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Original poster

do you tell people how talented/clever your children are...do you realise how dull it is?

98 replies

brimfull · 02/08/2008 00:01

a neighbour of mine does this all the time.
she witters on for ages and ages about her amazingly talented children
I glaze over
does she not realise how ridiculous it sounds and how dull it is to everyone except her and her family.

sorry needed to rant

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LovelyDear · 02/08/2008 00:02

we have a neighbour like this. unbearable. but we have decided she's desperately insecure. maybe it's the same woman...

Original poster
brimfull · 02/08/2008 00:04

hmm yes

it must stem from insecurity

another friend said something apt

"some people don't have the confidence to keep quiet"

OP posts:
solidgoldbrass · 02/08/2008 00:07

So, are your kids thick then?

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Original poster
brimfull · 02/08/2008 00:08

aaah
you're guilty of bragging then solidgoldbrass

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BetteNoire · 02/08/2008 00:10

I don't mind hearing about the talents and successes of other people's children.

I am secure in the knowledge that my own children are equally, or even more, wondrous.

KTNoo · 02/08/2008 00:13

No I don't, but guess what my mum did today?
She invited a "friend" of hers over while me and the dc were there. Friend turned out to be a primary teacher of 5-7 year olds. My mum proceeded to show teacher friend a story dd1(7) had written a few days before. Teacher-friend felt obliged to read it then my mum cross-questioned her about how it must be the best she had ever seen and what SAT score would you give that????

I was mortified.

Original poster
brimfull · 02/08/2008 00:14

yes I wouldn't mind a short "oh little xx did something wonderful today and we're really proud"
but she goes on and on and on

literally for 20min

OP posts:
christywhisty · 02/08/2008 00:16

Just as dull as people who start threads like this.
I love hearing about friends children.

Original poster
brimfull · 02/08/2008 00:16

ktnoo- ooh cringe,somehow it seems more bearable coming from a grandma though

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troubledfriend · 02/08/2008 00:16

ggirl I agree TOTALLY.

Doesn't every parent realise we are ALL hardwired to think (eroneously)our own kids are extra special and if you seek to impart this info to your friends you just look a)boring b) stupid?

My best friend used to go on and on about how beautiful her daughter was and expect the rest of us to agree she was the most beautiful child on the planet. Why the heck did she not realise that it is part of Mother Nature's grand plan that we all think that about our own kids?

Original poster
brimfull · 02/08/2008 00:17
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KTNoo · 02/08/2008 00:18

Yes I suppose. And my mum wonders why I don't tell her very much! I know she is always on the phone to her cronies about how her grandchildren are the cleverer than anyone else's.

Original poster
brimfull · 02/08/2008 00:20

yes Tfriend ,it's the lack of awareness of how she sounds that amazes me

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mylovelymonster · 02/08/2008 00:26

yes, and yes.
I am not insecure, it's just that my DD is sooooooo amaaaaaazing. She can say 'potato' and 'gorgeous' and 'guten morgan' and loads of other words, and her table manners are ammmmaaaaaaazzzzzzzing. She will be a child prodigy and a supermodel.

ThatBigGermanPrison · 02/08/2008 00:27

I realised this Grand Plan when ds1 was a few months old, when I realised that the other mothers I knew weren't seethingly jealous of my baby's beauty, they were too wrapped up in their own chimpy looking little things.

psychomum5 · 02/08/2008 00:28

ahhh.....

but my children are the bestest in all the world.

so I am righly proud

maybe she has not learnt the social skills of talking only for a little bit about her wonderful children. and at least she is glowing with pride instead of swearing about them, you gotta give her points for that!!

Original poster
brimfull · 02/08/2008 00:28

tis a shocker isn't it

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oeufflorentine · 02/08/2008 00:29

Must just mention here that ds2 got 40/40 for a geography teast at the end of term ! Amazing ! He even beat gideon who's that really clever boy from 14 Acacia Ave....
...anyone awake still ? Hello ?

unaccomplishedfattylegalmummy · 02/08/2008 00:30

Oh no only brag to grandparents or my sister, never friends or aquaintences (sp). Family have an interest in how well your children are doing, other people get bored very easily.

mylovelymonster · 02/08/2008 00:30

Caught DH going through local paper yesterday, checking out the beautiful baby competition, and remarking "none of these children are as gorgeous as DD"

naturally we don't enter her for comps as it just wouldn't be fair on the others

Original poster
brimfull · 02/08/2008 00:30

atleast you kept it brief oeuf

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Original poster
brimfull · 02/08/2008 00:33

I actually did send dd's photo in for baby comp and was shocked when she didn't win hahahahaha

didn't talk about it though

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threestars · 02/08/2008 18:20

My 80-something yr old neighbour invited me for coffee the other day. When floundering for conversation I just asked about her children and grandchildren and their high achievements filled 2 hours! Lovely, actually, to see how much she loves them.

nell12 · 02/08/2008 18:28

ggirl, I have an incredibly talented son... he is very musical and will probably make a career of it.

I spent the first few years that he played being very English and almost "playing down" his talents. If other people came up to me and said "Isn't your ds good" or the like, I would gemerally respond with a giggle and a comment along the lines of 2being talented does not mean he can keep his bedroom tidy"

By the time he got his Grade 4 (aged 9) I realised that as his parent, not only was I incredibly proud, but that it was my duty to act as his chief cheerleader.

My son is young, works hard and has been rewarded with some success. I think it is not only my right but also my job to brag about him.

findtheriver · 02/08/2008 18:33

It's sooooo dull. If people lead interesting lives and achieve things in their own right, they don't need to brag about anyone else's achievements. Sadly, some parents really do live off their kids achievements rather than their own.