Aibu to be peed off with this question ?

[SandraTheBee]

My 13 year old dad has invited a couple of new friends for a birthday sleep over next week. She invited them over 2 weeks ago.
I don’t know these girls and dd sent them my phone number so that the parents could speak to me before hand. I completely under that they would want to do this.

I haven’t heard from anyone.
Today dd comes back from school with the message that one parent wants to know what job I have.

Never in all my years of parenting ( I have 6 kids and dd is the 5th) has any parent asked me this.

I am wondering if it is in fact Katie Hopkins.

I’m pretty pissed off and don’t really want to have to deal with people who make judgements like that.

I have a perfectly ‘respectable ‘ and main stream job. I am a teacher currently working as a TA, but what the hell?

I am loving these ideas, thank you for cheering me up! yes I am indeed a financial manager!

This seems odd the way the parent had done it, but I will admit to dropping being a teacher into a conversation regarding a play date or sleepover as the other parent will then know I have been police checked

..had phrased it

thinking about it, unless you have a massive chip on your shoulder about your job, I don't understand why you think anything by it. It's simple curiosity.

I would be more at ease if my kids spend the night in a cop or an A&E doctor's house! If they visit a hairdresser or a baker friend, they are also likely to get some treats. Complete non issue.

I've been asked this once, and got met with an "....oh". My worth in her eyes is now zero, and she hasn't spoken to me since, lol. Though, my husband is worthy.

I guess they would know you have a DBS check if you work in a school and that could be reassuring to them?

Well what a cheek!

Coz you're a mum of many, you MUST be on benefits!

Anyway, what if you were?!

What a weirdo!

Actually I am on benefits because I am paid so poorly. I also privately rent an ex council house. perhaps i should tell them that. I actually don't want to tell them anything.

oh and I'm a single parent too. Single parent on benefits, that should do it.

Really sounds like something’s got lost in translation. I wouldn’t get het up about it.

Most parents wouldn't allow their kids to visit someone from the wrong part of town.

Offensive much.

Project manager? Bringing up children is a project.

I have an obscure and slightly techy job (you will come across its products in everyday life, buta bit like that programme on Questyou wouldn't necessarily think about what goes behind them).

If someone asks what I do for a living, I say civil servant.
If they ask a bit deeper, I give a 4-sentence answer, referencing the thing they'll most likely be familiar with.
If they persistor if I want them to shut up and/or make them sorry for askingI give an in-depth answer covering everything. Admittedly this might be a bit harder for a teacher, though.

@IamSusan

I would be more at ease if my kids spend the night in a cop or an A&E doctor's house! If they visit a hairdresser or a baker friend, they are also likely to get some treats

Sure....if we all lived in a weird, adult version of Sesame Street. Cops and doctors can't possibly be bad people. Jeeze. You might want to widen that narrow mind an inch or two.

Tax inspector, sex worker or MI5.

Ooh how fun, I think I'd be an astronaut or a deep-sea diver for the day.

Actually, I think I'd just ignore this. If they're that desperate to know, they can phone you.

My adult daughter went for a job interview a few weeks back... and was quizzed about what I do for a living! She's 22, so not even a "new" (ie, just turned) adult, either. It seems to be the new "thing", wanting to know what someone's parents do before you decide whether or not they're socially acceptable.

(My daughter was given the job, then sacked three weeks later for absolutely no reason... other than they wanted her qualified photographer skills for their project without having to pay big bucks to get 'em from someone who works as a photographer! I meanwhile am still a bit nonplussed about how my professional accreditations apply to my legally adult daughter in the real world...)

Contrary I got that a few years ago. Asked where I lived, where I grew up, what my parents do for a living and what my husband does. It was a pre-application meeting, not even a formal interview, so I obviously never applied. Ridiculous!

SomeBigBaubles

don't be so daft will you. It's the most basic question you ask someone to make polite conversation.

As a normal parent, you do ask where your children go, and who with. Even at 13 I wouldn't allow my kid to go for a sleepover with someone I don't know. If they are not good enough for them, I just wouldn't bother trying to meet the parents and would save everybody time that way.

Everybody makes judgements one way or another. Some of us are a bit less hypocritical than others, and as I said, the reverse snobbery is the worst kind.

Did she actually ask what job you do in relation to her DD staying - or maybe a passing remark?

That is hilarious. I bet the parent was actually questioning the kid and because the kid didn't know they just asked you but weren't asked to and the parent will be mortified.

I bet it went something like this: Hey mum can I stay the night at Susies house? Her parents will be there. Oh how nice darling, tell me about them, where do they live and what do they do?

This can’t be right, the message has been scrambled somewhere. Why wouldn’t their kid just ask your kid?

And why wouldn’t your kid just answer?

I’m pretty sure you are being offended by something the other parent hasn’t actually done.

friend has got back to dd and said her mum wanted to know because she wants to know that i will be there to supervise them.

In what world do you invite children round for a sleep over and not be there to look after them?