"Barbing" Is The New Dating Trend Inspired By 'Bachelor' Peter's Mom

Love her or hate her, Peter Weber's mom Barb is the undisputed star of The Bachelor Season 24. Though fans didn't meet her until the season finale, the overprotective mama made it clear in a short amount of time that she had #StrongOpinions about who her son would choose. Following the live show (and Barb's explosive argument with Madison Prewett), Plenty of Fish was even inspired to coin a new dating trend, Barbing. According to Plenty of Fish, Barbing happens "when a parent interferes in their child's relationship/dating life, asserting their opinions and pressuring their child to make decisions based on their own preferences." Does that sound familiar to you, Pilot Pete?

To be fair, it seems to me that Barb's (over)involvement in her son's romantic relationships is (mostly) done out of love. During "After the Final Rose" on March 10, Barb declared that she and Peter's father just "want the best" for their son, which seems reasonable IMO. However, things got unreasonable when — even after Peter begged her to give Madi a chance — Barb still wouldn't relent. "He's gonna have to fail to succeed," she said of Peter. "Everyone that knows him knows that it's not going to work." The boos that followed made it clear she'd seriously overstepped this time — and the Twitterverse agreed.

Several fans implied that Barb's treatment of Peter was just a touch overbearing.

And let's not forget that after the live show, Barb called Kelley Flanagan her "fave" on IG, which is just much too much. Between her making lunch plans with Kelley and her iconic "bring her home to us" speech about Hannah Ann Sluss, Barb clearly isn't afraid to weigh in on her son's dating life.

Luckily for Pilot Pete, he's not the only person who's ever been Barbed before. Plenty of Fish found that 25% of singles have second-guessed their relationship based on what their family thinks of their partner. Singles also reported that the opinions of their family are one of the "top five" reasons they second-guess relationships. And while it's totally fair for parents to have opinions about who their child dates, there comes a point when a parent needs to accept the choice their child has made. After all, Pete isn't a "child" anymore, and it's high time for Barb to stop meddling in his love life.