Competitive parent comments (just for fun)

[prettymuchapixiegirl]

A few that I've come across:

"I love the way your DS is happy sitting in the buggy. My DS is never happy just sitting there like that, he is so grown up and needs constant stimulation or he gets bored"

"Oh DS, look at that slop that Pixiegirl's DS is eating, you're wondering what it is because you only have big boy food don't you?"

"To be honest I'd much rather have a child who's more average, like your DS. I think being so advanced is going to bring my DS nothing but problems when he gets to school"

All said by a "friend" who is lovely in many ways but also very competitive and our meet ups are frequently spent with her reeling off a list of what her DS is now doing, or by her making out that there's a problem because she thinks he's doing things so early....

What competitive parenting comments have you all come across?

Unrepentantbloke

That would have made me laugh too.

I took ds2 to see the lion king and got off the train at charring cross. I swiftly realised that the crowds were upsetting ds2 and hailed a cab.

Are you having a fucking laugh? He politely asked.

Oh please don't be rude ' I nearly wept ' this is supposed to be a treat but he is so anxious' and explained.

Cabbie told me to get in, drove me as close to the theatre door as was possible - given the pedestrian area - and then refused to let me pay.

Top guy.
Cabbies have always been nice to ds2

My NCT group were always Uber competitive (unlike me, who is just grateful that my two are happy & healthy)

They were really put out when DS1 was crawling at 7 months and walking at 10 (which is common in our family and doesn't make us geniuses)

Ds was the last of the group to be toilet trained (at a rather young 2.9 months) and they were absolutely over-joyed! (he was only boy in the group)

One even made a comment along the lines of "oh poor minisoccer - he must be so upset that he wasn't first for once" err no!

and dontdisstheteens that really is something to boast about! Emotional intelligence is far more superior to academic!

Yeah one can and should laugh when folk are crass, insecure and do not care if they hurt. But alas it is the times when one is feeling low and vulnerable that this sort of thing hits home - even though one can rationalise it away...

Children vary so much comparison should just be supportive sharing of experience - as friends do. When it is crass and hurts just take a deep breath and try to put it out of your mind until after a night's sleep (well a batch of sleep, whatever) and then tell your partner/friend and have a laugh about it.

Learned this the hard way - hope this is helpful to some of you!

"Perhaps we should employ your draconian ways"

said by parent (that I had only just met mind) whose children did not sleep, as clearly mine (who do) were treated 'severley and cruely' as this apparently is the only way to get kids sleeping

Do 22 carat gold competitive parents do fun?

The USA variety do not seem to.

OMG Can't believe some of those. Have an ex-friend who is a wealth of that sort of statements (mighty insecure too she is). She once told me that her DS (then about 3 years old) couldn't bear to listen to anything else than Radio 3 in the car, and liked to pretend he was directing the orchestra.
I honestly think she doesn't realise what she sounds like, but I've still stopped seeing her - it was just winding me up too much. :o

I have a friend who is constantly comparing her ds to mine (both 4)but does herself no favours at all as she is well known for it in our circle of friends !
she mantains her ds is the best behaved child ever (his not) and if my son ever doed anything cheeky she always says to her son "your such a good boy for me " !!!!!!!

Just marking my place gotta go to school - back later to add my twopennyworth!

Thank for accepting my boast. It was so special. It also helped when talking to his now form teacher this afternoon to remember being 'good' is not everything all of the time even if it would bloody help sometimes. .

a child has just come into the shop - i swear she must be about 2.
she is soooo tall that she's touching the ceiling!

Beat that mothers!

oh, no, hang on, she's on her dad's shoulders.
scrap that.

dontdisstheteens that is a very inspiring story, indeed. Go give your DS a hug right now from all of us.

dontdisstheteens My eyes are welling up as I type! How lovely. I am sure you were proud, hell, I am proud and I dont even know him!

I am going to admit something now....

ds1 was so far "behind" with all his developmental milestones due to his health problems so when ds2 arrived and was so far - ahem - advanced to what I was used to I did catch myself thinking a couple of times...."oh my god, the child is a genius!!"

For example, one day when he was about 6 months old he grabbed a block and put it in the correct hole in his shape sorter.....cue me on the phone to MENSA....he then proceeded to put EVERY other block in the same hole and most of his banana....sigh....

Oh well.......

some of these are great though.

dontdisstheteens - that was lovely.
I cried at that.

dontdisstheteens another one here welling up. Damn right you should be proud - what a sweetheart!

Don'tdiss - I'll bet your boy turns out to be one of those people you hear interviewed on the radio in years to come, who's done something amazing and cool and useful with their lives, and he'll be talking about how he was always in trouble in school, but his mum was really proud of things like that, and that's what made him the man he is, etc etc. You mark my words.

dontdiss I can assure you the boy your DS ran with would be eternally grateful with what your DS did. A pupil did similar with me when I was determined to complete the 800m despite my asthma being severe at the time. I will never forget that pupil.

Oh and btw that was 17 years ago

I agree mumbar, it's the type of thing you'll never forget. Wonderful, spontaneous thing to do and something I'd be very proud of if my DS ever did something that kind

Aww dontdiss that is adorable. And nice to see that mumbar remembers similar :)

I am absolutely loving this thread...

A "friend" of mine is constantly bragging about her DS.

This week when my Ds came down with another cold she said " Oh my DS doesnt get ill, its because I breastfed him for a year and he is a vegetarian who doesnt like chocolate or eating processed foods!"

Well done you, give yourself a pat on the back, I on the other hand obviously need reporting for child abuse for giving my DS the odd Kinder egg or ready made pizza

I think I'm noticing potential competative parenting more since this thread. I mean, what happened today was probably NOT meant snarkily, but it could have been.

At mum n'tot playgroup, and DS (17mo) is doing laps around the room pushing a doll's pram. I think he'd gone around about 20 times when another mum (whose DS was staying in one place and engaged in some sort of activity with the mum) said:

'oh it must be nice that he is so easily amused!'

For a split second, I thought 'hang on, is she calling my kid thick?' and then figured this thread had made me paranoid.

I think competative parenting is at it's best when performed by martyr parents:

"My baby is a terrible sleeper..."

"Oh my baby is the worst, he hasn't slept through since he was born..."

"Oh I'm lucky if he can sleep a couple of hours without waking up..."

"Yes, but even the midwife said MY baby was the worst she'd ever come across and wondered how on earth I manage...."

etc. etc.

lol at the martyr parents. I hear a lot of martyr comments when DD and I go to restaurants that most wouldn't, for whatever reason, take their children to. I figure, if the restaurant has booster seats, its child friendly. Besides, I'm a selfish mom, so if this mommy wants sushi for lunch, DD bloody well better eat it or she's going hungry.

I think a friend of mine was being competitive about laundry the other day. I was moaning about my washing machine (which isn't spinning much so my washing comes out dripping wet - I need a mangle ) and something came up about washing at 60, which it turns out she never (can't do the arrow things for italic?) does, presumably because it will single-handedly destroy the environment. I explained it was only sheets, towels and baby-related things, honest

taking it to a whole new level, I saw a London-wide brag in Metro the other night, anyone else see the article about the mum complaining that their wii countdown game spelled out SHITHEADS - ' we had to rush little Daniel out the room' - child was 3!!