I Want Grandkids/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: Parental pressure to procreate.

  • Straight: Sharon's mother Shannon wants her to get married and have kids as quickly as possible.
  • Exaggerated: From the moment her daughter was born, Shannon has raised her with one goal in mind: to get her married off and start pumping out the grandbabies!
    • Shannon already has picked out potential names for her future grandkids, has been stockpiling baby clothes for them, has set up a guest bedroom for sleeping over at Grandma's...
  • Justified: Shannon has a terminal illness that will kill her in 5 years, and she wants to see her grandchildren before she passes away.
  • Inverted: Sharon, an only child, begs her mother for a sibling.
    • Young Sharon gives her mother grief because she very definitely doesn't want a baby brother or sister.
    • Or Shannon gives Sharon grief for giving her grandchildren.
  • Subverted: Shannon tells Sharon she should focus on her career for now, not on trying to have kids as soon as possible.
  • Double Subverted: However, this is soon revealed to be her attempting to use Reverse Psychology on her daughter.
  • Parodied: The only thing Shannon ever says to her daughter is "Gimme grandkids!"
  • Deconstructed: Shannon was raised to believe that women's worth lies in having children, and honestly believes/fears that she will have failed as a mother if her daughter doesn't continue the family line. The pressure she keeps putting on her daughter to procreate already only reaffirms Sharon's desire to remain childfree, driving a wedge between them.
    • Sharon becomes so desperate to please her mother that she ends up in a bad relationship with Domestic Abuser Edward.
    • Shannon is lesbian, and her mother keeps asking her why she is not getting married and when will she have children. Gayngst ensues.
  • Reconstructed:Shannon grew up with adoring grandparents who helped her parents raise her and her siblings. She wants to provide that same support for her own daughter and her daughter's kids. Bob, Sharon's not-boyfriend eventually sits the two down so they can get over their problems. The end result is Shannon stops pressuring Shannon about babies and starts shipping her with Bob.
  • Zig Zagged: Shannon has three children: Stanley, Sharon and Stacy. While she heavily pressures Sharon to hurry up, get married and have kids, she discourages Stacy from the very same goals, and is completely indifferent to whether or not Stanley settles down and gets to the babymaking.
    • Shannon flips back and forth between whether she wants Sharon to have kids or not on a whim. She's horrified when Sharon indicates she might get together with a guy she disapproves of, but when that guy's out of the picture...
  • Averted: Shannon stays out of Sharon's lovelife.
    • Shannon never brings up the subject of grandkids with Sharon.
  • Enforced: The writer of the series wants grandkids and is dropping not-so-subtle hints to their child, the producer.
  • Lampshaded: "My parents really want grandkids; they call me everyday asking about them."
  • Invoked: Shannon refers to this trope when Sharon asks why she wants grandkids so much.
  • Exploited: Sharon's abusive on-again, off-again boyfriend Edward tries to strongarm her into sex by reminding her of her mother's wishes.
    • Alternately, Edward tries to lure her away by acting supportive and offering a sympathetic ear, gently manipulating her into despising her mother's meddling.
  • Defied: When Sharon and Bob marry, Sharon asks Shannon if she wants grandkids. The answer is no.
  • Discussed: "Why do our parents ask for grandkids?"
  • Conversed: "They're bored"
  • Played For Laughs: Shannon has picked up on the UST between Sharon and Bob, and clumsily attempts to push them together by dropping less-than-subtle hints that she thinks they'd make some cute kids together.
  • Played For Drama: Shannon makes clear that Sharon is her unfavorite, supporting Stacy's chosen career as an actress while proclaiming that the only worthwhile thing her other daughter could accomplish would be landing a good man and giving her grandkids.
    • Sharon was raped; Shannon pressures her to keep the child, telling her Good Girls Avoid Abortion and even going so far as to claim this is her 'only chance' at motherhood, as nobody else would want her now that she's "damaged goods".

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