TV show.

7 Getting enthusiastic about age-inappropriate pop culture. Listening to Honey Singh? Check. Twerking? Er, check. Saying ‘totes adorbs’ to strangers’ kids? Time to hide.

8“Eat your food”. I will. (Five minutes later) “Have you eaten?

Why does every parent suffer from the feeling that his or her child will die of hunger? On top of that they serve more food than can be possibly eaten in a month and after we don’t finish they say: “Cook your own food from now on.”

9 We dread a Sunday if there isn’t a film to watch or if there are no plans to meet with friends in the evening, because we HAVE TO STAY AT HOME and listen to all kinds of political gibberish that the father tunes into or the rona-dhona that the mother tunes into after the father is done with his TV time. What about me? I don’t pay the TV bill, you see! Kill me, someone.

10 Urging us to wear woollens as early as September. And when we fall sick due to something else, it’s because we didn’t keep warm. Or because of gas. Muscle cramp? Gas. Headache? Must be gas. Conjunctivitis? Definitely gas.

11 Making false promises. “You can party after your Class 10 boards. We won’t stop you!” The deadline to party was then stretched to after class 12, after graduation, after masters — and now we are married.

12 They add you on Facebook and add all your friends too. They think Alok Nath memes are not funny.

13 They don’t stop dialling your number until you pick up. Fifteen missed calls and 10 unread messages? Must be mom or dad.

14 They never pick up your call. Because a) It’s on silent mode b) They can’t find the phone in the handbag c) They can’t hear d) They went out and forgot to carry the phone.

15 They call to inform that the neighbour’s aunt has seen us with a boy and ask if we have marriage plans. #facepalm

16 When the father asks you, in front of a guest, to bring out the Nakur’er sandesh from the fridge, conveniently forgetting that he had polished off the last piece.

17 Every time a friend from school days is pregnant, the mother ends up asking her (or the friend’s wife): “Was it planned?”

18 They call you by your nickname in front of “special” friends. Then they ask those friends, “What does your father do?”

19 Most of the time, they are oblivious to the fact that we are getting annoyed.

20 What’s the most annoying thing your parent says or does? Tell t2@abp.in