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?

Actually, ds1 looked like an alien as a newborn and he looked like a newborn for a loooong time!

He was yellow from prolonged jaundice, was covered in heat rash (he was born in the middle of a heatwave) and was really scrawny...no fat on him AT ALL. His skin was a bit flaky too.

Bless him.

Woman at toddler group: "They're very different looking your DSs." (one is big and one is small)
Me: "Yes, one is like his father and one is like me."
Woman: "Oh? Which one takes after you then?"
(The small one, obvs)

did everyone skip past the irony of this thread - seriously!!!

oh how wonderful to have such a special child miggsie

A woman at gymnastics constantly brags about how her DD is in what she percives to be 'the top group'. The kid can't do anything but the mum really can't see that!

leeloo1 - never thought of that! that makes the whole situation even funnier!!!

I agree about the dc's knowing their and others ability. I did ROFL when my DS came home and said he'd been moved up to the top maths group. Not because he had but because he finished with 'most children are in the same group for everything. I am bottom for writing but my maths must be good'

I was very ed one day when DS Nursery manager said to my best friend she thought it concerning I had 'taught' DS to read as it was too much pressure and he'd be bored at school - WTF BTW I hadn't taught him and he could only read about 10 words!! It just looked that way as he was 3 when he left nursery to join school as late August baby. BTW he is only an 'average' reader now at 6.5 and year 2. Same Nursery manager told friend she had warned her DD's school she is 'very in your face'

The Nursery manager had her own DS when ours were in pre-school and she always proceeded to tell any parent that would listen how much of a genuis he was.

A year after our DC's left we saw her and her then 2.6 yo DS at the beach. She launched into a tirade of how wonderful he was and how he was the only one in the 2-3 yrs room who was toilet trained fully and was the first to do it at 2.3.

My friend casually just asked me 'wasn't DS toilet trained when he started the nursery'. I answered 'yes, why' Friend looks at manager and said 'Well I guess minimumbar was the youngest then eh'.

BTW I wish he'd not insisted on being in pants so early - at that age their bladders don't hold much and the constant stopping for a wee was a PITA.

miggsie I think the whole point of the op has completely passed you by.....!

Is laughing at the irony too. Thought no one else noticed!

A certain school friend of DD's mum was repeadedly enquiering how many school reading books my DD (6) reads a week. I replied roughly 3. She proudly announced her DS reads FIVE!!!

It later came out that her DS reads five, ten page books a week compared to DD's 32pg books.

When will people realise that every child is different and special, life is not a contest!

Oh the tooth one. DS is year 2 and has lost 1 He has only this week cut his back teeth. He had his first ao 10 months so a little slow with the tooth thing.

In playground hearing 'Oh Targuin has lost 4 now, his adult ones are lovely and straight', and 'Mildred has lost 8 altogether, its lovely shes all grown up now' . A mum asked me how many wobbly teeth DS has have fall out. '1' I reply. 'but he's been missing it since he started school, aren't you worried?' Me 'Erm no, that ones been missing since he was 2yo and decided to face plant on concrete, it may never grow they don't know about permanant damage until all his front teeth have come out and been replaced by adult ones'. The mum replied ' its such a shame he's behind with his wobbly teeth then isn't it' and 'you must be so worried he'll have a gap there forever, how will you deal with it'

FFS he's 6yo, I do not worry about the tooth growing but more these DC's will 'pick' on DS if it doesn't due to their parents projecting thier co-called 'concern' onto them.

It becomes competitive parenting when other parents find a blemish to pull fault on anothers child. WTF is that all about.

Re teeth I heard that its better to lose teeth later. Just as well as my dd isn't close to losing one.

when ds was 1 week old, my db came to visit with his 1yr dd. holding his dn for the first time told me "i wouldn't expect him to walk as soon as dd did, boys are much slower than girls." wtf! let him learn to smile first shall we.

Oh, X will only eat fruit. Really, she eats SO MUCH fruit. If you put a bowl of fruit in front of her, and a bowl of sweets, she wouldn't even look at the sweets.

From mother of vile, overweight child!

My children would knock the bowl of fruit over to get to the sweets.

Also-

Little X is such an advanced reader.(he's 3). I want to move on from The Gruffalo and Julia Donaldson to something which challenges him more, maybe Harry Potter, or Narnia.

HE'S THREE!

I'm sure it's better to lose teeth later. DD1 was frightfully advanced in that department, and is now having a mouth full of wonky overcrowdedness corrected.

DD2 still has half her baby teeth at 10, and I'm hoping her rather small jaw has plenty more time to grow before the new ones come piling in.

I wished I known that about teeth before being accossted by tarquin and Mildreds Mummies I was so tbh as theres probably lots of things they could have been competitive about re DS v's their dcs and they pick his looks . (they didn't mention his glasses tho -yet!)

Considering his writing is undecodable at the best of times and he's as disorganised as fuck I'm sure I'll have to endure more of these little anecdotes.

I try to convince myself they're jealous because DS is scarily well behaved so want to point out an 'obvious' fault. iyswim.

Just grateful I work so rarely ever have to face the playground.

we have a teeth one too. ds in yr 2 has not lost any teeth, not even a wobbly one in sight. Loads of other mums keep on asking if he has lost any, and then telling me how many their dc have lost as if it is some kind of weird competition.

Then a few days ago when I was brushing ds's teeth for him (usually leave him to get on with it himself) I noticed that he has 3 adult teeth, fully grown, behind his baby teeth.

He is, in fact, a shark, with multiple layers of teeth. Far cooler than losing them in the ordinary fashion. Except the dentist is going to have to yank out the baby ones if they don't come out of their own accord in the near future.

Now ds is the object of much envy among his friends. People are strange.

Think Migsie was maybe sharing similiar experiences with LeQueen rather than shamelessly bragging like some posters are implying . That was my take on her posts anyway.

007 - DS1's teeth grow like that, the baby tooth does get pushed out eventually as the adult tooth reaches full size. I was quite worried to begin with, especially as he didn't lose any until he was almost 8.

Thats exactly what DS first and only wobbly tooth did . Think the baby one only came out as he wouldn't leave it alone as everyone else had lost one - damn those competitive parents.

Fafftastic - thats how I saw it too. Pointing out that if you do have a child who is high acheiving and could be bragged about you don't as its not always as great as it seems. I got her point as parents who brag are often insecure about their own DC's.

My ds is also a shark-child except he is getting extra big teeth so I win. Ner!

[sigh] I would LOVE to brag about dd1, but sadly she persists in being resolutely average, just to spite me

There's another side to this, though. Increasingly, I've realised how ungenerous other mums can be to other children. I always make an effort to say something nice to other mums about their parenting or their children - it costs nothing and most of us are starved of positive feedback, after all. With a close friend, for example; we spend loads of time talking about how wonderful her children are. I don't recall her saying anything nice about mine. Maybe there's nothing nice to say

DS is 9 and has only lost 4 baby teeth. He is quite obviously beyond redemption and will amount to nothing in life.

My baby teeth were so slow in shifting that in the end my dentist gave me gas and air and pulled them out. Eight of them. I was about 10.

I don't think it occurred to my mum that this was a social stigma.