AIBU to think that if your child leaving primary school is one of the hardest days of your life, you've had an easy life?

[Doyoumind]

Don't get me wrong. I understand it's a day full of emotions. I just saw someone make this statement on SM and think it's overly dramatic. If that's the worst life has to throw at you, you must be blessed.

I think these kind of statements are actually quite handy for identifying the massive drama queen parents, who you can then either avoid, or manage the friendship suitably.

I definitely wouldn't have said it was the hardest day of my life, nowhere near, but it was an extremely emotional day yesterday, seeing my daughter and her friends in tears because their friendship group is getting split up and they're going to different schools plus she went to pre school there and I've always listened to reading and helped on trips and been an active member of the PTA, so yes, it's a difficult and emotional time. Plus she's only 9 and will now be having to get the bus to school etc. So much is changing.

Hardest in what sense? A bit of emotion I can understand, a bit of sentiment at them growing up and moving on, but “hard” doesn’t even make any actual sense in this context.
Sounds more than a little attention seeking to me.

The world is changing. People have become much more emotional about these sorts of things, and occassions are marked with bigger and bolder celebration and ceremony. It's snowballing.

I think it's just general trends and attitudes changing over time, much as they always have. I'm sure there will come a point where this drops off and people revert to understated attitudes.

I was delighted the day my dd left primary school.
No more clique parents in the school playground.

My ds left primary school yesterday. I cried. It feels like the end of an era. I'm sad he's saying goodbye to his friends who are so lovely and have played such a big part in our lives. It wasn't the worst day of my life though!

I actually think one reason parents get so upset is because schools nowadays require such a huge amount of parental involvement. I feel like I was constantly there for one thing or another. I don't think a week went past where I wasn't required to be there for some event or another. Hence, primary school becomes a huge part of the parents lives too.

Anyway...yanbu.

That’s a good point, actually formerbabe

YANBU in the slightest. A family friend has a child who finished Primary yesterday and all week we've had cringy and attention seeking Facebook statuses about how she's struggling to handle her 'baby growing up' how it's going to be 'so emmotional' photos of the leavers assembly with tears emojis, pictures of the child on their first day of school and then yesterday at 3.30pm a status announcing how she and not her child's, was in floods of tears.

The child is bright, popular, has lots of friends has no ALN, and will be absolutey bloody fine at Secondary. In fact in photos accompanying the histrionic posts they looked totally non plussed about it all.

Friend is actually just making it all about her and is in fact a massive drama llama, attention seeker the best of times.

A kindred soul

That was gor TheLightSideodTheMoon

Definitely YANBU.

I think the emotional part, if there is any, can be happiness that they had such a great experience with great friends and teachers.

I was also so delighted that they felt so ready emotionally for the next stage of their schooling life, and had been so well prepared by their teachers.

I definitely felt emotional and very grateful for that blessing.

It's not going to be the hardest day of my life but it's going to come at the end of a school year in which I (and so my child) lost my youngest brother and grandfather.

I've been over emotional for about 12 months now so if I want to cry at my pfb leaving his school and his friends then I will. It's another ending for us, on top of other endings we've had to manage this year

But that was all in my head, I certainly wasn't making about me outwardly.

My husband would've felt very much the same.....grateful for happy years.

It was one of the hardest days of my life.

It really brought home to me that this was the only chance I would ever get that moment, and that the child we’d expected to follow on never made it that far.

I didn’t post on SM, my daughter didn’t know. I did all my grieving in private.

YANBU. My ds2 left primary yesterday. I'll admit to putting a photo of his first and last days on facebook and having a little sniff at the leavers service but it definitely wasn't one of the hardest days of my life by a long shot. I think it helped that DS2 was happy to be moving on. I always find it so hard seeing my children upset and not being able to do anything about it. DS2 has had to be carried into school kicking and and screaming and that was far worse.

Children growing and developing in a healthy independent way is a good thing.
Thinking of a friend today who's child didn't live long enough to reach so many of these milestones. They died on this day a few years ago.
Perspective .

I have no time for parents that share absolutely everything over social media anyway, but being so weirdly dramatic about things like this just baffles me.

Maybe they just meant emotionally hard? I was in bits yesterday as DD's teacher, who everyone adores, has left the school. I tend the find the 'last day of' anything and saying goodbye in general to people or situations I like very hard!

@JacquesHammer that's understandable.

YANBU and watch out for the afternoon drinking.

Last years Year 6 parents ended with just the girls and their parents after school for drinks and food at a luxury hotel. To liven things up one mum got drunk and started naming & shaming all the kids her unbelievably competativedaughter did not get on with. Another mum tried to calm it down but unfortunately just ignited the alcohol soaked temper.

I dragged a perplexed DD away as it all kicked off, a hideous end to primary school.

YANBU. It's pathetic to be honest and doesn't help the child at all. Why would your child moving from primary to secondary school cause you pain??

I think it catches people unawares that they have such deep feelings about it. I know when we were moving country and DS was leaving his lovely, lovely primary school at the end of year 1, I really hadn't expected to be in tears at the end of year assembly.

Ha, I'm with VickyEadie on this one.......left primary in the early 70's and yes, of course it was all very very different. You left primary, you went on to secondary. My best friend & I were separated as she did the 11+ & I didn't - we both went on to make new friends. Parents in general didn't get involved like they appear to do now.

But, I am a much older mum with a 15yoDD, so whilst I accept that with SM it's all out there in excruciating detail, it's not helping our children to learn to manage and adapt. And for parents to be parents - and not try to be their kids friends and living vicariously through them because of SM.

Also, if you have a fleet of limos turning up on the last day of primary to whisk the Y6's off to a restaurant then it's no wonder that it's all gone waaaay too far with the kids future expectations......ie Proms at 16, Leavers Balls etc. And of course, having it all displayed on SM.
An end of School Disco at 16 kept it simple!!

YADNBU