My mother and grandmother always made a big deal about "being honest". In my view their "honesty" was just a way to stick their opinions in about anything. For example, I got new furniture for my living room in a medium green. I did not ask my mother if she liked is, but the first time she saw she said "I have to be honest, this is a dreadful color and you absolutely wasted your money on it". To me, that is not honest but hurtful. I pretty much told her that this was my house and my choice, and if she didn't like it she could keep her opinions to herself. She huffed and puffed and didn't come to my house for 5 years (but then again, we lived 400 miles away). She also rearranged my kitchen once because "Honestly Pam, your organization skills are very poor". Well, I'm 5'9 and she was not quite 5', so her reorganization was very poor for me! I told her that I was going to store and that I expected the kitchen to be put back the way it was when I returned in an hour and a half. BTW, it was though she was deeply offended. I didn't care - I was deeply offended! I learned to just ignore minor issues and push back at the big ones. You can't help people who practice that kind of "honesty" because they are convinced they are helpful.
Pam