to start telling a sort of friend about how well DS is doing....

[Numberfour]

........... seeing that I CONSTANTLY have to hear how well her DS is doing? They are both in reception.

YANBU, there is nothing quite as dreary one-up-mum-ship. So crow away!!! Make something up if you have to. Send her one of those teeth-grating round-robin Christmas cards perhaps '... so thrilled that Gerald just started on the libretto to his opera and darling Miranda's sticklebricks are being exhibited at Tate Modern ....'.

LOVE one-up-mum-ship : is it exclusively yours? Bet your DD thought it up!!!!!

(It's probably been done somewhere before - I'm rarely original.) Would love to attribute it to my wonderfully talented DS, however. Did I tell you how he's in the 90th percentile for nose-picking, borderline genius at tying shoe-laces and only being excluded from school because he's actually terribly, terribly bright ..... ?

I have a friend like that. The thing is my dd is as equally bright as hers but we are much nicer and don't feel the need to go on about it. We stand there and smugly smile in silence. That really winds my friend up.

Lazarub, for ages, I have just been nodding in agreement saying what a brilliant child she has, and how astounded I am by his brilliance. Also being smug at my DS - who is much nicer than hers, too!

I nearly choked when she told me she was going to see the teacher about her DS being Gifted and Talented!! I was a cow and asked her if they have worked about a programme for her son yet

Chil1234, when MY ds does the nose picking, stands close to a wall so that he cannot see anyone watchin him do it! How is THAT for intelligent!

Oh thank the LORD I don't know any mums like that mum.....much

Go for it....and exaggerate!

lazarusb When DD was in primary one of the other mums was exactly like that. She sought every opportunity to bang on about how brilliant her DD was and, like you, we just smiled politely and said nowt 'cos I knew DD was at least as bright.

This girl must have believed her mum's hype for a long time too and clearly considered herself the "star" of the class. Then when it was DDs last birthday at primary she had this girl at her party and she signed her card "from the pretty one - well you are obviously the clever one now".

5foot5, that's terrible!! how old were the girls at that stage?

Numberfour They were 11. Thankfully DD is pretty confident and didn't really give a toss what this other kid said by that stage.

I did wonder whether this other girl had got so used to her parents telling her she was "the clever one" that when DD started to outshine her academically in Y6 she might have winged at home and her parents had said something like "never mind you are still the pretty one".

Pah! Matter of opinion,

of course, 5foot5!

I did a ridiculously childish thing...... I got DS's school report and it is, well, quite good.

Nope: it is in fact bloody MAGNIFICENT!!! So, I posted on facebook about how proud I was of him. The other mother replied: said not a word about my DS but only about hers!!

It is tough being as childish as me sometimes.