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?

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.

This is a really weird thing to think is weird in my book!

My dds happily hold hands with me, or link arms, as we walk and chat about their day. My current yr 6 child even holds hands with me in the car sometimes and also likes me stroking her back as she drifts off to sleep occasionally.

I have never, ever thought it was odd or weird that my 10 year olds still liked physical closeness and comfort....

Sorry Clocktopus - I’ve just realised where I heard this story. It was part of my paediatric nurse training - looking at safeguarding cases and ethics. I don’t think it would have been reported in this way (though the squash was the final cause of death, there were numerous other factors) It was a horrendous case, numerous failings from all services and just so sad. There was no ‘intent’ from the mother it was a complete lack of understanding and support.

Apologies for relating something I probably shouldn’t have (I’m no longer a paediatric nurse, so not breaking confidentiality there) it is a case often used as an example.

Sorry if this upset anyone.

@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.

I Milton ours every now and again tbf, I can see where you're coming from with it weirding you out!

Clocktopus, if you Google ‘Water intoxication’ it will explain the principle.

It’s rare, but small children have finely balanced systems, which is why this can happen in extreme cases. I have also seen some examples where it has led to brain damage. However - it is very rare and should not make anyone worry.

The anaesthetic curdling in your stomach just shows how poor the levels of knowledge around the human body are. Dh has a relative who insists you should cough up everything if you have a chest infection or it’ll travel around your body and poison every part of you.

@ohnonotyetplease

A parent I know who thinks children can and should be toilet trained from a very young age - less than 6 months....used to strap her children to the potty or toilet until they'd 'performed'. Regardless of whether that took 15 minutes or an hour, or more. An article I read recently by a urologist about this very subject said basically that it overdevelops the muscles of the bladder so they thicken and become very sensitive, ironically causing more problems than you would have had just potty training at a normal age. The stuff some parents do to get those non-existent parenting medals....

This isn't 'Weird' this is straight up abuse and you should have reported her to Social Services!!!

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?

Simple biology and physiology. If you suck you pretty much only get what’s in the nostril and are lucky to get much at all from the nasal passage so it’s short lived relief. Whereas, if you shoot saline up the nostril it loosens the discharge from further up the nasal passage and makes it not only easier to aspirate out but actually keeps their nasal passages clear for much longer. Even if you don’t want to aspirate it, it’s still more beneficial than sucking as you are loosening it further up and in a short period it will run out anyway bringing a good deal of snot with it.

If mine were really bad I’d take them to where I worked, shoot a good load of saline up and gently tube suction out and that would last a good few hours in which they could get a good sleep. I realise not everyone can do this but even just a cracker of a saline squirt is going to achieve a lot more than someone just sucking what’s in the nostril out.

It’s not some cultural slight, it’s science.

Haven’t rtft yet. How many “how dare you judge other parents!! I suppose you think you’re perfect, don’t you?!” comments have there been?

Years ago I was travelling on the train with my cat in a cat carrier. This was getting a bit of attention from other passengers (aw he's lovely) or staff joking that I needed a special cat ticket. All fine.

A young girl and her brother came to see what was happening (maybe 7 and 5) and got very excited, calling to their mummy that the lady had a cat.

The mother was shrieking at them to not get any closer (they were a few feet away), I thought they might be allergic but no she was shouting at them the cat could escape and scratch them.

I mean I don't judge but I definitely do.

My cousins used to ask to go to the loo to do “Uckies” . Still makes me cringe .

Thanks random

I completely indulged my DS's hand dryer phobia for many years and let him dry his hands on my jeans or whatever, which is pretty weird. I still don't like hand dryers particularly and lots of kids don't like them at all. I wish someone could come up with an alternative. Post-covid I hate them even more! I think about them blowing people's germs towards me. Hang on, is that weird?

@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.

Nothing 'wrong' with them?

I Milton ours every now and again tbf, I can see where you're coming from with it weirding you out!

But how often is every now and then? Tooth brushes are supposed to be replaced frequently anyway!

The girls I first nannied for (5 and 3 at the start of my two year stint), they both were never given milk in cups/glasses. Always bottles. Not only that, a huge spoon of honey was added to the bottles first with hot water, then topped up with milk. At bedtime, a spoon of Calpol was added. Every, single, night. I was very young (straight out of my NNEB course) so 18/19 and I thought it was very unusual.
I never used the bottles ever (or the honey/Calpol) when doing bedtime.
They never batted an eyelid at being given a cup of normal warmed milk.

@CuteGirlsWatchMeEatEther

Haven’t rtft yet. How many “how dare you judge other parents!! I suppose you think you’re perfect, don’t you?!” comments have there been?

Surprisingly few considering how judgey some of the other comments are

Years ago I knew a Mum who used to make her DCs shout “SAFETY!” to her at the playground before they went on any equipment so that she could assess whether they were allowed to do it or not. When she did let them have a try they were so anxious that they needed her to hold their hand for every single step/slide/climb/swing… go figure 🤷🏻‍♀️ She’d then reassure them in a slightly hysterical-but-trying-to-be-calm voice. They must be in their early 20s now, can’t help but wonder how they turned out!

A parent I know who thinks children can and should be toilet trained from a very young age - less than 6 months....used to strap her children to the potty or toilet until they'd 'performed'. Regardless of whether that took 15 minutes or an hour, or more.
An article I read recently by a urologist about this very subject said basically that it overdevelops the muscles of the bladder so they thicken and become very sensitive, ironically causing more problems than you would have had just potty training at a normal age.
The stuff some parents do to get those non-existent parenting medals...
This isn't 'Weird' this is straight up abuse and you should have reported her to Social Services!!!

A baby book I had in 1999 when pg with DC1 advocated tying the baby to the potty with a scarf after every meal from the age of 6 months.

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”

@Pbbananabagel

My SIL, I love her but she’s seriously risk averse with her kid and she projects a bit of this in to ours when he’s absolutely fine. Examples like “don’t climb on that chair you might fall”… he’s getting on the chair to sit on it for his dinner. He’s 2 and quite capable of getting on a chair himself, does 3 times a day…

My DCs are older now (9 and 12) and we've made this into a family joke. DP and I occasionally surprise them by yelling "That's dangerous, it might fall over!!" about random things - lamp-posts, toothpicks, skyscrapers, etc. They think it's hilarious

No matter how bonkers the stuff we all did in their babyhood was, it's nice to think it might turn into a funny family catchphrase later on...

I am another Mum who used to 'picnic' prior to the short walk home.

Once my daughter started taking Ritalin for ADHD she had zero appetite until the meds started to wear off, which was at the end of the school day.

If she hadn't eaten during the day then as the meds wore off she would have melt downs and find everything really hard, she would get angry at the drop of the hat etc.

The 'picnic' solved the problem and also meant that once we got home I could also get a decent snack into her as well as having got her to eat most of her uneaten lunch before the walk home.

Judge away, what you think of me is none of my business as they say, helping my daughter and family to have peaceful days on the other hand is.

@Newmumatlast

The squash comments all really concern me. My child won't drink just water. Yes I started with just water but my partner drinks lots of squash all day and she was taking some from him. I'm not happy about it but it happened and now she refuses water. Entirely. Even really really weak squash. I have tried to make it better with higher juice content rather than crap squash and no aspartame but I actually feel really crap about it and sad that I'll look like an awful mum when out but I actually think I am a good mum. My child has quite a few issues around food and is really particular but so is my husband who has additional needs so I am conscious she may have either picked that up from him or it may be that I need to watch for additional needs. I am trying to get her into nursery in the hope peer pressure with other kids will help. Any advice I'm willing to take but don't think that people are always doing things they're happy about and arent having a real struggle behind closed doors.

Ah don’t worry about it. My daughter doesn’t like water. She has to have it on nursery days which she barely touches and comes home with an almost full bottle. People can judge away, I’d rather she drinks squash than drinks nothing and ends up poorly.

And fwiw I’m in my 30s and would only drink squash. I’m fine and my teeth are fine. I don’t have one filling.

Both my DCs (aged 12 and 10) like to hold my hand when we walk along. I'm willing to go with it for as long as it lasts!

I am really interested (and grateful for people who have shared) in those who have experience of cold urticaria, and also the heat urticaria and polymorphic light eruption. You get so used to the looks that it is just nice to know others understand what you are on about.