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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Met her in the line at preschool and things were budding and fine between us until first grade. Now everything feels to me like a competition, or nose-rubbing event with her. I may have experienced the last straw.

I first noticed it around early 1st grade. Her daughter came out nose in a book, reading a pretty advanced, Harry Potter-level chapter book and I remarked about it and she replied something like, “Yep! Why, isn’t Larla reading chapter books yet?” It made me question everything. Ever since then it’s been much of the same: If it’s not comments about academics and how advanced her kids are, it’s about how they overachieve in other areas. I’m sick of it.

Today I was shamed for still folding and putting away my 8yo clothes. Of course, she doesn’t do that for her kids. [/quote]

Wait, maybe I'm competitive but I don't see why her response wasn't valid? I was telling my friend that both of my kids were reading chapter books by 1st grade.  Maybe it was the last straw for you though. In general I think the realtionships are natured that way bc everyone is in the same swim lane. It's not taht it is a competition but what else can you talk about and share/compare. I haven't figured this out yet, maybe some are better than others on how to communicate without inciting competition. [/quote]

OP is always free to distance themselves from any friend, but I agree with Pp here that I find the other parent’s comment perfectly reasonable. It’s fine for a parent to be proud of their kid’s advanced reading ability, and I’m a little confused why OP’s first reaction is to push the friend away instead of learning how the other child managed to have such a fantastic love of reading, or how they got motivated to put their own clothes away. But OP is their own person so it’s their choice. [/quote]

The very nature of someone asking a question like "Why isn't Larla reading chapter books yet?" is weird. She could have just said "Yep!" I mean there's no way to answer that, with a reasonable response, that makes sense. What is the OP supposed to say, "Oh she's just not as smart as your child!" or "I'm just not a good parent!" like WHAT kind of an answer is the other mom looking for? It's the type of question that's only meant to make the other person feel less-good, and not the type that is asking for an actual answer. It's BS and I know people who behave this way, and frankly I let it fall under the category of it is a "them" issue, not a "me" issue. I mean good lord. [/quote]

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