SO annoyances re bragging parents

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That sound you hear is 14:34/14:44 whispering "oh, crap" to herself.

Why would I whisper "oh crap"? She posted that her neighbor had a gleam in her eye because she got her kid into Harvard. I responded to that post here on DCUM, not to some back story not posted here, obviously.

(The neighbor's kid is actually only in middle school? So you were just imagining the gleam in her eye, a few years down the road? And condemning her for that?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sound you hear is 14:34/14:44 whispering "oh, crap" to herself.

Why would I whisper "oh crap"? She posted that her neighbor had a gleam in her eye because she got her kid into Harvard. I responded to that post here on DCUM, not to some back story not posted here, obviously.

(The neighbor's kid is actually only in middle school? So you were just imagining the gleam in her eye, a few years down the road? And condemning her for that?)

She never said that. Go back and read the original post at 14:25.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sound you hear is 14:34/14:44 whispering "oh, crap" to herself.

Why would I whisper "oh crap"? She posted that her neighbor had a gleam in her eye because she got her kid into Harvard. I responded to that post here on DCUM, not to some back story not posted here, obviously.

(The neighbor's kid is actually only in middle school? So you were just imagining the gleam in her eye, a few years down the road? And condemning her for that?)

She never said that. Go back and read the original post at 14:25.

You mean this?

"Are you my best friend, or the competitive neighbor with the gleam in her eye about getting her kid into Harvard (we all have one of these neighbors)?"

Sounds to me like the neighbor has a gleam in her eye -- oh, oh, I see!! About getting her kid into Harvard, some day. I didn't read it correctly!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I'm thinking of a recent conversation I had with a parent in the class. I know her son is already practicing with an elite try-out squad that draws from 4 states. We were picking up kids from a party and, simply to make conversation, I asked how Billy's "ballet" has been going, has he been unusually busy with "ballet"? Real open-ended question that was frankly intended to fill time. Perceptive parents realize this.

So, realizing that this question was probably not meant to solicit hard data about Billy's ballet stats, or the results of his most recent competition, and where he ranks against other ballet stars in the Mid-Atlantic ... Mom replied that Billy was indeed busier than usual, they have been traveling a lot to his ballets in NC, MD and PA in fact. He does love the ballet, so for now it's worth it. She worries about him balancing school work and ballet, she said.

It would have been "factual" for her to reply instead, Oh, yes, we HAVE been busier than usual. Billy's team just won the N.C. 12-under ballet championship in Charlotte, that's why we weren't at the school BBQ last week. Then a scout spotted Billy in Charlotte and asked us to sign a retainer with CoachX to develop Billy's skills even more because they think Billy has a shot at the ballet jr. olympics.

Is that bragging? Or a factual answer to my question? or just a lack of social skills/filter? or ... all 3?

I'd find that answer to be factual. I'd be interested to hear that a child in my kid's class was on a ballet team that just won the Championship and that her classmate had a shot at the balet olympics! How neat is that!

Why wouldn't you want to hear something like that? Why would it sound like bragging? If the parent goes on and on, of course, it could be boring... but so could a monotonous rendition of how behind in academic skills her child is ... or anything repetitive like that.