Weirdest things you've seen other parents do as they bring up or care for their DC?

[FortunesFave]

Here are mine.

I was in a public toilet in the cubicle and heard a woman come in with a small boy.

They went into a cubicle together and I heard her ask him repeatedly "Do you want to dirt!?"

She meant poo!

"Do you want to dirt???

Omg.

Second is SIL. When her DS was little...around 2 or so, she'd put chips for him INTO A BOWL OF COLD WATER so they'd cool faster.

Dump the cooked chips into a bowl of water. Leave them there for a bit and then drop the soggy pile onto a plate for the poor child.

WHY? What are yours?

@Bluskyenonstop

Few mums in my child’s school holds their Y6 kids hands when walking to school / from school. There is nothing wrong with any of those kids and it’s all on the pavement.

Why is that weird?

In most cases it's a sign of love, not done with the intention of stopping 12 year old kids fro being run over by a car on the pavement.

This is very common practice in a lot of African countries. It is also very effective and God forbid we in the UK can actually learn something from another culture.

🤣 they can keep their snot sucking thanks! No learning moments necessary on that front.

@Bloodylovecheese

Not quite on the same scale..but a girl at work used to have her mum prepare her lunch box every day. She would have a peeled satsuma wrapped in clingfilm in the lunchbox...she was 21

Mine was a poor woman I can only assume was massively sleep-deprived or had a very bad case of PFB. I was on a London bus going home from work. All seats taken, nobody talking. On comes a woman and a baby in a pushchair. I'm guessing she'd just picked him up from nursery after a long day at work. She had perhaps not been back from maternity leave very long, still adjusting. She parked the pushchair on the area by the middle exit doors, baby still in it. and then she stood in front of him and started singing The Wheels on the Bus, with actions. She was jumping up and down, hand actions, everything. The baby looked distinctly unimpressed. The rest of the bus was with the baby in spirit. Nobody said anything, though, all very British.

@Bentoforthehorde

I'm that weird parent. I don't keep toothbrushes in the bathroom, weirds me out. They go into the dishwasher after use and then into the cutlery drawer.

@Bentoforthehorde: this has made me smile :)

@Bloodylovecheese

Not quite on the same scale..but a girl at work used to have her mum prepare her lunch box every day. She would have a peeled satsuma wrapped in clingfilm in the lunchbox...she was 21

That was me. My mum used to peel an orange for my lunchbox. Not when I was 21. But until I was about 16

@SixTwirlingTutus

Thanks *@CrackersDontMatter* :) Oh I hope he grows out of it also. Do you have any tips? Do you find people scoff at it? It was even hard to get his allergist (he has multiple allergies) to listen to me when I said he was having severe hive reactions to the cold. Problem is he also has some cognitive issues so he is unable to identify or monitor himself and what he eats and drinks. I am still attending children parties with him for example as I cant just hand over epipens to other parents saying 'he's allergic to these 5 things including cold water' and I am sure the other parents think I am an overprotective wierdo.

I have cholinergic and spontaneous urticaria so I can't exercise at all There are more options as he gets older if he doesn't outgrow it, I inject Xolair

I'm that weird parent.
I don't keep toothbrushes in the bathroom, weirds me out. They go into the dishwasher after use and then into the cutlery drawer.

Weird yes. But also kind of wonderful, I can’t explain why.

@FortunesFave

DF would ask if "we wanted to pay a call" [toilet!]

I am waiting for someone to come onto the thread to say they know someone who for the 12 year old still checks the temperature of cold drinks for him and adds boiling water if too cold.

A dear friend used to do this for her DP [who was 73!]

@FortunesFave

Here are mine.

I was in a public toilet in the cubicle and heard a woman come in with a small boy.

They went into a cubicle together and I heard her ask him repeatedly "Do you want to dirt!?"

She meant poo!

"Do you want to dirt???

Omg.

Second is SIL. When her DS was little...around 2 or so, she'd put chips for him INTO A BOWL OF COLD WATER so they'd cool faster.

Dump the cooked chips into a bowl of water. Leave them there for a bit and then drop the soggy pile onto a plate for the poor child.

WHY? What are yours?

I’m actually properly laughing out loud at this post. Do you want to dirt 🤣😃

Without even finishing the thread I will say my tiny premature son was so small the snot sucker couldn’t get in his nose and my mum told me to suck it out we are of English decent I did when he later ended up in hospital the dr praised me for this. You may see me smothering my 7 year old in sun cream when u don’t believe it to be too warm what you wouldn’t know is he’s smothered in cafe au lait marks undergoing genetic testing for nf1 and have been told the risk of them turning malignant is extremely high and to keep him out of the sun!

My mom had an old leather belt hanging on her dining room chair which would be used to "strap" us on the backside or hand if we were bad. The fact that it was there ever day when we sat down to dinner was (almost) enough to keep us good. She realised at some point that it might not be good parenting and so the belt was "lost" at some point - maybe when I was about 10.

i've seen a mother administer nasal drops to her DS who was... 22. Before anybody jumps, no disabilities or anything - just "one of those things" she still does for her little boy. Goodness, I don't envy when(if) he ever finds a wife.

Mother of a friend of Ds's was a psychotherapist, and when DS was first round to play at child's house at about age 6, I mentioned that DS didn't like cheese - just to make it easier to judge what to give him at tea time. It was a cue for her to suggest DS wasn't feeling completely secure in himself that he couldn't express for himself that he didn't like cheese.
Errrr no - just didn't want him to express it once cheesy pizza or other food had been served and it was too late.
Talk about over analysing!
DS is now a big hairy 25 year old who has no problem at all expressing himself!!

@SmallWaistFatFace Haha, this reminds me of when my DD got her first injections, the doctor said she may have a temperature afterwards so I made DH take turns with me to watch over her as she slept and take her temp regularly. We literally sat up all night watching a sleeping baby. Her temperature was fine.
When she got her first cold I slept on the floor in her room and set an alarm to wake me every couple of hours so I could check on her

Leave their 15 yr old at home while they fuck off to Crete.

@MangoSeason I've never seen my parents naked ever. I have no issues around nudity whatsoever

@Nahhh

Living overseas in SE Asia, I saw another expat mum talking to her tantruming toddler “let your beautiful spirit shine darling, this negativity is not you”

Love this!

Yes of course it's cruel to strap a baby to a potty. However, as others have mentioned, before disposable nappies babies WERE potty trained as young babies. Baby books and baby experts will tell you 'it's not possible'. But it just is. Generations of mothers and babies did it.

I’m CRYING at dirt.

I’m not even judging I just think it’s freaking hysterical!!

Sil used to give her dcs plain pasta with grated cheese sprinkled on every lunchtime. No nutritional value whatsoever apart from some fat in the cheese.

Oh and another thing. I never saw my parents naked either, but I don't think it's given me hang ups or made me repressed. This is something Germans love to say about the British, that we're uptight, repressed, etc. because we don't like being naked in public eg. in saunas. In fact, they go on about it as if nakedness is a moral badge of virtue. Look at me! I'm naked! I'm healthy and relaxed and superior to you Brits!

Being naked in public, It really isn't a mark of a liberated person. It's really not a big deal at all. I am modest and I don't like my body being judged by strangers. I think that's actually fine and normal, not the mark of a Victorian prude.

Not exactly weird, but I hadn't ever considered to NOT have them in the house, especially with small children...

me and my kids had visited my sister and her children. Her son came in from the garden with quite a cut on his thumb. She told him to just to put it in his mouth until it stopped bleeding. I asked if she had any plasters or steri strips, and she didn't so we had to make a plaster with loo roll and sellotape. She said she should really get some and had never thought to get any Turned out she had no Calpol, TCP, no first aid at all. I think we must have been judging each other as she said my kids always seemed ill and must spend a fortune on calpol.

@Classicblunder

I know someone who would lick her baby/toddler's hands clean after a meal - apparently it saved bother over using a wet wipe

Reminds me of those parents who hold a babies dummy in their mouth whilst sorting the baby out, then give it back to them. OMG makes me cringe, or when the baby / toddler drops the dummy and the parent sucks on it to clean it ! Bizarre.

We had a snot sucker for DD, who was born in the US. It came in the freebie pack given to new mums at the hospital. I was a bit because I'd never used such a thing with DS who was born in the UK. It was strangely satisfying to use. But completely revolting to clean out.

You sure it wasn’t “do it” which could sound like “dirt”