To think sister brought this on herself encouraging bullying?

[SquishyBones]

Niece goes to swimming lessons with her friend. The classes are split by ability so you have the dolphins, guppies, tadpoles, plankton and bacteria etc

Obviously swimming lessons were called off when lockdown started but the friends have been talking about them starting up again. Apparently sister received a message off friends mum saying that niece had been bullying her DD over WhatsApp saying she will be back in bacteria as she was always nearly drowning in guppies. This has put the friend off going back as she’s worried about being stuck with the babies and toddlers.

Sister has “told off” niece but I’ve heard her encouraging this shit in the past!! Saying that the girl shouldn’t be in guppies as it’s too advanced for her and she’ll never get into Dolphins like Niece. Obviously niece has picked up on this. I told sister that I didn’t think it was fair for Niece to be told off when she’s only repeating what she herself has been saying! Sister now has a face in with me so next it will be all over the family that I’ve “started on her”. WIBU?? Should I just not have said anything?? This isn’t the only thing she encourages this attitude to either btw

What happens in the mollusc class? Do they just cling to the wall and refuse to come out?

That happened to my kid! Except it was Gymnastics. She was in the Anus class and her mate moved up to Rectum which shares mats etc. with the Bowel Group. Cue many tears as both their BFF's were in Bowel Group. It's really hard so in all I sympathise with your sister.

BTW I teach in the Oesophagus group so was really involved and saw the damage it did.

Going off on a bit of a tangent here, but those are horrible names for ability groups. Who would want to be in bacteria? That is just going to lead to bullying.

When I was training to work with kids, we were told to give different groups that wouldn't be demeaning to kids in lower ability sets. For example, Lions, tigers and bears instead of Lions, badgers and hamsters.

@ClematisRose

Hahaa! Absolutely cracking up at @ClematisRose and @GoodbyePorpoiseSpit comments! 😂

Er.... @Littlemeadow123 this is awkward but I’m pretty sure the OP made up the group names to preserve anonymity.

FWIW, the OP's choice of class names made me laugh (obviously there isn't a real class called Bacteria!)

I agree OP, it sounds like your sister has a bit of a superiority complex about her child's ability and hasn't been very careful about what she says in your niece's hearing. I'd be a bit annoyed if I was the other parent tbh. I think ignore her for now and if your family talk about it, just explain.

I'm in stitches over this thread. Actimels all round ...

Drowning in guppies 

I don't think the OP is being serious with bacteria...plankton.... I imagine she forgot the names and just added a few for fun and explanation of the lowest levels etc etc...

I think most clubs use a similar name thing though I cannot remember all the stages tadpoles, turtles, dolphins, sharks (I think) but definitely no bacteria or virus levels for that matter...

Your sister shouldn't have said anything. But she should still correct niece's behaviour and if she has any sense learn a lesson herself too.

I only continued reading because of the group names. Problem is when swimming starts I'm no longer going to be able to think of the bottom group as seahorses they will now be bacteria 😂

@NeverMindDontFuckOffSomeMore

Sorry I'm just stuck on children being bacteria or plankton.

OMG. I can't believe they taught that. But yes, I'd call my sister out too if she did this.

@Littlemeadow123

There isn't a class called bacteria... she is messing around... it was really funny though OP

• not taught them that but called them that - that has to be a wind up!

Off point but this reminds me of the primary class I once did a placement in where the top group was named Sandcastles and the lower group was called Sea Weed......

Anyway, clearly your sister can give it but can’t take it and her daughter is copying - you did the right thing standing up to her and if she says your starting something with her, just stand your ground. People like this are the worse, so just keep speaking up if you need to. Superiority complex deserves to be squashed

@ClematisRose and
@GoodbyePorpoiseSpit

I am pissing myself here (not literally of course before someone comments).....

Anus class is the place I would be for gymnastics - I was blood awful at it...slug of the class me

Bacteria,Plankton ...really!!

Oh wow, come on now, there isn’t really a bacteria and plankton class! I forgot the names of the lower ability classes so just made up extreme examples! I maybe should’ve added a disclaimer but I honestly didn’t think people would think they were real! Dolphins, sharks and guppies are real but there are two classes below guppies which I couldn’t remember so I made up the daft examples.

The kids are 10 years old ... no they shouldn’t be on WhatsApp but as they’re not at school lots of kids are sneaking onto social media. My sister is always pulling other kids down in earshot of niece! I feel sorry for the kid as she’s growing up thinking it’s the right way to behave.

@MashedPotatoBrainz

On a complete tangent, my autistic literal minded son was gutted when he graduated squid class and wasn't actually a squid.

Poor lamb. I think I’d be gutted too

Bacteria would be an ok grouping in a maths class for kids who are good at multiplying ...

@SquishyBones

MN's is a funny place....sense of humour bypass sometimes...

For what it's worth I thought the whole thread was hilarious... I needed the laugh - thank you ...

You are right though - your sister is encouraging her daughter to look down on others...

@OutwiththeOutCrowd

Bacteria would be an ok grouping in a maths class for kids who are good at multiplying ...

Now that’s funny! 😂

I would totally enrol my kids in a plankton class! Love it :)

@Littlemeadow123

Going off on a bit of a tangent here, but those are horrible names for ability groups. Who would want to be in bacteria? That is just going to lead to bullying.

When I was training to work with kids, we were told to give different groups that wouldn't be demeaning to kids in lower ability sets. For example, Lions, tigers and bears instead of Lions, badgers and hamsters.

I'd want to be a Badger.

I'm sure some people like Hamsters, too.

However, I did notice that when I got moved to another table when I was in Reception, I got put into the Giraffes. Most people were pissed off that their kid wasn't in the manly Lions. I realised a lot later on that it could have been because our table were the kids who were working considerably above the levels of the rest of the class...