Am I being precious or was this mum an arse?

[Coffeecreamers]

My DD 7 has poor motor skills, can't ride a bike to save her life and won't try many physical activities because she is embarrassed that she is not good at them. However, she is good at riding a scooter and think she has a sense of pride travelling to school on it because it is the one thing she can do.

Yesterday, she rode in as normal and going up a steep hill so was working harder than normal and I heard a little girl a couple of years below walking with her mum saying 'she is really not good at riding a scooter is she, mummy?' Her mum replied ' No, Tabitha you are MUCH better at riding your scooter than that her aren't you? and then continued to discuss why Tabitha was much better on the scooter than my dd. I just upped my pace because I couldn't bear dd to hear them and thankfully she didn't.

To be fair, the other mum would have had no idea my dd has problems as she looks completely average, was probably just building her own child's confidence and she wasn't saying it for my dd to hear but if my nt child had said that about anybody, I would have told them it wasn't nice and to be quiet. I would say it wasn't kind to tell others they are not so good at things whilst boasting how good you are. I felt like catching up with her after drop off and telling her she was a complete arsehole for saying that in earshot of my dd incase she heard but didn't obviously. I'm beginning to think I am precious. But both my kids are complete pushovers with other children too. Starting to think maybe we need to toughen up?

Arse. I'd have thrown myself on the pavement in front of Tabitha, banged my fists and kicked my legs and screamed, "oh god, what shall I do? My child is not the best scooter! Her life is over." And then got up and gone about my business. But then, I like a bit of drama.

Lots of parents seem to think that it's a good idea to respond with things like:
"She's better than you at...."
"We're all different, he's really good at...."
"We can't all be good at everything"
All of those responses encourage the child to do the exact thing they've just done wrong - compare themselves to other children and point out who is better.

Why not just explain to them that it's rude and unkind to make comments about someone not being able to do something?
You could also add that trying to do something that you find difficult, is one of the most admirable qualities any person can have.

I'd have prepared myself to say 'Tabitha may ride a scooter better, but she'll always have a mother who is a fucking bitch'. Then I'd remember that I'm the teacher and I'd wander off to the staff room.

Arse

Teaching children to recognise and appreciate their own strengths without putting others down is very important.

On a separate note, I often enjoy a little competitive scooter riding at the park. Swishing hair is never involved. Neither is winning as the kids are all better than me, even the little ones