u/TrueMoment5313

I am a parent and recently I noticed other moms talking to me would make subtle comments about the fact I am wearing the same clothes or am not fashionable. I usually wear jeans and a black t shirt, I have several of the same shirts. It’s simple and easy and I don’t care but now I’m feeling a bit self conscious. I will say though that I am involved in my community and (not to brag) but I have been called “popular” by many people because I love talking to everyone but now I feel like…do people think I’m tacky or something because I don’t wear nice clothes??? I even started to look into buying some nice clothes today but then it’s just so much work and honestly I don’t care for it! I don’t care what people think and obviously it hasn’t seem to affect me much because I still have tons of people to connect with but as I age, maybe it’s important to look more presentable?? But then again, why?

Edit to add: my clothes are always clean and I do laundry 2-3 times a week. They are very neat and ironed. I am friends with a lot of the moms and dads in my son’s school and my clothes have never been an issue for me. I will say the moms who have commented on my clothes do seem to be more
Materialistic and will comment too on my family’s lack of travel. We are very minimalist, enjoy local hikes and stuff like going to the library and being together as a family. Well writing this all out just made me realize I’m alright and I’m happy with how we live. I guess different people have different priorities.

Just posting to vent. Several times now at the playground, another mom has blatantly made fun of my weight. Once, she looked at me with disgust, told me to stand up straight (admittedly I have horrible posture) and asked me what the hell I’ve been eating as she looked me up and down. Made me so uncomfortable. This week, she called me a “fatty” as she saw me pick up pastries I purchased for my kid from a school fundraiser. Other times, she will complain about her own weight and pat her tummy as if it’s huge (she’s incredibly slim) while talking to me. I come from a very high income health conscious neighborhood and it’s now made me wonder if everyone here thinks I’m a loser??? I’m 5’2 and 151 pounds and making changes to lose weight but these interactions made me so self conscious and just down on myself. I will say though that I’m friends with many parents here and always get invited to things and generally come off as confident and fun. I always just focus on my kid and I’ve never thought that people even cared about my weight when they are talking to me. Now I wonder if people think horrible things about me (like laziness) and whether they just think I’m a joke.

EDIT: I want to add that we are both Asian and that i my culture, I’m considered very large. The way she spoke, while shocking to westerners, is more like how an “auntie” might call you fat at a family function but we don’t have that kind of relationship so I was quite shocked and it just left me speechless.

My son’s friend’s nanny is just not a good nanny. Completely ignores him when we are out, constantly talking on the phone and frequently disappearing for chunks of time, leaving me with the kids, often at lunchtime so I end up paying for everyone’s meals. When she returns, she’ll ask how much she owes me so that the kids will think she paid me but she never actually pays me, forcing me to either forget it or put me in awkward position to have to ask for the money. I’m done with this woman, and i also want to cut my son off from hanging out with this kid because this woman is sketchy as hell and the kid might be picking up questionable behavior from her. Should I tell the mom?? I am shocked she would even hire someone like this.

Losing my damn mind. My kid does nothing without a million warnings and reminders. Eating food - takes a bite, then talks nonsense. Then I tell him
to eat. Then he talks more. Every bite is another reminder or threat. I’m sick of this shit. Going
to sleep takes 1 hour+ of me constantly telling him
To stop moving around, close his eyes. Brushing teeth takes 15 minutes. I want to scream my head off. He’s 8 and my husband has no idea how hard it is to parent him, I stay home with my kid and all my energy is consumed by this, just getting him
To do simple things.

Hi, just a vent, not sure how to proceed. My son’s good friend is looked after by a nanny. The boys hang out a lot. But the nanny definitely takes advantage of me. She hardly interacts with the boy. When we are together, she lets me take the lead on all activities and basically I’m taking care of both kids while she is sitting back and on her phone. She also tries to let me pay for everything. For example, at lunch when we hang out, she would suggest I buy a whole pie of pizza instead of a few slices because it’s more cost effective but then doesn’t even offer to pay half? When I offer snacks to the boys, and they say no, she’ll quickly take my snacks for herself. It’s not a big deal because it’s not much money but it doesn’t sit right with me she doesn’t even offer and tries to take advantage. I don’t want to go out anymore because I feel like she’ll make me pay for other things and just make me do all the work of taking care of the kids. The boy’s mom is very nice and I can’t tell her all this.

Edit to add: sometimes it’s not just about money but she seems to just take things meant for the kids as well. For example, I bought the kids some cookies at a cafe and the boy didn’t want to eat his yet so I held it in my bag. The nanny literally comes right in and asks the boy where his cookie is and I said I was holding it for him but she took it and put it in her bag. I’m pretty sure he never got that cookie…

Bought a ticket for a Broadway show and it’s not delivered yet. The show is on Friday. I realize also that the seat number is nowhere to be found, just orchestra, the row letter and a random 4 digit number that is not on the seating chart I looked at. Is this legit or a scam??

Hi, I am wondering if I did the right thing socially. I am a very chatty parent and love making friends with other parents. Today, at the playground, I was sitting and talking with another parent. Then, another parent that I know and am good friends with showed up with her child. I waved to her and gave her a smile. I felt like she wanted to come sit and join the discussion but I didn’t invite her. The reason being, the two parents don’t know each other and I was in the middle of discussion about something. So she went to sit at a separate bench and then left about 15 minutes later. I feel bad about this and wonder if I did the right thing?

How long is it ok to be in the fridge? I bought these two months ago and forgot about them. Found them today in fridge, unopened. Super bummed, should have freezed them. The package says to refrigerate until 5/26. They’ve been sealed and look fine but not sure, hate to waste food.

My son, 8, has become incredibly shy. He won’t say hi to neighbors, respond to them or ask for things from people when we are out. Like, at a museum, he won’t go up to the guards to ask a question if he has one. The weird thing is, he WAS incredibly talkative. However, he has a neurodivergency and I believe anxiety. When he was younger, he would run up to neighbors and blurt things out and CONSTANTLY interrupt me when I’m speaking to somebody. Now, he is completely silent when neighbors talk to him and it’s incredibly awkward because they think something strange has happened. Of course I know my son best. People used to describe him as incredibly “social” and “talkative” but I knew that it was more anxiety induced chatter and he didn’t know how to control himself. Now he is a bit older and aware of environments and seems to have completely shut down to the point where he gets nervous if neighbors say hi to him and he is expected to talk back. It’s made worse because one of our neighbors is especially pushy and makes a big deal out of it (terrible) and my son hates it.

I was 100% exactly like that as a kid. The difference is, I never had a talkative/social phase, I had always been shy. I grew out of it in my 20s. But how can I help my son get better with this as a child? He’s incredibly chatty in the classroom (maybe it’s something about the familiarity) but shuts down when any adult asks him a question, very unlike his home self.

Hi, did anyone’s kid participate in the art contest? I find it somewhat odd that the grand prize winner is the same for both years and if you look at some of the winners from this year, the style of the drawing is completely the same…?? They’ve also turned off comments on their instagram winner announcement page.

Not looking for advice, just a sad post feeling down about myself and mom bod. I was walking home from the playground today and another mom asked me what I had been eating. I will say I usually tend to hide my body in baggy ish clothes but I was wearing shorts and a tee today because it’s so hot! I was too flustered to say anything. I haven’t been able to lose the baby weight at all, it’s been many years. I’m at my heaviest at 150 and 5’2”. I dread summer the most because my kid is home with me all summer and I usually take him to the playground. I live in a rich health conscious community and I am dreading it but I refuse to hide behind baggy hot clothes all summer. I’ve gotten these types of comments from people in my community and I am just over it!

My son is 8 and about to finish second grade. I highly suspect ADHD. Through the years, we have gotten various complaints from teachers about his chattiness. This year, he's had to be seated separately in a seat by himself. Playdates used to be incredibly hard for us. However, I have seen improvements year over year in terms of his ability to handle various social situations. His grades have always been excellent, and the teachers never complain about any of that. He has had some of the same friends for a few years, but he does annoy them sometimes. He makes new friends easily. At home, he needs constant reminders and redirection, and he picks fights (seeks dopamine?) for no reason often. For parents of older kids here, did your kids improve with age?

Hi, my kid is in 4th grade and has been seated in a seat by himself. This has been going on for weeks. I knew something like this would happen because he is very chatty and the teacher has spoken to me
About it before. He scores very high/perfect on exams, never misses assignments and has 100% attendance. We really do so much with him at home but I can’t seem to get the chattiness to improve. The teacher didn’t tell me he is in a seat by himself, I found out through my kid. Other kids have been given the same punishment but they usually get to go back to their regular tables after a week or so. It makes him feel isolated and is destroying his self esteem. Should I just forget about it bc the year is ending or try to talk to her about this? I get this is probably her classroom management strategy but the length of time he is there really bothers me. With past teachers, they complained about the chattiness as well, but always complimented his performance in school. His teacher this year has not really had anything positive to say about him despite him consistently doing great work on all his tests and assignments.

My 13 year old son got accused of taking something. He was at a friend’s house over the weekend, and there were a few other boys there. Firstly, he doesn’t have a great reputation. By this, I mean, he can get rowdy and annoying but I’ve never received complaints of violence or bad behavior from anyone, just that he can definitely be in your face/a bit of a class clown. After he left, his friend’s mom texted me asking me if perhaps he has a certain item in his bag that didn’t belong to him. I immediately replied saying I am going to look for it. I didn’t find it and he swears he didn’t take it, so i replied back as such. She then said that the item is really important - kind of implying that she thinks he has it but not admitting to it.

He told me that one of the other boys did it but I said well you can’t just accuse others if you don’t have evidence. The thing is, this other boy did take something of his last year and he never returned it (even after I spoke to his parents). However, the boy is extremely well behaved and no one would ever suspect anything. I’m just upset because I know my kid didn’t do it but is being accused. I don’t feel comfortable telling the accusing parent that perhaps the other boy did it (I don’t think that’s my place) but I hate my son’s name being dragged, while this other boy potentially gets away with stealing again.