My mom has a phrase:

"Oh, you think so?" with a squint of her eyes.  As if to say "Oh really?" with an eyeroll. 

You know the conversation is over when she says this.

So I've found a good phrase of my own to use when she's nitpicking my house, or my sleep schedule, or my children, or just about anything and everything:

"I know, right?" then change the subject. 

I will show you how it works:


Mom: Oh wow, you never ripped up that part of your carpet!
Me: I know, right?  How's your dog doing today?

Mom: Oh wow, you never cleaned your porch!
Me: I know, right?  Did Alex get into any of your bread lately? (Alex=cat who steals her bread)

See how ingenious this is?  I mean, she COULD come back with "I was talking about....." but more than likely the chance to talk about her own life will outweigh her need to nitpick. 

We can hope. 

Try it and see it works for you and if so, come back and let me know!

OR if you have your own "phrase of diversion", let me know below :)

Cause you know what?  If you can distract them, you can confuse them into changing their behavior in that moment. 

Good luck!

And Happy Holidays :)