Were your friends parents ever mean to you?

[funnyonion1]

I was born in the late 80s / childhood in the 90s just for context as I hope these days this doesn't happen.

When I was about 8 years old I went for a sleepover at a good friends house (had been on multiple sleepovers before but this one stands out the most). In the morning we had Rice Krispies with milk for breakfast. I said I didn't eat my cereal with milk but she forced me to eat it. I remember crying and gagging over the cereal bowl and she wouldn't let me leave without eating it. I managed a couple of spoonfuls before she gave up.

Then when my mum came to pick me up and I told her what happened, she didn't take my side or defend me (which is for a whole other thread!).

As a mum of two, I can't imagine doing anything like this to my own DC let alone other children!

I remember being quite embarrassed when a friends mum criticised my table manners. My crimes were using my knife instead of a spoon to get jam out of the jar (no spoon immediately available but apparently I should have known to ask) and putting my hand in the cereal box instead of pouring it in my bowl. I was primary age at the time. She called me a heathen and said my parents had obviously brought me up badly which stung. She was a massive snob and as my lovely kind mum said later maybe it was bad manners of me to do those things but her manners were worse for pointing them out. A truly polite person would never make someone else uncomfortable.

Yes. Had a mum's friend call me fat at about 10. My auntie by marriage when staying at my cousin's house let my cousin try on my new clothes which I'd never worn before and model them in front of me. We had very little cash so new clothes were a big deal for me.

My mum went ballistic both times. Re food the motto was you eat what you're given at other people's houses but I was never forced to eat at home.

I remember going to my uncles house for a sleepover (probably aged 7-8) and there was a pot of playdoughs were my cousin kicked it on the carpet floor. I was somehow blamed for this and the next thing I remember is my uncles wife kicking off. The very next morning, my uncle drove me all the way home and dropped me off there and I remember my mum answering the door like wtf. My hair was a mess and it was early morning and it was clear to her that with my messy hair that they just literally took me out of bed and drove me all the way home. Mum asked me what happened and I said there was play doh on the carpet and she went mental. We never stepped foot there ever again.

Thinking about it now still makes me sad because even if it was me that kicked the play doh on the carpet, what the fuck is wrong with people to treat children like that? It's only play doh ffs, you just pick it up which I helped clean but why the fuck would you have play doh in your house if you can't play with it. Of course the play doh wasn't the main reason but my uncles wife didn't want me round as she was always the jealous, mean and difficult type. It's so wrong on many levels because children don't forget.

Maya Angelou" I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel"

morrisey yes he was and I agree about my friends, it was a different times; the 80s, we thought adults were always right.

It has helped me be really mindful to be inclusive of others and particularly my childrens' friends and hopefully have brought up my children to be so too.

Some of these stories are awful! I am so sorry you experienced this

Adults have no idea how damaging their words and actions can be. Children are so vulnerable

Two of my schoolfriends' mothers took a dislike to me. To this day I do not know why. I was a quiet and respectable teen - always said hello on arrival and goodbye on leaving. One thought I influenced her daughter who was boy mad - no input from me. Another was just downright horrible and would make comments when I visited. I was also being bullied at school so this fuelled my thoughts of not being likeable.

I spent the majority of my teen years feeling I was not liked and loved by people. It caused so much emotional damage that exists almost 30 years later.

These are really quite sad, I have really disliked DCs friends' behaviour before but would never have made them feel like I really disliked them.

I can’t believe that people think that standing over a child, forcing them to eat while they’re gagging and crying isn’t mean! Letting a child leave food when it’s causing them so much distress isn’t “pandering”, especially if it’s a child you don’t know very well and who you are supposed to be taking care of.

I’ve just remembered having a friend round to play in our garden. We were pretending to look for fairies, leaving little toys and bits of food out for them to eat. The next day at school the friend told me her mum was cross when she got home because she was “too old to believe in fairies” and I’d filled her head with nonsense. We were 7! She never did come and play again, but I did get invited to her birthday party later in the year, and her mum was really off with, telling me off for things I hadn’t done and glaring at me. She must have REALLY hated fairies...

@Reluctantcavedweller

Why would anyone ever take offence at a visiting child not clearing their plate? They're in an unfamiliar house with potentially different food than they're used to and they may have very little appetite if they're nervous. Why not just offer what you're having and they can take it or leave it? You're not their parent... Seems an odd thing to get wound up over.

It does seem odd nowadays but it's understandable given the context that those of us who were brought up in the seventies had parents who had experienced food rationing during their childhoods, which only ended in the early fifties. Wasting food was hugely frowned upon when supplies were so limited. My mother used to save string, brown paper, clean foil and the ends of soap too.

Yes, one dad used to make fun of my heigh (I was pretty tall and they were all quite small) it used to really upset me and make me feel self conscious.