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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don't dislike parent cliques because I want to be in one (shudder). I dislike them because of the vibes. I find it weird when I'm at back to school night or international night or whatever, and the adults act like their are at the homecoming dance their sophomore year of HS, standing in little clumps along the perimeter talking amongst themselves and refusing to make eye contact with anyone not in their crew.

It's just sad. Grow up! Learn how to act in mixed social settings. You are welcome to go have your little wine nights and BBQs among your little cliques later, but you come off so immature in school settings.[/quote]

So, you don't really know anyone and want people to not talk to people they already know and just talk to strangers? [/quote]

The people whose kids your kids go to school are not strangers. They can be friends but don't have to be. There are many settings in life where you need to be able to interact with what are basically friendly acquaintances, and your kids' school is one of them. It's similar to work. The problem is that in 2026 a lot of people simply have no social skills and don't feel compelled to work on them, so they silo themselves and engage in childish social behaviors in community settings.

Society is so broken. This stuff is basic if you were raised with any real manners at all.[/quote]

We knew nobody at first. It takes time eventually you will make friends too.[/quote]

Not the issue -- I have friends at my kids' school. The issue is people who are unable to engage in baseline community building because they think it's an imposition to interact at all with anyone other than established friends.

When I got to school events, I talk to a broad range of people. There are a couple parents I consider friends and I will often talk with them, but usually not exclusively -- we'll gather with a variety of parents from our kids' class or grade even if we don't know most of them well to talk about the kids or how the year is going or things happening at the school. I also make an effort to introduce myself to people I don't know. This happens most often when my kids greet other kids and I don't know the parents. I'll take a minute to just shake hands, introduce myself, and learn a little about them. I'm not doing this because I hope they will become my lifelong friends. I do it because I like to put a name with a face, because I know that next time we run into this family at school or a playground or an after school activity, we will have recognition instead of aloofness. It just makes the community feel more like a community.

It has very little to do with my social life or finding people I can hang out with 1:1 or families we can travel with or whatever. It's about creating a connected web of adults around the school and the kids.[/quote]

Maybe you’re funny looking or a minority [/quote]

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