What's the most barking thing you've witnessed at a mum's group?

[Berts]

Not just the usual competitive, Stepford Mommies rubbish, but real 'back away now, slowly' stuff.

Mine was when one of the babies, ten months old fell over and banged his head. His mum picked him up to give him a cuddle (of course) but, when he didn't stop crying pretty quickly she stands him on her lap, looks him in the eye and starts barking: "Man up! Come on, Man up!"

Barking being the operative word...

[WipsGlitter]

Not mental but annoying, two mums (or possibly childminders) who talked all the way through a rhymetime session, every week. Drove me mad, I know we don't want to be singing wind the feckin bobbin, but the librarian women who ran it were really nice and put loads of effort in and all they could do was talk. Grrrr.

[Nancy66]

foreversunny - I was just terribly British and said things like: 'well I never.' and 'goodness me' and 'how interesting'....while backing slowly out of the room.

[TeWiSavesTheDay]

Maybe you had to be there, but Once a mum shoved her pfbs drawing in front of another child's face "as inspiration"

I was and nearly crying from trying not to laugh.

[Ponderingonaquandry]

With my first baby at a young mums baby massage class my dc decides that, at about 11-12 weeks of age in front of a large group of other mums, this would be a good place to roll over for the first time. Shocked me a bit but one of the other mums stood up, and pointed at us while ranting at the hv 'she's making her baby do that to show the rest of us up make it stop it' luckily the hv caught my bemused face and said the spiel about all babies being different giving me a get out and not needing to make a witty come back.

That woman was odd though. She turned up feeding her baby a bottle and 40mins later at the end of the class shed have another bottle fixed in his mouth whether the poor kid wanted one or not.

[LadyMargolotta]

I once saw a toddler drinking milk from a sippy cup. Realised a couple of seconds later that the cup belonged to another toddler, and the milk was breastmilk

[Ponderingonaquandry]

Wips they'll be childminders, they always do that sort of thing round here too. Winds me up something rotten!

[stormforce10]

My award goes to a mum who used to take her baby to a group I took DD to - dd now 7 so some time ago

She turned up with a mat which she proceeded to spread on the floor before giving her baby some toys which she wiped over with anti bacterial wipes first. When someone came in and innocently popped their baby down next to hers she stormed over and said "do you mind, that's my mat for my baby and I washed it specially for her so please can you keep your baby off it"

I did ask her if baby had an immune deficiency or another problem but she said no she just didn't like other peoples germs.

(Wonder how baby got on when she went to school and got exposed to a whole school full of germs)

[CelticPromise]

I've only been to sane groups

But once there was a meeting of the parish council or something in one of the rooms in the church building we used. The toddlers used two rooms and had the run of the corridor between them, it was safe as there was nowhere they could go. The council people got a bit warm and propped the fire door wide open and one little boy was brought back by a passer by having wandered down to the main road His mum was in the front room, dad in the back and each thought he was with the other. The people who opened the door daw nothing wrong in it

[RapunzelLetDownYourHair]

LadyM...if this was in SE London, then that was my DS!!!!!!

[12ylnon]

Wow... aren't people strange.

I was once at the local village toddler group with a friend and there was a mum there who was... well, i believe the term is 'loud parenting'. You know, lovely, but really seemed to want everyone else to want to see how good a parent she was.

Anyway, her child tripped on the edge of a crash mat and fell onto it. The child (about 2) looked a bit shocked, but was ok, but this mum swooped down, picked her child up and made a huge fuss. She then opened a bag which i can only describe as a sizeable homeopathic pharmacy and shoved about 3 different sugar pills into the child's mouth.

Friend and i had a bit of a giggle about it when we got into the car afterwards!

[RapunzelLetDownYourHair]

I used to volunatrily run a baby group, most parents/carers were lovely, but one week... we'd been closed the previous week because my DS was ill and I had no other volunteers to take over. I called
up the place it was held, asked them to put a notice
on the door. Next week back, all going well, everyone asking after DS when one woman starts properly shouting at me "How DARE I cancel last weeks group with no notice!!!" I was taken aback, and a friend pointed out I was a v

[fairylightsinthesnow]

There's a dad that brings his brat son to a playgroup I go to. The older brother used to go as well. Both boys would monopolise the most popular toys like the Cosy Coupe and the dad would never ever suggest they let anyone else have a turn. I would try to distract DS who was desperate to have a go in it and say loudly, "maybe you'll get a turn later when x has had his" but the dad never took the hint. Eventually I just asked the dad if he could get x out and he looked at me as though I was crazy, "but he's playing with it", "yes, but he has had it for 20 mins and DS would like a turn", Dad refused saying there'd be ructions. Eventually when x got out briefly I grabbed DS and shoved him in then had to practically stand guard over him for his 5 min turn while this kid did everything including pulling DS's hair to try and get him out of the car. I told him not to, that it was DS's turn now and inevitably he ran crying to his dad, who just scooped him up and cuddled him. There were other incidents with other kids and the dad NEVER did a thing.

[BlipbipBeep]

I think I used to be onetiredmummy's batty mum

I have now read so much MN that I'm almost ashamed when DS shouts things like "T.E.S.C.O spells SHOPS doesn't it mummy?"! he's three I should be proud FFS!

[RapunzelLetDownYourHair]

bollocks iphone,

pointed out I was a volunteer.
shouting Mum says "well she gets child benefit and I pay a higher rate of tax so I AM PAYING HER BENEFIT and she should give something back".

She was a bit of an atrocious cunt.

[JustAHolyFool]

Psammead "'mine doesn't cry any more. She finds it embarrassing.'" - ha ha ha ha.

[RapunzelLetDownYourHair]

There was loads of Playgroup Politics, glad I sacked it in.

[HannahsSister40]

breastfeeding 3 month old dd1 at a baby group, another Mum said
'you're not still doing that are you?
and with the same dd1, at a toddler group when 2 years old. She bit a little boy. He ran off screaming. His childminder came over with him, to show me the bite. It was horrendous: massive red teeth marks, she'd actually drawn blood. I was horrified and very apologetic.
I didn't go back. The group leader phoned me that night to see how I was- horrified is the word!(and dd1 is now a very lovely, polite non bitey 12 year old)

[LadyMargolotta]

RapunzelLetDownYourHair - no - different country, and years ago, and wrongly or rightly, I never told either the mothers involved!

[Berts]

'mine doesn't cry any more. She finds it embarrassing.' - roaring

youcanringmybell - that sounds like baby group directed by Michael Bay!

Indian Squaw in a past life

[TheSkiingGardener]

Most fascinating thing I ever saw was a real example of how children copy their parents.

The group is affiliated to the NCT and every now and then one of the NCT committee would come and check everything was ok. One committee member would bring her 3 year old daughter. The committee member always made a point of going round every parent in the group, chatting to them until she found something she could criticise, tell them they were wrong and then walk off to talk to the next person. Not nice. The fascinating thing was watching the 3 year old girl who would go round to every child in the group, play with them for a minute, then push or shove them before walking off to the next child.

The behaviour was so clearly the same as that of her Mum, just physical rather than verbal.

[HazleNutt]

foreversunny I'm crying here picturing the carseat tortoise

[Berts]

Rapunzel "I pay your child benefit"

[HannahsSister40]

the leader of a group I went to used to smack her daughter hard and talk to her in the most awful, nasty way, loudly in front of us. Made me so uncomfortable.

At another group, run by midwives when dd2 was a baby, one of the midwives took dd away from me and disappeared down the corridor with her, repeating that she 'needed to be fed'. She had been fed, repeatedly on and off all day long. She had colic...grrr.. I suspect the midwife thought I was a stupid young Mum (was 27) and now I'm middle aged wouldn't get the same patronising treatment. I ran after her down the corridor, took dd and left quickly.

[RapunzelLetDownYourHair]

I was humbled, berts, truely.