My daughter deliberately painted me out to be someone not to be messed with. I well remember the night I heard a knock on the door and it was her boyfriend wanting to talk to me. His voice was literally shaking. Turned out he was asking my permission to marry my daughter. I thought he was going to have a stroke.
Only later did I learn that my daughter had used me as a 'threat' just to make sure he walked the line. They've been married for a number of years and he's father to my grandson. He's still a bit timid around me too
Mom was always the safer bet to talk to