To ask what’s the most toe curling OTT boast/showing off you’ve heard from a parent about their child?

[Rainbowb]

Just seen a FB post from a mum friend boasting about her 9yo daughter doing online dance and gym sessions via zoom and practising for her 11 plus complete with picture of said child sat at her desk and smiling for the camera. Hope the child gets time to chill out now and then! Mum obviously needs us all to believe her daughter is a high achiever! It was so cringy though and I wondered if anyone else out there was biting their lip at stuff like this?!

I know a woman who tells all new people she meets about her DDs amazing primary school achievements..... she is MY MUM and I'm 32 years old! I haven't written any books or discovered new drugs so primary school results really don't mean much now!

TooLittleTooLate80 I follow DHOTYA (Didn't Happen Of The Year Awards) on twitter

I can’t believe Ive never heard of this before I love it!

Me too @AlexisIsMySpiritAnimal

I do boast about them to my mum though, who loves it and goes off to brag to her granny friends. I think grannies are allowed bragging rights grin

When I got into Cambridge my gran went and got her hair done that afternoon just so she could tell everyone in the salon... Ah, I wish she was still here, she'd be boring random people on the bus with pictures of my DS and tales of his magnificent toddler achievements now ('probably gets it from his mum - did I tell you she went to...') and she'd be loving every minute of it

Oh theres a fabulous one in my sons class - the boy in question doesnt have many male friends and floats around, I know from some others a coupe of girls have taken pity on him so have lunch with him etc. very nice of them to be honest.

But the mum will literally use every conversation to remind us how loved he is by these girls, and how they fight for his attention, and how the girls have chosen their secondary school for him to join them at. tonight she text me about the time they go in and somehow turned it around to remind me how much this girl loves her son. its so annoying.

@JuliaJohnston oops, clearly I can't brag about reading properly

Best one I've seen is a mum posting an extract from her dds junior school report saying how well she was doing at history, geography and science, the Mum was so proud.

Until all the other mums started posting their kids reports which were all exactly the same, word for word. 😁 because it was junior school, they'd all done exactly the same work 😂

So what do you do if you have a child that really is talented? I have one child that is academically way advanced than his years and has been since he was a toddler and another that is normal for his age but equally as brilliant in my eyes. Both get praise for all their achievements and I am equally as proud of both of them. However, Because of snidey attitudes like this I find myself downplaying my eldest child’s achievements and can never really tell anybody about the way he is without them thinking I am showing off or bullshitting so I just don’t but it’s absolutely fine for me to chat about my younger ones achievements and milestones. I really think it’s shitty and hope that my eldest doesn’t start downplaying his achievements because of this society and their snideyness.

@Nursejackie1 I think it depends on how old your really talented child is ?

Some of these have made my evening.
'Leader of the pack again' and '50th percentile, the delicate balancing act' in particular

But I really want to know if Marmoset Mum was the one overheard last half term?? Totally understandable in context, I bet the poster who quoted you feels so guilty!

@frumpety why? When he was 2 he taught himself to read and read maps, by 3 -4 he knew all the countries and maps of the world and by 5 he knew his times tables upto 25. But you cannot tell anyone these things as people look down on you even though that is just who he is. I believe his achievements are just as important as a 4 year old learning to count to 10 but in his case it has to be all hush hush.

Does anyone else think the people who have come on to say "you're such meanies it's nice when parents talk about their kids' achievements", are probably the kind of people everyone else is talking about

[quote Nursejackie1]@frumpety why? When he was 2 he taught himself to read and read maps, by 3 -4 he knew all the countries and maps of the world and by 5 he knew his times tables upto 25. But you cannot tell anyone these things as people look down on you even though that is just who he is. I believe his achievements are just as important as a 4 year old learning to count to 10 but in his case it has to be all hush hush.[/quote]
I find it quite hard to imagine the situation in which a non family member would be interested to hear either about a three year old knowing all the countries of the world or a four year old learning to count to ten - or the situation in which either would come up naturally in conversation?

Leader of the pack was hilarious to read!
I did like "cock of the walk" about a 1 year old tho

Isn’t four a bit late to learn to count to ten 😁

To answer many PP's - there's a difference between telling and bragging, and the line isn't that fine.

If people ask, tell them. Tell people you love . Don't persistently accost uninterested people with this information though.

@feminist.con so now you have offended my youngest son. Thanks for that.

Nursejackie1

I am in a similar predicament with my youngest DS.
Tbh I just don't discuss any of my children's achievements outside of the immediate family.
If other parents comment on his abilities then I just shrug and say 'oh yes, always obsessed by numbers' or something and quickly change the subject.

Nothing is to be achieved by discussing his aptitude with other parents in any case.

[quote Nursejackie1]@feminist.con so now you have offended my youngest son. Thanks for that.[/quote]
Jeez @Nursejackie1, it was clearly a joke

@hardbackwriter so let’s just never ever talk about kids then. Just about adults passing driving tests or getting a job etc let’s pretend kids don’t even exist hey

@Nursejackie1 sorry I mean't how old is he now ?

Why does anyone need the approbation of others for their kids achievements big or small anyway, they are their achievements after all. Is it technically an achievement to be born bright? Not so much and it definitely doesn’t reflect anything about a parent if they are.

[quote Nursejackie1]@hardbackwriter so let’s just never ever talk about kids then. Just about adults passing driving tests or getting a job etc let’s pretend kids don’t even exist hey[/quote]
I manage to find plenty to say about my child without talking about how high he can count or where he's mapping on developmental milestones - I think it's a bit weird that you don't?

I will boast about my DC until I'm breathless from doing so. They are fucking amazing, and deserve to know I think so.

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal

I will boast about my DC until I'm breathless from doing so. They are fucking amazing, and deserve to know I think so.

How will they know, boasting about them isn’t telling them.