Would this be weird?

[RockahulaRocks]

I’ve just come back from being a class parent volunteer for a school trip to a well known tourist attraction. One kid in my group of six was just the sweetest little boy. He followed instructions like a champ, waited for the rest of the group if he realised he & his buddy had got ahead, and basically made my job so much easier (unlike the four girls, including my own).

We have a class WhatsApp group - would it be weird to send his mum a message directly to say what a lovely kid he is, or is that OTT, too much, and verging on the weird?

Yes
inappropriate
just leave it

She probably gets that feedback every time from the school

so no op, don’t

I am a parent to a little boy and honestly, I'd love to receive a message like that. People are so quick to tear each other down, letting someone know what a delight their child is is not weird, it's lovely. Go for it.

What if she mentions this to one of the other mums with a child in the same group? They’re left wondering… oh was mine trouble then?

I think it's a good idea. In our class groups it's very normal to message and say "Johnny was a wee star today, you must be very proud of his good manners" or something similar.

I'd love to get a message like that. If you think his mom would be happy with it then go for it I'd say

Nothing wrong with sending this message.

I think it would be lovely?

If its in a group chat then don't send it, people can be jealous and resentful.

I think that would be lovely - you never know what he's like at home. He could be an absolute pain and it'll really give her a lift to realise he can actually behave himself!
Other thing you could consider is telling the teacher how good he was so she can decide whether to pass it on to him and/or his mum.

I would definitely mention it to the teacher rather than the parent - if she tells a parent whose child was also in the group, it will lead to war!

I would send a private message or mention next time you see the mum 😊

Its not weird at all, it would be a lovely thing to say. It will probably make the parents day!

Another one who thinks it would be lovely to receive! There’s so much negative stuff about children’s behaviour sometimes so it’s nice to recognise the good stuff.

It would be a direct message not on the group WhatsApp. ‘Thanks to little Jonny for being a star, the other five kids weren’t so stellar today” wouldn’t be terribly subtle. I do think it’s a bit sad that praising one child without also praising allllll of the others is deemed a bit unacceptable.

Well then go for it!

I dont think it's unacceptable or about not praising the other kids, I think it's just something you only need to share with the mum? It's not of interest to the others, you know how busy these groups can get. If the mum wants to reply with a question or chat about it it's just nicer in private.
Either way is fine though, whichever you prefer xx

I'd tell the teacher and maybe he'll get an achievement or good behaviour certificate next week?

This

Of course it's a good idea!

Christ, what is the world coming to 🙄

Apologies, I realise my OP wasn’t totally clear, I mentioned the class WhatsApp group solely in terms of why I have his mum’s number, but hoped “send his mum a message directly” would communicate that I wasn’t planning on using the group chat for this purpose. Clearly I’ve thrown in a red herring.

Adjusting the responses for the 25% coming from a single poster who thinks it’s a bit of a shit idea, it seems most people would welcome it so I’ll give it a whirl.