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?

[Comedycook]

@CantBeAssed

Same...My dd had a speech disorder..I'd also repeat everything carefully pronouncing every syllable!

I do like this thread....I'll totally admit to being a pandering mother....My family laugh at me. I often drive round several supermarkets buying the exact item my dc will like and other time consuming tasks to make sure everything is perfect for them. I had a difficult upbringing, my mum died when I was young and I had to be quite self sufficient and my needs were often overlooked as my family had bigger problems to worry about. So I probably over compensate with my own dc.

[CecilyP]

To be fair that sounds amazing! And I’m not ashamed to admit when DH ds and I moved in with dparents for a few months whilst we waited for our new house dm made DH and I lunch boxes every day. 😂 didn’t peel fruit for me though. Must have a word 😀

I think we’d all like a lovely lunch box prepared by someone else. It’s the thought that a 21 year old cant peel a satsuma that’s odd!

[BuggerOffAndGoodDayToYou]

[quote Hopeisallineed]@CecilyP it’s the aspartame in it that is nasty.[/quote]
Indeed!

Artificial sweeteners make me really rather ill so I don’t have them in the house which means my DCs rarely had them.

DH and I grew up with full sugar squash (in moderation) and we aren’t overweight or have rotten teeth.

[Ozgirl75]

@123fushia

Took my 2.5 DD to my friend’s house on a warm day. Paddling pool was out. I changed my DD into a swimming costume. Friend took hers inside...children came out with costumes on underneath head to toe waterproof suits with hoods. They sat in the paddling pool to ‘play’ in the whole outfit.

My sons both wear knee length shorts and rash vests when they go on the beach/pool. They’re mid primary now and have gone on to elbow length sleeves but I would never let them go out in the sun with no top, or if they were a girl, just in skimpy swimmers.
I judge people who let their kids run around on the beach with no rash vest on!

[Goldbar]

@Newmumatlast just ignore those comments or take them with a pinch of salt! I also give my children juice and think I’m a pretty good Mum!

Sorry, I'm going to get on my bandstand on this one (and I really don't judge a lot that parents do, including whipping potties left, right and centre ).

Imo there's nothing wrong with giving kids juice/soft drinks per se, so long as it's not industrial quantities. So no judgement there.

There is a lot wrong with tooth decay in small children. It's the number one reason for hospital admissions amongst young children. And juice and fizzy drinks contribute to the risk of tooth decay. So if parents are giving their kids juice and fizzy drinks, they need to be extra-vigilant about dental health.

[LittleBearPad]

The satsuma in cling film for a 21 year old is absurd.

There are also some total miseries on this thread.

[wannabeamummysobad]

Exactly this @yomommasmomma !
Generations upon generations have done things this way (and many others) using their whit and knowledge of the land to help in raising their children and successfully at that.

[yesterdayisinthepast]

@Rosesareyellow

Those who have happily contributed, I assume you’re perfect parents?

Not by any stretch. But I’m confident in doing my best so if someone judged me I wouldn’t get into a self pitying hissy fit about it, I think as a parent you need to have thicker skin than that. It takes some confidence I think to suck snot out your children’s noses in a culture where it’s not the norm - and they’ll know it’s not - I highly doubt those who are self assured enough with that choice are worried about me thinking it’s gross. And I’m entitled to think what I want as much as they are to sucking snot 🤷‍♀️
But neither am I that perfect person who never judges anyone around me. We all do it, it’s human nature. Kudos to you for being so very pure of heart…

@Rosesareyellow it actually doesn't take any confidence at all as my culture is Caribbean culture and not British culture🤷‍♀️

[Everylittlehelpsalittle]

With regards to the snot sucking, I found out a few children in that breast milk acts as a saline solution and a few squirts up their nose brings most of the gunk flushing out.

I snot suck, not because I'm African or lazy or 'wierd' but because my babies were struggling to feed and breathe with a blocked nose and sucking their tiny nose just came naturally. Yes I had a few 'eww's and 'yuck's from family members but who gives a crap? I would rather have a bit of baby snot in my mouth for a second that watch them struggle. Doesn't take a genius to work that one out.
and snot sucker pipets are so dangerous. Babies can't be trusted to keep still with something up their nose. They can cause real damage. I would never use one. Thats my wierd parenting contribution- believing the marketing companies and shamong parents for making do without xyz

[yomommasmomma]

@HoppingPavlova

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.

Sure it does the job. The thing is we have alternatives that do a much better job readily accessible for next to no cost, so why you would do that instead is.

How do you know they do a better job??? Perhaps (and say it quietly!) it could be the case that you do what is normal to your culture whereas in some culture they do it this way because they are more hands on with their children?

[Bentoforthehorde]

Oh I thought of another one.
My SIL, who I barely know, called in at my mums with my nephew once and was shocked to find all four of my kids (2yr, 3yr, 7yr ,9yr) sat at the table having tea and biscuits. Breaking biscuits in half and dunking them.
My kids and I are Yorkshire born and bred, I was drinking tea before I drank juice so this was perfectly normal to us.

[Couchbettato]

@GoldChick

It's hard enough figuring out parenting without worrying about being judged as weird tbh

I'm still breastfeeding my 3 year old.

Some people would say that's weird. Sometimes, you've just got to grow a thicker skin. We all judge and are judged by others.

[Pollythecat15]

I don't tend to judge others (unless obviously it is a child protection issue) as I know we all have our own little ways of parenting and our own personal reasons for doing things a certain way.
I will turn it around and think of something that I have done myself that may seem odd to others. That would be putting my toddler son in tights under his trousers (people realised they were tights when he began pulling his "socks" off and they didn't come off - just stretching). "Oh has he got tights on??".
Funnily enough this came from the same parent who only the week before judged me when I couldn't put his socks on quick enough after he had pulled them off for the upteenth time, "Oh his poor cold feet".
Sometimes we just can't win!
Parenting is a tough job, and like I say as long as people are not being cruel to their kids, then full respect to every parent out there!

[Redburnett]

I encouraged my DCs to pack their own holiday suitcases/bags from a fairly young age, reminding them of essentials. For a long holiday I suggested taking a few DVDs in case any of the places we were staying in had a DVD player. Younger DC's bag was lost on outbound journey (thanks to BA incompetence). When it came to the insurance claim I asked DC which DVDs he packed. The answer was 'all of them', and he produced all the empty cases having put all the DVDs in a CD case. I had to explain that to the insurance company.

[JudgeJ]

It is natural for babies to be potty trained around 6-12 months. It is nappies that have caused things to delay.

Hope you're wearing a flak jacket, they don't like that sort of talk on DM! I am convinced that later potty training is supported by the disposable nappy industry, there was nothing like a soggy terry nappy to tell a child to use the potty!

[EmeraldShamrock]

,Ultimately the baby came out of you so why should you feel for comfortable introducing a foreign plastic object into your newborn as opposed to what is effectively skin to skin.
Because I don't want snot in my mouth.
Obviously if there was no alternative I'd do it but there is.

[crazyguineapiglady]

I'm a snot sucker and would never stick a bit of plastic in a baby's nose! Seems like we're all different.

[GoldChick]

Does it even matter as long as the snot gets out the babies nose?

[Harleynotsothin]

Some people are really holier than thou about the squash Vs water thing. It's really not a big deal. I know parents that won't give their kids squash but will happily let them eat sweets and McDonald's. I know which I think is worse.

My eldest was SEN and would only drink squash, so even though I tried to give the younger two water, eventually they realised eldest was getting something else so they wanted it.
I don't let them have half the crap other kids have so I don't think me letting them have squash is the parenting crime of the century.

I drank squash all through my childhood and so did everyone I know. It wasn't even sugar free then. Just give it in a cup not a bottle.

My DH does the snot sucking thing and my mum does the hitting/telling off inanimate objects if you hurt yourself on them. Can't say I've ever hit a person for bumping into me.

[ArabellaScott]

@CatonMat

Big jobs.

[Oblomov21]

Soggy watery chips. 🤮

All this anxiety. Projected onto children. Damaging. The woman in M&S with slippery floor and crashing down rails.
Parents should have to address such chronic anxiety do they don't damage their dc.

[AutumnAlmanack]

We never, ever used the words 'wee', 'poo' or 'fart' at home. It was always 'spend a penny' or 'going to the loo'. I was absolutely mortified when I started to learn German and went home to address my father as 'Vati' to be met with laughter! I had honestly never heard the word before!

[Evesgarden]

some one sucking snot out of their babies nose - ugh!

[Clocktopus]

My DC drink squash, one won't drink plain water at all as due to sensory issues it apparently tastes "disgusting".

My dd has massive food issues courtesy of medical professionals who were trying to do their best by them, but if you saw us in a restaurant etc you would thin we were weird/pandering.

One of my DC has ARFID and both autistic DC have various rules and rituals around food. I was once told on MN that if I'd never offered DS chicken dippers then he wouldn't have known they existed and he wouldn't have ever wanted them in the first place, I should have just fed him only fresh, unprocessed foods alongside fruit and veg. He was offered these at weaning, never ate any of them, and the list of foods he would eat gradually dwindled down to 2-3 'safe' foods. He's had lots of input from professionals and will now eat around a dozen 'safe' foods which is probably as good as it'll get, he covers all the food groups at least so we're not worried.