Another mother said this loudly in the playground....

[tired99]

This morning at school drop off another mother pointed to my ds1 who is 5 and said "his shoes are on the wrong feet". I replied "not again!" to which she replied "he's always got clothes on the wrong way around." As you can imagine I was mortified.

For a bit of background, I do have to check every morning that he's got his shoes on the wrong feet and had this morning but he'd put them back on the wrong feet again! His jumper is occasionally on the wrong way if he's had p.e. but never before school!

I'd only spoken to this mother once before, last week at the PTA meeting.

It's the sort of thing you need to have a laugh about.

If you were to look at the little kids at dds school, you'd know if they'd done PE or swimming because some of the boys will have their trousers or jumpers on the wrong way round.

Your ds wearing his clothes the wrong way round isn't a judgment of your parenting skills or you as a person. Perhaps she was trying to strike up a conversation and next time he comes out of school with his trousers on back to front, perhaps you can say loudly to her in a lovingly jokey way that he's done it again - must have been PE today and smile. See what happens. If she was being nasty, it's a bit cruel to judge little kids. Who would want to be friends with that kind of person?

It's not something to be mortified about.

It's a sign that your DS is developing his independence by dressing himself. If she makes a similar comment again, saying something like "yes, he's insisting on getting dressed by himself, he's still learning but it's great he's so independent"

It's very common to see small children with shoes and clothes the wrong way round on afternoons when they've had PE. Your son certainly won't be the only 5 yr old who's ever dressed back to front.

I agree it's not a particularly kind comment, but that reflects more on her than you.

The other afternoon one of my colleagues said to me 'Dull, is that one of those trendy tops with the seams on the outside, or are you wearing it inside out?' I'm nearly 60 and her manager. I just laughed, thanked her and went to the loo and swapped it round 😊 I'm pretty confident she wasn't being bitchy though I would have preferred somebody to have told me earlier in the day.

She sound like she lacks a bit of social grace. Sure, she was pointing something factual out, but, equally, the "always" sounds judgmental, even of she never intended it to be (I doubt he "always" has his clothes on back to front). You were there, and if she wasn't smiling when she said it then I doubt she was joshing with you.

I'd reserve judgment about this one. Keep my distance if she makes you feel crap

P.S - agree that him dressing himself is nothing to be mortified about

Some of the comments people post about on here sometimes often sound like the kind of thing I might say without really thinking through how it might be taken
Honestly I'd presume she was just trying to make conversation and go from there. If she is really a bitch it'll soon become apparent and then you can just smile from a distance and avoid.

My son once came out of reception wearing all his clothes back to front after PE - trousers, jumper, polo shirt!

She sounds like she spoke without thinking, I bet she's feeling a bit mortified too! Who knows, you might turn out to be best friends and laugh about this in a few years!