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?!

[ElsieMc]

At our gs's primary school, another mum (also a teacher) told me that she had a full hour at parents' evening so she could discuss her son. Just letting me know that me and my gs were an irrelevancy. I got ten minutes. Teacher was late, disorganised and proceeded to critique my gs's writing in his exercise book. Problem was it was my friends' son's work. I tried to interject to tell her, but she just continued talking at me. Sigh.

The next week, important child was found to be the one hiding other children's belongings and pouring juice into children's lunch boxes. Mother furiously denied when confronted. She got her hour with the Head though.

[ancientgran]

I knew a mum when my youngest just started school. She was always on about how amazingly sporty her 4 year old was. Yes, great.

I noticed that she won a gold medal at the last olympics so I suppose she was right.

[that1970shouse]

A relative of mine used to go on about their son's brilliance. Whenever I met said child he would just rampage around the place causing havoc and never showed the faintest glimmer of superior intelligence. (No ADHD or SN)

[SuperbGorgonzola]

I understand that @Washimal , I'm referring to those posters asking "oh so you're saying parents should never talk/post about their children" when clearly most people manage to do so in a normal, non boastful way.

[SimonJT]

During lockdown a parent on our whatsapp group (for the reception class) posted a photo of her four year old who was in the process of writing a four page story complete with paragraph. The photo of the child showed that her felt tip had the lid on and the bit of paper was blank.

[that1970shouse]

@ancientgran

I knew a mum when my youngest just started school. She was always on about how amazingly sporty her 4 year old was. Yes, great.

I noticed that she won a gold medal at the last olympics so I suppose she was right.

LOL at this one!

[gypsywater]

"Cock of the walk" about a 1 year old

[that1970shouse]

Isn't "Your child is one of the nicest in the class / I've ever taught" teacher code for "A bit dim but not a troublemaker"?

[SpaceOP]

@SimonJT

During lockdown a parent on our whatsapp group (for the reception class) posted a photo of her four year old who was in the process of writing a four page story complete with paragraph. The photo of the child showed that her felt tip had the lid on and the bit of paper was blank.

This makes me sad actually. how desperate does a parent have to be to FAKE (badly) something like this?

[MaryMashedThem]

I once saw a mum of a toddler in a playground praising his ‘great problem solving skills’ for climbing up the steps to go down a slide.

I literally boasted about this to DH yesterday evening after PFB DS had climbed up the ladder at the playground for the first time 😂 He got his foot stuck and then unstuck it himself and I was excessively proud of him

[MsTSwift]

Oh this went on long before social media.

We knew a girl growing up who couldn’t really act and bless her was no supermodel but her mother was determined she would make it as an actress. She ended up in an acting class with Keira Knightly and mum was often heard loudly exclaiming “every time I see Keira I just think oh it could have been Jane”. Ha there were so many reasons this was not the case!

[lboogy]

Sounds like a bit of a bitter post tbh. Some parents put in a lot of work into developing their kids and are proud when they see the hard work paying off. Sorry that upsets you.

[Yolande7]

The child tried out an instrument in a school lesson. The teacher said the child HAD to start lessons, because they were clearly gifted. The child would, however, not start regularly, but immediately at Grade 3! The same mum was told by a gymnastics coach after a trial lesson (the child had never done gymnastics before) that he wanted the child on his team and that she had the potential to join the Olympics team. The same child also has the potential for Oxford and Cambridge plus various other talents. :-)

I have a relative whose daughter briefly considered becoming a nurse (that in itself is quite funny if you know the daughter). The mother then went on to claim that patients would recover more quickly if her wonderful daughter would care for them. She was being serious.

I am also very fortunate to know a ton of children who never practice anything, but get top marks in everything nevertheless. They pass every exam in the top 10% with no work whatsoever.

[MsTSwift]

People need to know their audience! Dh and I and my parents are shamelessly smug about our dcs in the privacy of our own home - you don’t say stuff like that to others it’s utter cringe.

Oh and any parent who tells casual acquaintances that their child is “very bright” are always always quite thick themselves.

[PopsicleHustler]

I only boast about my DC to my husband. For example, i will say dd7 got a sticker today and she did some really good written work and the teachers were very impressed etc. And my husband will be like wow, well done DC keep it up etc.
I have always found with people it can be like a competition, one time I will stand telling someone I know, or a friend something one of my 4 kids has done, just telling and not bragging and they will quickly change it to tell me what their kid is doing or their kid is better. That I cannot stand. But I am always happy for other kids and their achievements. I just hate it when I say to one of the mums on the school run or on the playground, my ds has really improved in his writing, hes really enjoying english etc. They have to do one better and say well my ds does this and this way before yours etc.


I had a couple of friends as well, who was always my sofa is better,my laptop is better, my makeup is better, my perfume is more expensive... it's just like get over yourself, love.

[AlexisIsMySpiritAnimal]

@sapnupuas

My son doesn't like chips, either.

It pisses me off. Just eat the damn chips, you freak!

I've totally said those exact words (in my head) when my DS refuses to eat his chips! What sort of nobber doesn't like chips ffs!

[EvaporatedHour]

@MsTSwift

People need to know their audience! Dh and I and my parents are shamelessly smug about our dcs in the privacy of our own home - you don’t say stuff like that to others it’s utter cringe.

Oh and any parent who tells casual acquaintances that their child is “very bright” are always always quite thick themselves.

Haha yes they totally are! A woman with a child in my DC's school year constantly puts photos of his school reports, school achievement points etc on FB and says how bright he is. I'm sure he's not though as she and her husband are as thick as two short planks.

[londonscalling]

@OutOntheTilez

Oh geez, yes. My SIL, especially on Facebook. I’m not on FB, but DH is. Years ago, when my nephew was 7 or 8, he was invited to a friend’s birthday party at one of those indoor play places.

When the kids sat down for lunch and pizza was served, nephew announced that he wanted sushi instead. SIL posted this proudly on FB, a one-liner like, “Little Johnny was at a friend’s birthday party today and when they served pizza, he said he wanted sushi.”

Clearly she was looking for accolades like, “Oh, what mature taste for such a young boy!” “Good for you for introducing him to new foods” etc. etc. But people were onto her, and what she got was, “Well, that was rude of him.” “So did the poor mom of the birthday boy have to run out and get him his sushi then?” and “He sounds high maintenance” (to which SIL’s mother responded, “You have no idea!”).

No kid will ask for sushi over pizza, so this means SIL clearly planned this and pulled nephew aside beforehand and told him what to say. Pathetic, really.

My kids would definitely ask for sushi over pizza. Unfortunately it doesn't make them high achievers though!

[AlexisIsMySpiritAnimal]

[quote Gancanny]@SpaceOP to balance out the day when we saw the raccoon DD shouted that it was a "FUCKS" (fox) so I had the precocious Marmoset child reading out the habitat and conservation details and the miniature Begbie jumping up and down screaming "FUCKS FUCKS FUCKS!"[/quote]

Miniature Begbie

[SunshineCake]

@Charl1009

Lauryn Goodman announcing on Instagram that her 6 month old now says ‘ Your Welcome’ along with several other words. Ok then... 🥴

Let us hope the child learns to spell better that her mum.

[Fluffytheevil1]

I remember once a friend was boasting to another friend about having to move her dd from her current school as she was an over achiever and was bored with the work as it didn’t challenge her. However, in the new school dd was held back a year as she was massively struggling, queue ds becoming the overachiever.
I think it’s a mental health issue with my friend as now she boasts about which illness each (very healthy child) has.

[BairyHottom]

Boasting is annoying, but surely holding on to that annoyance, remembering it in detail, and posting about it online mean the problem is with the beholder rather than the boaster... Why not just ignore a boaster? Live a calm and happy life!

[EssentialHummus]

It will sound like a boast in itself, but my DH was once in the playground with another parent who complimented him on how DD was talking. "Yes" replied DH, "we were worried at first about her Russian being behind because her English is great, but she's really caught up."

She was 2.

[MsTSwift]

Not annoying - funny. Boasters are very amusing - keep going gives the rest of us a laugh!

[CaraDuneRedux]

@MustardMitt

The last time I heard one of these was a random woman at a baby group who did a tinkly little laugh and tilted head because HER baby already had a tooth at 4 months and MINE DIDN’T!

She was so proud. Utterly, utterly baffling.

In fairness I used to joke about this.

DS was late with every single developmental window - sitting, crawling, walking, talking... Right at the end of the "this is normal" range in each case. The only think he did bang on average was grow teeth, so I used to joke to my friends that I'd have to put that in the Christmas round-robin letter as a huge achievement.