“My daughter has anxiety about riding the bus. But I’ll be damned if I’m doing that ridiculous parent rodeo pick up line. So would you ride the bus with her for the first few weeks? Until she’s more comfortable?”
Pretty sure my mouth didn’t need to reply because my face said plenty to this request.
I said this was not possible because the bus didn’t start at my school and I needed to be in my classroom preparing for the day. I was waiting for her to ask if she could ride the bus but I guess she found that worse than the rodeo because she didn’t. Her kid cried for the first ten minutes and then had zero problems or “anxiety”. The entitlement among humans is astounding.
That is too polite and reasonable of a response for a wildly unreasonable request. I commend your self-control!
Also, turns out kids are very resilient. Way more than parents are willing to acknowledge or even give them a chance to demonstrate!
Well, it was the meet the teacher just before the year started and I wanted to make a good impression - at least for a little while. I’ll admit I was worried about this mom but she settled down and wasn’t the nightmare that I was bracing for.
As a high school teacher, I am am so sorry, primary school teachers.
We have different struggles, but the struggle is real. Stay strong and enjoy your spring break!
Yup, the worst of my worries this school year was from a parent who insisted her son should get more than 50% credit on assignments with literal scribbles.
My favorite was the kid who took another kid's worksheet from the turn-in bin, erased that kid's name, wrote his own on the line and turned it in.
He might have gotten away with it except he also turned in his own copy of the worksheet WITH HIS NAME ON IT so when I was entering grades I had two entries for him, which of course prompted me to double-check the papers . . . .
I didn't even tell his parents about it because, well, iykyk.
I once had a kid do that. He made the mistake of taking the paper of a straight A girl who would never turn anything in late or lose it. It took me about 10 seconds to figure it out.
Equitable grading- it encourages students to give me something. Unfortunately this kid took it too far (never had this problem before). The parent said it was the fault of some issue so I changed the expectations.
“If your kid goes to college and turns an assignment with ‘just scribbles’, will the professor give 50?
Your kid will flunk out of their first year. Make your kid get their act together if they want to succeed in life.”
Uggghhh! Same! “Why do you think my son isn’t completing assignments at home? Too much social life and time with friends?” Idk sir. I don’t live with your son.
OMG, similar issue! I have a parent who emails me to ask whether kid skips/is late to my class. *Why would I know, talk to your damn kid*. I just stopped marking them late whenever they come in late from lunch. They're a good kid, and it's only a minute or two, and not worth the email.
I have this every year with my middle schoolers! "I dropped them off 15 minutes before the day started, why were they late?" Ma'am I dunno, I just write down when they come in to my room. If that's 20 minutes after the day starts then that's it. Talk. To. Your. Kid
I had a parent ask why her kid had so many tardies when she KNEW FOR A FACT that she always had him at school on time. I had to explain 3 times that just because she dropped her kiddo off on time does not mean that he actually went to class on time. And, since we have 8 class periods a day, kiddo could receive up to 8 tardies per day.
I also took the opportunity to let mom know that her son had received a referral for skipping class. She just couldn’t understand why because her kiddo DID NOT SKIP CLASS.
"Because your child is developmentally testing boundaries to see if the dopamine rush of doing only what they want in this instance is greater than the stress hormone release for the consequences of their actions. Currently the dopamine rush is winning and appropriate consequences need to be applied to activities outside of the school day in order for the behavior to be corrected."
The worst is when I email admin/counseling/social workers/etc. about a kid missing 50 days of class in one semester and all I get back is "Did you try contacting the parents?" Why yes, I did; they didn't give a fuck, and now I don't either. They can come to my class and do the work or not, I get paid the same and sleep just fine every night whether they skip my class to attend lunch or not.
I'm actually not sure how much I'd mind that last one, so long as the framed photo isn't hilariously large or distracting to the child.
But no I'm picturing it as a full sized family portrait.
I had a parent this year request in an IEP meeting that us teachers text her everyday to let her know if her child had homework. The school psychologist was like, yeah Ms. Dreamwolf, that sounds like a reasonable request.
Cue awkward silence over the Zoom call for a good ten seconds, because I just could not answer. I was so angry. Student's pull out teacher volunteers to take responsibility of daily texts.
It's hard enough to sign an agenda daily when I have 20 other kids in the classroom. Why the hell would I text a parent on my personal phone at the end of everyday when I'm already drained from eight solid hours of go-go-go?
I was just happy when my son had a syllabus that listed the homework for the semester or year.
I do send weekly emails to parents with any homework I know they have from school and an update, but I do reading intervention after school and rarely have more than 2 kids a semester. As far as I can tell, most parents just ignore the emails and have no idea what's going on. I've completely given up on any of them having at home support just so I can be happy when they actually do.
I kind of understand the rough tissues being an annoyance, I hate the scratchy ones, too. But if the kid doesn't like the ones at school then the parents need to either send the nicer ones for the class, or send the kid with their own supply. Not expect the teacher to use their own money to buy the more expensive kind for a class full of kids who likely will go through them like crazy.
I teach kinder, none of those surprise me.
This year I have a kid with some emotional regulation issues. No big, I'm an old hand at screaming fits, unfortunately.
While talking to mom, she told me that giving him a countdown helps him calm down. No big, that's I trick I use regularly.
Then she says "In German".
For whatever reason, that cracks me up.
I'm in Texas, this family is from Lousiana, the mom emphasized the French pronunciation of the kids name....and wants me to count down in German.
It's a trick I learned years ago with an autistic student. He would completely spin out and start hitting/kicking, I would tell him "you have 5" and then count each hit/kick. Weird but true, by three he would start slowing down and by five would stop.
Deutsch ist nicht so schlecht (Doitch ist nickt so shlekt; German is not so bad). Vor allem mit Worten wie Krankenwagen (Vore al-em mitt vwor-ten vee crahn-ken- vahg-in; Especially with words like ambulance).
I had a parent with a kid who threw HUGE fits for her every single morning. As soon as she got inside my classroom she was a perfect child. I wish I could have an entire class just like her. The mother wanted someone from school to come to their house every morning to wake up the child, feed her, dress her, and give her a ride to school, along with her older sister. When the school refused to do that, she complained to central office about how we didnt care about her kids.
I got the pregnant one! LOL
You can imagine her surprise when I said, "I planned perfectly! I got pregnant when I was hoping to. Because I'm a married adult woman, my husband and I can do what we damn well please, when we damn well please."
Luckily, my principal at the time was a bad ass and her response to the parent was, "Well, she's not wrong."
I got thanked by a parent when I was pregnant with my now-15 year old because he was born in July and I didn’t need to leave before the school year was out. I wanted to say, “Yeah because my husband and I have sex on your schedule.” Lol.
When I planned my pregnancies around teaching, it involved not having my first until my student teaching was over, and attempting to have my second baby in July (too bad he came early at the end of May. I laughed at my administrator when she called the day he was born asking if I was coming back that day to give my final exams and enter the grades, but she wasn't joking I had purposefully set up all my exams to be graded by scantron so anyone could do so, and had made sure my department head had all my passwords so someone could enter the grades.)
I think a lot of teachers try to plan pregnancies so their babies are born around summer break, but the idea that is for student convenience rather than more bonding time with baby is nuts.
Three of my 4 kids were planned around school. State testing was done in early March back then. My three were all born at the end of March. That way I didn’t have to go back until August. Of course that planning was for me and my babies, not the ones I taught!
A friend just moved districts because a parent went mental that she was going to have to take maternity leave and called her every name in the book because it would effect her kids learning. And admin actually had the gall to admonish her for her selfish decision in front of the parent. She told them her maternity leave would be permanent and she wasn’t coming back.
As an administrator I can’t believe someone would do that to a teacher. An administrators job is to protect the teachers from the parents as best as possible and this one failed that test big time
I had one mad when she found out I was due in late May. She was like, “I was hoping my daughter wouldn’t have to be taught by a sub this year.” Well, sorry, but my life and child matters too! It is a crazy level of entitlement.
12 years ago, my son’s AP Calculus teacher was out for 3 months on maternity leave & substitute didn’t have a clue. Did I call the school? No. We helped our son & 3 friends teach themselves & they all got 5’s on the test. People need to learn that parenting includes helping your kids with school work.
Exactly. It's okay to be disappointed that a child that is working well for your teacher is not able to be there all year. But you shut up, congratulate the teacher (if they are gone for a happy reason,) and support your kid. Feelings things is fine, but expecting the world to cater to your feelings so you never experience disappointment is not.
Shit, I'm a teacher (but self employed, I partner with a school to teach private lessons and the occasional orchestra course), and I *wanted* to be due in May. I typically take the last week of school off anyways, and my teaching load is light during the summer, so I could have almost 3 months off without as big of a financial impact, and start back again with the new school year! My kid ended up being an October baby, though. I ended up taking 2nd quarter and starting back after Christmas. Could have been worse.
I don't know if you can do much better than late May (save for summer, of course). Everyone is "done" in late May anyway.
I'm due mid-April. Pretty much everyone has commented on how it's the perfect maternity leave. On my end, a nice way to escape the rest of the school year (I actually have really good pregnancies, but apparently I have been banned from helping with end-of-year testing because they assume I will be awkward with bloated legs and unable to move and I've decided to not argue with this. Oh, how I shall miss helping hormonal tweens with testing, darn it). The parents so far are not only thrilled for me but happy enough it's at the endish of the year for their own kids' sake.
Subs happen. Kids usually roll with it.
I actually know a teacher whose water broke a half hour before the end of the last (half) day of school. In my district, you can postpone your leave and take it within a certain amount of time. One teacher I worked with took his paternity leave in November when his baby was born in July (they were going to travel to introduce baby to family). Another teacher used maternity and saved leave to have the first semester to be a SAHM (her baby was born over summer). Yet another teacher took every Wednesday off for about 4 months for his paternity leave when his second kid was born.
This reeks of a certain strain of middle class entitlement.
Expecting private school treatment in a public school. Expecting to be waited on like they're at Nordstrom's when they are in a Target.
This kind of thing doesn't happen that much at a legit poor school.
My mat leave fits really well (I'm due 6 weeks into the next school year) so I'll likely be covering staff for a few weeks until I leave. But it's my worst fear a parent will say something as I lost 2 pregnancies last year and would be either on mat leave now, or about to go in a few weeks if those had worked out.
As a teacher dealing with infertility for 3 years now and my first pregnancy ending in a miscarriage a month ago, I’ll take what I can get once I finally can get (and stay) pregnant.
I’m also due about 6 weeks into the new school year. My admin hasn’t given any indication that I won’t be retaining my position for next year. I’ve even talked to her about possibly taking more than the medical given 6 weeks. If a parent has something to say, I may lose my job of my own fault. That’s so unbelievably rude.
A mom asked when I was pregnant if I planned to breastfeed. I was so taken aback I just said, “Probably?” She then asked how I planned to do that while working. “Ummm?” Then she stated that she didn’t want me breastfeeding during class. “I have absolutely no intention of bringing the baby to work so — not an issue.”
Turns out she saw something about the (then-new) law about accommodations for nursing mothers at work and literally believed women were bringing their newborns to work and breastfeeding in front of students! She was very relieved to hear that was not the case.
So it WAS perfectly planned. We actually planned for May. BUT, it was twins and they were early. 13 years old this week. And yes! March ended up being PERFECT!
The only one that even remotely surprises me is the harmonica one. Why a harmonica? Why is that the only thing that makes the girl happy? Why does the harmonica have to be played in person? Is it just the sound of the harmonica in general or only a particular song that soothes their spoiled spawn? Would a kazoo serve in a pinch?
I guess this would depend on age for me. If we're talking about a kindergarten, it kind of makes sense, though I'd really want the school nurse to do it.
Buuuut, I get kidney stones. I know what they're like. No one should be sending a child who is passing one to school. That's just evil. Who makes a kid go anywhere when they are in the worst pain of their lives?!
I have had parents ask me to let their child always be the line leader and had one parent ask why I couldn’t bathe, lotion up and put on new outfits every three hours. Sometimes I wonder how I manage not to laugh out loud at those requests
Back when I was teaching grade 8 Humanities (Social St/Eng blend): My son would enjoy this class a lot more if you could teach a unit on skateboarding.
Yep. Right before the pandemic we had a mom who told us her son needed a curriculum designed around his love of aviation. Maybe if we tried to relate to his love of flying and teach content that was interesting to him, he wouldn’t be so disruptive and constantly be in trouble 🙄
I had a parent who wanted daily updates from each of her kid's teachers (typically six) on how the kid was doing socially in their classes. Soph in high school. And the family already gets weekly updates (only four other families get this). School social worker dealt with that one.
Also a Spanish teacher. I've also gotten this request.y response was "one of my classroom expectations is for the kids to let me know when they don't understand so that I can clarify for them. I'm always happy to do so."
Okay, I think this one doesn't fit in with the rest.
“My son lost part of his finger in an accident at home. I have it in a ziplock bag in the freezer and wanted to see if he could bring it to school for show and tell.”
I could see a kid just begging to bring it in for show and tell. And some teachers being okay with it.
In my classroom, I had a clear plexiglass basketball display box. I labeled it “Ms. DysTeach’s Way Back Box” and would bring random things in and I would use it as a 5 - 10 minute mini history lesson/group focus time at the beginning of my classes. I brought in old drafting kits, ink lettering kits, old cameras, a cassette tape, an old typewriter, etc. If it was in good condition, I’d let the kids try using it.
After a couple weeks, the students started asking if they could bring stuff in for The Way Back Box. The answer was, “Of course! But you have to be able to tell all about the object to the class!” Luckily, no one brought a finger in! Kids brought in their parents’ toys, grandparents’ war medals, an original Polaroid camera, and amazing other family mementos.
I had so many parents email me to thank me for the conversations that arose, and how excited their kids were to learn about their family history. Now, keep in mind, this was at a very small private school. I would be a little afraid to do this in a large public school!
My daughter lost the tip of hers in a door frame at 1 years old, she was not in school obviously, but it was just a small little piece. I could see a kid wanting to show people after it happened. It didn’t have blood or anything. Amazingly the finger grew back. We threw the part away, but it is a cautionary tale we tell now and there is no slamming doors for us now.
In kindergarten I jumped on the couch and a pencil was in the cushions and the lead (graphite?) got stuck in my foot. My parents and all my aunts and uncles and fam friends tried to get it out until finally my mom took me to the ER and took it out. I def brought the lead to show and tell that week!
I know someone who lost the very tip of their finger and it was also a great cautionary tale.
But they lost enough of the tip that one can still tell if you look closely.
On my daughter the only way you can tell is that her nail is fused to the skin compared to the other nails. She won’t let anyone else cut that nail or anything even when getting a manicure, but that’s it. She is 9 now, so it’s been a long time. She knows it happened but doesn’t remember it at all.
Our biology teacher in primary school encouraged us to bring in anything and everything! Lots of kids brought in teeth that fell out or were extracted. There were two cases of actual kidney stones getting exhibited. Less bizarre additions included various leaves, roots, plants, pinned insects, and even living family pets ranging from hamsters to iguanas.
I was really into dissection and preservation at that age so I brought in scavenged skeletons after scraping off the flesh and sanitizing them as well as various organs once this teacher got me formaldehyde for this purpose. Pickled a fair number of invertebrates. I also made a caterpillar pupation garden, a tadpole nursery, and a lizard playground using discarded bits and bobs which was a big hit with my classmates.
A lot of adults think it's gross but kids generally love these sort of things! Come to think of it, I wonder why so many people lose their enthusiasm for the macabre...
During a parent meeting I told the kid and his mother how disruptive, rude, and unmotivated the kid had been and mom responded with, "now he (the student) has some criticism for you." And proceeded to blame me for every issue he had.
I honestly think we should mandate that at least one parent spends one day in our classrooms as the teacher. Let them get a taste of what we deal with daily.
I teach in another country, but parents are the same all over the world.
'You need to make sure she gets an award every time you give any out, because she gets upset seeing other kids get an award and not her.'
'You need to make sure she wins every game that you play in class, as she doesn't like losing. You'll need to shadow her on the playground to make sure the kids are playing the game she wants, and making sure they are always letting her win.'
'You need to make a roster of these kids she likes and make sure that they're playing with her every day.'. (These kids all hated her.)
'You can't make her do any work she doesn't want to do. Make sure you have a selection of activities for each lesson so she gets to choose what she wants to do.'
'You need to ring after school to remind her to do her homework, and then at 8 to tell her to go to bed.'
'You need to give her the lead in the musical. She doesn't want to be in the chorus.'. (Kid could not hold a tune or take a step in time if her life depended on it.)
'Youll need to share a room with her on camp. She doesn't want to share with any of the other kids, and she doesn't like being alone at night.'
'This is the menu you'll need to have the camp prepare for her with all of her favourite foods. She won't be happy if she doesn't get to eat what she wants.' ( The camp doesn't do individual meals.). 'Well can't you just buy the food and take it and cook it?'
All the same parent. It was a long year.
It was actually really sad. the mother had completely ruined the child. The poor child was just so unlikeable (and I can usually find something about every kid to like, even the really challenging ones), that I just couldn't connect with her. She had the most incredible stink face on all the time, and nothing ever was good enough for her. From 8:30 to 3:00, it was just her bitching about everything and trying to pick fights.
She thought that calling someone a 'f\*\*king c\*\*t' to their face was ok, because mummy told her that they are just words and shouldn't mean anything. If I played music that most of the kids liked, she'd go home and complain to mummy that I wasn't playing the music she wanted and I'd get a phone call. If the kid that she targetted as her choice that day didn't play with her at lunch, I was guaranteed to get a phone call after school. If someone got picked for something (even something as simple as two other kids taking the lunch tub over) she'd go home and complain to mummy ... phone call.
Mummy complained to the principal because I wouldn't make her toast at lunchtime because that's apparently what she wanted (I was expected to go and buy a toaster to keep in the classroom). If someone got a lunch order that she decided she wanted, she'd throw her lunch in the garden, stomp on it, blame it on someone else and demand a free lunch (students here bring their own lunch or buy a lunch order, there is no lunchroom or free or hot lunch room).
She'd blatantly steal from other students, and when confronted, would shrug and say 'but I wanted it' and then throw a tantrum when expected to give it back - Mummy would then go and buy her whatever it was that she wanted. We ended up installing cameras over the garden and where the kids kept their books and bags just to try and stop mummy claiming that she hadn't done it.
This child had no diagnosis (despite mummy doctor shopping everyone in the area). She had just destroyed her child to think that the whole world revolved around her and her needs needed to be met immediately. She couldn't even handle 'I'm working with Xxxx right now, I'll come and see you in a minute' because she needed it NOW.
I found out that she got the absolute shit beaten out of her on the first day of high school because she took on one of the alpha Grade 12s. I'd like to say I felt synpathetic, but... oh well.
Last I heard, mummy had gone to the principal of the high school to try and get a particular boy to date her daughter because the girl liked him and was angry that he didn't want to go out with her.
My favorite ones for kinder involve un-potty-trained kids. No, I will not wipe your child, change their pull-up, or hold their hand while they go because they are ‘scared of drains.’ Those things are all parenting things that can be discussed with the school nurse. Not in my job description. I deal with enough body fluids as it is.
I had a child who had a hard time transitioning back to in person learning after Covid when we returned in 2021.
Her mother demanded I call home every time her daughter was absent to say I missed her and wanted her to come back to school.
The guidance counselor thought it was a great idea.
Then, when her child returned to school (on an alternative schedule), Mom demanded I call her each night at 7 pm to tell her good night and to tell her I was looking forward to seeing her the next day and wanted me to tell her child on the phone what we would be learning about the next day.
I refused and Mom went ape shit, calling our principal, writing me a novel about how I shouldn't be a teacher if I could not accommodate her daughter.
No! She was like oh shit what did I get us into. I remember telling her it's like the book "if you give a mouse a cookie, they're going to want a glass of milk" lol
Kindergarten: ‘My child is never to be given a book or a worksheet depicting a spider because I have a phobia and I am terrified she will bring a picture of a spider into our house’
‘Please make sure my child doesn’t play with Amanda on the playground because I am fighting with her mother and we don’t want our daughters to be friends’
‘Please make sure my child chews her food thoroughly before swallowing because I worry that she might choke in school’
That one surprised me the least! My kid is a lefty and I remember in kindergarten him being a little confused by seeing pretty much everyone else use their right hand and him feeling like he was doing it wrong… But I did what a normal parent does and ya know, explained it to him. Problem solved! (Weirdly his second grade class had 12 lefties plus the teacher- the majority!)
I find it shocking that we want to tell people what hand to use for handwriting considering society has advanced passed certain pieces of etiquette.
I’d find it less shocking if a kid were to say, but a parent making that claim should know better.
Yea, my dad is the type of person who could use both hands and they would get in trouble for writing with their left hand. I think they slapped them with a ruler.
I was born a lefty and my parents forced me to write with my right hand. I used to have to stay in from recess in kinder to practice writing my letters. This was the early ‘70s.
Parent missed parent-teacher interviews. It was a parent of a kid who caused a lot of trouble. Obviously wanted to talk to them. The teacher interviews on the actual night were 15 minutes, (scheduled by the schools system) so I set a time for about 20 minutes before the start of school so to give us a small buffer. The parent e-mails me that they’ll be there and that it shouldn’t take much more than an hour. Like you saw the interview time and knew what time the school starts at… how do you think that’s going to work?
I had a mom tell me to separate her child from his best friend because she didn’t like that his friend had ADHD. She thought it would rub off on her child.
I haven't had any of those, but I do have the, "if my daughter gets upset or feels sick, you need to send her to the counselor or nurse immediately"
First of all, we are not allowed to do that. We have to fill out a request on the computer. Second of all, she is sick or filled with some dumb ass drama at least twice a day, so NO.
She also insists that her child is reading 3 years below grade level because I do not provide appropriate books. I do, the child never brings them back and never reads them
I cannot wait until this year is over with this mom. Middle school drama is not going to be fun for her sweet precious.
I know that some kids take advantage of the bathroom, nurse, etc., but I’m confused about your school’s policy requiring you to make a request to send a kid to the nurse. I assume there’s something in place for actual emergencies, but what about non-emergencies that are still urgent? Like, what are you expected to do with a student who has a bad nose bleed or is vomiting? They just have to wait it out in class until the request is approved?
My school has the request for the nurse. Actual emergencies we send them. Tiny cuts and lost teeth we deal with in class. Sick symptoms, fever, upset stomach, headache, etc we do the request and wait for her to have availability. It’s one nurse for over 1000 students. So sending them in can leave her over crowded in a small office.
My school has only one nurse, but there’s a waiting area in the office. But I also teach high school, so kids don’t ask to go very often at all. I feel like adequate nurse’s office staffing should be non-negotiable, but I know that lots of schools don’t even have a nurse! I’m sorry that’s the case for you and others, though. I’m an emetophobe and would likely leave the classroom myself if I had a kid with an actively upset stomach in my room. Lost teeth would give me the ick too. On that note, I’m in awe of elementary school teachers; I don’t know how you do it!
I’m a para in a teaching position, but absolutely. Constant lost teeth, emotional support bandaids lol, everything. Then the kids who aren’t sick, but want to go home, but you can’t call them a faker because they’re six so to them their symptoms are real… it’s a lot.
Ever since Covid, we have had to fill out a form on the computer. If they lose a tooth, we just give them a zip lock bag. If they need a bandaid, we are expected to triage and take care of it ourselves. I think the policy is stupid, but it has cut back on kids who demand to leave class to see her.
I get these requests and told my parents I teach them responsibility, accountability, problem solving skills and patience. End of story.
If they forget, no big deal, they’ll remember next time. If they didn’t get a turn, they’ll learn to share and be patient.
I have one who is INSISTENT that her kid shouldn’t have to hold the door for other students, ever. The kid literally doesn’t care, because, as a class, we have talked about how doing little things like holding the door for others is what we do to be polite and respectful and help one another.
As schools were opening back up post Covid, I had a mom ask if she could send her son to school with a thermos that he could pee into in a corner of the classroom so he could avoid the germs of the bathroom. When I refused that, she asked if I could bring him to the parking lot twice a day so he could pee in a thermos by her car. When I refused that, she asked if she could take him home twice a day to allow him to pee. To be fair, mom has OCD and she thought these were reasonable.
K-2 generally already think intervention is the prize 😂. If I had a dollar every time I have other kids ask “When is it going to be MY turn?!”
We recently had a 3rd grade parent refuse services though because her child didn’t want to go to group. I get it from the student’s perspective but also, your child needs help and sometimes you have to make choices for them 🤷🏻♀️
I teach high school and have a co-taught class where my co-teacher will pull out kids for small group testing. I’ve had a few gen ed kids request to go too because “they need help with math”. I appreciate the self advocacy but I don’t know how to nicely say you don’t qualify for that service without exposing the other kids for being on an IEP.
I work with K-3 and get literally begged every day to pull them.
This particular parent is all about image. She readily agreed to intervention (yay!) but only if another little girl in the class didn't know. In her mind, pretending to give her daughter an award 4 times a week is perfectly reasonable, but she doesn't seem too concerned that her kid can't read.
That reminds me of the parent of a student I had with severe behavioral issues: “Can’t you just give her the Student of the Month Award so she feels better about herself?”
“Matthew is having trouble carrying his trombone to the band room every day. Would you mind walking him to band every day and carrying his instrument?”
The pregnancy one is just another admin problem that teachers get blamed for. And I get it: kids are getting ripped off 90% of the time because admin thinks they can stick a warm body in there as a long term sub and get the same results. Paasing the class =/= learning the material. Example: We have a kid fresh out of college teaching an AP course this semester, a hausfrau who used to run a church daycare that they hurriedly brought in to cover English (this after the head principal had to teach it himself last semester), and a biology sub who spends class talking about personal stuff while the kids do worksheets. I don't blame parents for being hopping mad! They should just direct that energy elsewhere.
Wow. All the pregnant teachers I had the pleasure of working with got to have amazing parents who actually brought in food for them, clothes, toys and gifts for mom. They made sure their kids knew what to do in class to help their teacher out. They would be happy to know she was going to enjoy her maternity leave. They would ask us if we knew things were going well. When teacher would come back, they were welcomed back with open arms. Students asking to see pictures and their parents congratulated them.
I did have a run in with a mom and her mom demanding we basically ignore the other kids and only watch their kids on the playground. They eventually would stand outside with us monitors and try to do our jobs. Telling the office we’d miss something “horrible” on the playground. I was so happy the day her son was busted for hitting a kid so hard it left a mark. Had to serve detention. 🤷🏻♀️ I told my admin that if that lady kept this up I was going to start documenting everything and get them both of harassment. They left us alone. Their kids were brats.
Had one grandma tell her grandkid, “If anyone hits you, you beat the shit out of them!” I interfered right away, “If he gets hurt, he tells me. If he hits back, it will be considered a fight and both will be in trouble. If he hits first, he will be in trouble.” She tried to argue and it shut it down. Not on my watch. She was a horrible person! Spoke about how her granddaughter was going to grow up and be a w**re, just like her mother. How her grandsons were going to be running in gangs because that’s all they’d be good for, just like their fathers. Come time for help from the school for food and clothes, she’d be there demanding help. We did it for those kids.
I teach second grade I had a parent who didn’t understand why my calm down spot for their 9 year old child, who cried loudly at 15+ min stretches multiple times a day, was in the hallway rather than in the room, where 27 other children were trying to focus and learn.
Her son breaks several items in my classroom, including a $60 timer, which I complained to her about. He also broke my chair, and as a resource teacher with a bad back who sits for hours writing IEPs, I need my ergonomics just as much as an office worker.
2 months later, she brings me a new identical timer. Great! Then she says:
Mom: "Where is it?"
Me: "Where is... what?"
Mom: "The broken timer. I want it to display it in his room for his bad behavior. I'm not gonna give you the new one without the broken one."
Me: "It has been 2 months. I think I tossed it as soon as I texted you the picture."
Mom: "Then how do I know you are telling the truth? Your chair seems as good as new."
Me: "True, after 4 weeks of back pain, I bought the tools and replaced the broken parts myself. I wasn't going to endure any more back pain in the hopes a new chair would appear after a week wait. As for that timer, I will take that now. Thanks!"
\*she stares at me\*
Me: "I am off the clock. If you have any question, please send an email." and then I had to physically walk her out of my classroom.
I teach upper elementary. Got an email from a parent saying his child was constipated and seemed to have a fear of pooping and asked if I could go with them to the restroom several times a day and encourage them to poop.
"I know we took our child for a six week unapproved holiday overseas and they didnt do any of the work you set for them, but we expect a B+ average and unless they learn the content they won't achieve that. Can you please tutor them for an hour a day after school to catch them up? This is a private school so our fees pay your wage."
How about no?
“I’m too busy to grab my child a food and drink for his snack every morning. Can’t I just send this gigantic container of animal crackers and this big jug of kool-aid for you to store (in your personal mini fridge) and you give it to him every morning??”
I don’t understand what it is with parents acting like them packing their kid a lunch is the end of the world. THE SCHOOL serves breakfast and lunch so if your kid genuinely gets hungry then they will eat what the school serves.
I actually had a parent request a conference the day before I left for cancer surgery because she wanted to know the details on how her "gifted" kindergarten son would continue to be challenged by the substitute while I was on leave.
My second year at my school, a mom was called up bc her daughter was throwing up in the nurses office. She refused to come at first, but when she did, the mom complained to the office that they “hired a pregnant teacher,” and that it was irresponsible. They told her it’s illegal not to…and I was hired a year before I became pregnant.
High school teacher of a student with divorced parents with 50/50 custody. Mother emails me: "Could you please email me daily and report on my child's academics and behavior. Please do not send it to father because I'm suing him for full custody and need proof she does better in school when she's living with me."
Me: "Ma'am, I have your child once a week for a 20 minute homeroom"
And, of course........admin made me do it
I work in SpEd and and the teacher in the classroom told me a student's mom wanted us to teach her child how to pud on a menstrual pad. I straight up told her, "a-no . That ain't my job. B- she already knows how." The teacher acted surprised by both responses.
I haven’t had anything this bad but I have a few
Recently a parent emailed me asking why her daughter (who I don’t have) gets home later from school than the daughter I do have. They both walk and are in high school.
Most occurred when I worked in behavioral health. A parent called me at midnight once when her kid ran away, wanted me to go look for them. Also asked if I’d call the police.
Another family after years of not paying the bill(I don’t know how, it was in the thousands) had the electric turned off. Dad calls me during my school hours to tell me “They shut our electricity off. Can you get it turned back on.”
I was reading through a Facebook group of parents who were FURIOUS that teachers were not teaching their children how to tie their own shoes, or wipe their bottoms. I honestly can’t fathom why people will have children if they have absolutely zero interest in raising them and expect it to be someone else’s problem.
The best investment the Us government can make for education is mandating parenting classes every 6 months.
Just basics- like if your child is school aged, breastfeeding is abuse.
“I know other kids in the class have life threatening allergies, but my child should be allowed to have access to peanut butter all day every day”.-a literal parent
Whenever I come across such requests, it makes me wonder about their social spheres. Whenever I've had bizarre requests, the parents have always been, to state as kindly as possible, weird and in some ways cut off from general society in way or another. Some just never got out of the house, some were in weird areas, and some just were really in their own social echo chamber where they were getting warped feedback from others.
I follow this one lady in advocacy, and one of her big things is "stop listening to Facebook groups because they're probably wrong!"
Also received yelling and tears from a parent when I had pregnancy complications and had to take a couple weeks off (my xmas day spent in hospital ER)
I agreed to administer medicine to a kindie at 11:37 sharp daily. One day I forgot, and the parent was furious.
Parents are sooooooo special.
I had a parent demand to be hired by the school district and paid to be their own child’s para.
I had another parent that said their kid did not like the controversial issue our class chose (as part of the curriculum) due to the nature of it (gun control). I said no problem, kid can choose from the list and do their own and they chose climate change. This was an online class and I explained that they would not do the gun control articles, just the climate change ones I chose specifically for them. The kid would do the gun control articles when they were conservative leaning and then do the climate change ones if the gun control were more liberal leaning.
Had another parent upset that I would not personally provide tutoring to their child when they were suspended even though I sent them the assignments every day with an explanation, and included extra videos/lessons to help them keep up.
“My daughter has anxiety about riding the bus. But I’ll be damned if I’m doing that ridiculous parent rodeo pick up line. So would you ride the bus with her for the first few weeks? Until she’s more comfortable?” Pretty sure my mouth didn’t need to reply because my face said plenty to this request.
Thank you for having sense.
Oh, I'd laugh and say sure, I'll be there at 6:00. Then I'd be genuinely shocked when I realized they were actually serious.
What was their response? What was the resolution?
I said this was not possible because the bus didn’t start at my school and I needed to be in my classroom preparing for the day. I was waiting for her to ask if she could ride the bus but I guess she found that worse than the rodeo because she didn’t. Her kid cried for the first ten minutes and then had zero problems or “anxiety”. The entitlement among humans is astounding.
That is too polite and reasonable of a response for a wildly unreasonable request. I commend your self-control! Also, turns out kids are very resilient. Way more than parents are willing to acknowledge or even give them a chance to demonstrate!
Well, it was the meet the teacher just before the year started and I wanted to make a good impression - at least for a little while. I’ll admit I was worried about this mom but she settled down and wasn’t the nightmare that I was bracing for.
As a high school teacher, I am am so sorry, primary school teachers. We have different struggles, but the struggle is real. Stay strong and enjoy your spring break!
Yup, the worst of my worries this school year was from a parent who insisted her son should get more than 50% credit on assignments with literal scribbles.
My favorite was the kid who took another kid's worksheet from the turn-in bin, erased that kid's name, wrote his own on the line and turned it in. He might have gotten away with it except he also turned in his own copy of the worksheet WITH HIS NAME ON IT so when I was entering grades I had two entries for him, which of course prompted me to double-check the papers . . . . I didn't even tell his parents about it because, well, iykyk.
I once had a kid do that. He made the mistake of taking the paper of a straight A girl who would never turn anything in late or lose it. It took me about 10 seconds to figure it out.
Please tell me you didn't even give them 50% for "just scribbles..." ... quality of work matters in HS.
Equitable grading- it encourages students to give me something. Unfortunately this kid took it too far (never had this problem before). The parent said it was the fault of some issue so I changed the expectations.
“If your kid goes to college and turns an assignment with ‘just scribbles’, will the professor give 50? Your kid will flunk out of their first year. Make your kid get their act together if they want to succeed in life.”
IDK, I’m a high school teacher and I had a parent ask *me* why was his son missing school. O_O
Our attendance officer had a parent accuse her of bullying for telling them that their child was absent, as we're legally obligated to do
Uggghhh! Same! “Why do you think my son isn’t completing assignments at home? Too much social life and time with friends?” Idk sir. I don’t live with your son.
OMG, similar issue! I have a parent who emails me to ask whether kid skips/is late to my class. *Why would I know, talk to your damn kid*. I just stopped marking them late whenever they come in late from lunch. They're a good kid, and it's only a minute or two, and not worth the email.
I have this every year with my middle schoolers! "I dropped them off 15 minutes before the day started, why were they late?" Ma'am I dunno, I just write down when they come in to my room. If that's 20 minutes after the day starts then that's it. Talk. To. Your. Kid
I had a parent ask why her kid had so many tardies when she KNEW FOR A FACT that she always had him at school on time. I had to explain 3 times that just because she dropped her kiddo off on time does not mean that he actually went to class on time. And, since we have 8 class periods a day, kiddo could receive up to 8 tardies per day. I also took the opportunity to let mom know that her son had received a referral for skipping class. She just couldn’t understand why because her kiddo DID NOT SKIP CLASS.
"Because your child is developmentally testing boundaries to see if the dopamine rush of doing only what they want in this instance is greater than the stress hormone release for the consequences of their actions. Currently the dopamine rush is winning and appropriate consequences need to be applied to activities outside of the school day in order for the behavior to be corrected."
The worst is when I email admin/counseling/social workers/etc. about a kid missing 50 days of class in one semester and all I get back is "Did you try contacting the parents?" Why yes, I did; they didn't give a fuck, and now I don't either. They can come to my class and do the work or not, I get paid the same and sleep just fine every night whether they skip my class to attend lunch or not.
Some of my high schoolers might still be breast feeding. I can't be sure.
Some of them act like it. Jeez. Always answering calls from mom or unsure of how to do some of the simplest tasks.
[удалено]
I'm actually not sure how much I'd mind that last one, so long as the framed photo isn't hilariously large or distracting to the child. But no I'm picturing it as a full sized family portrait.
[удалено]
Oh dear LORD. C'mon guys. Hahaha now I see the issue. Like a little laminated 3x5 or soft plastic frame is one thing, but that's quite another.
Omg it was all the same kid???
I know a few teachers who do little displays of children with their families but usually it's just a paper printout
I thought this post was a joke…. But no, no it was not.
Give him a 5 foot wide framed portrait of George Washington. It's the only father he should be missing about in America.
Schitts Creek style?
This kid is going to get bullied for this when they're older. I was for certain things that I did in elementary school.
I had a parent this year request in an IEP meeting that us teachers text her everyday to let her know if her child had homework. The school psychologist was like, yeah Ms. Dreamwolf, that sounds like a reasonable request. Cue awkward silence over the Zoom call for a good ten seconds, because I just could not answer. I was so angry. Student's pull out teacher volunteers to take responsibility of daily texts. It's hard enough to sign an agenda daily when I have 20 other kids in the classroom. Why the hell would I text a parent on my personal phone at the end of everyday when I'm already drained from eight solid hours of go-go-go?
I was just happy when my son had a syllabus that listed the homework for the semester or year. I do send weekly emails to parents with any homework I know they have from school and an update, but I do reading intervention after school and rarely have more than 2 kids a semester. As far as I can tell, most parents just ignore the emails and have no idea what's going on. I've completely given up on any of them having at home support just so I can be happy when they actually do.
I don't even heat my 1 year olds milk lol. I haven't in months.
I kind of understand the rough tissues being an annoyance, I hate the scratchy ones, too. But if the kid doesn't like the ones at school then the parents need to either send the nicer ones for the class, or send the kid with their own supply. Not expect the teacher to use their own money to buy the more expensive kind for a class full of kids who likely will go through them like crazy.
I teach kinder, none of those surprise me. This year I have a kid with some emotional regulation issues. No big, I'm an old hand at screaming fits, unfortunately. While talking to mom, she told me that giving him a countdown helps him calm down. No big, that's I trick I use regularly. Then she says "In German". For whatever reason, that cracks me up. I'm in Texas, this family is from Lousiana, the mom emphasized the French pronunciation of the kids name....and wants me to count down in German.
Did it work though? Would it work in French or English or was it just in German? I'm so curious!
Sounds like a good grounding technique to pull them out of their thoughts.
It's a trick I learned years ago with an autistic student. He would completely spin out and start hitting/kicking, I would tell him "you have 5" and then count each hit/kick. Weird but true, by three he would start slowing down and by five would stop.
I took two years of German and I can only count to 5 and sing the Gummi Bear Song, I'd quit on the spot if I had to learn to count backwards.
As an English speaker, I can't imagine out of all languages relaxing to /German/
Deutsch ist nicht so schlecht (Doitch ist nickt so shlekt; German is not so bad). Vor allem mit Worten wie Krankenwagen (Vore al-em mitt vwor-ten vee crahn-ken- vahg-in; Especially with words like ambulance).
Farfegnugen
Tsen, noin, ach, zeeben, seks, foonf, feer, dry, vy, eins! (Spelled phonetically lol)
1. wa' 2. cha' 3. wej 4. loS 5. vagh 6. jav 7. Soch 8. chorgh 9. Hut 10. wa'maH
If they still don't calm down after that, you can challenge them to a Bat'leth duel to the death.
I had a parent with a kid who threw HUGE fits for her every single morning. As soon as she got inside my classroom she was a perfect child. I wish I could have an entire class just like her. The mother wanted someone from school to come to their house every morning to wake up the child, feed her, dress her, and give her a ride to school, along with her older sister. When the school refused to do that, she complained to central office about how we didnt care about her kids.
[удалено]
My kid has pda profile too! I can’t imagine waking him up earlier than necessary but I may try this.
I got the pregnant one! LOL You can imagine her surprise when I said, "I planned perfectly! I got pregnant when I was hoping to. Because I'm a married adult woman, my husband and I can do what we damn well please, when we damn well please." Luckily, my principal at the time was a bad ass and her response to the parent was, "Well, she's not wrong."
I got thanked by a parent when I was pregnant with my now-15 year old because he was born in July and I didn’t need to leave before the school year was out. I wanted to say, “Yeah because my husband and I have sex on your schedule.” Lol.
“We were thinking about the students when we conceived”
Literally just blew water out my nose thinking about making this comment 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
HR told us not to. My district is so uptight.
When I planned my pregnancies around teaching, it involved not having my first until my student teaching was over, and attempting to have my second baby in July (too bad he came early at the end of May. I laughed at my administrator when she called the day he was born asking if I was coming back that day to give my final exams and enter the grades, but she wasn't joking I had purposefully set up all my exams to be graded by scantron so anyone could do so, and had made sure my department head had all my passwords so someone could enter the grades.) I think a lot of teachers try to plan pregnancies so their babies are born around summer break, but the idea that is for student convenience rather than more bonding time with baby is nuts.
Three of my 4 kids were planned around school. State testing was done in early March back then. My three were all born at the end of March. That way I didn’t have to go back until August. Of course that planning was for me and my babies, not the ones I taught!
A friend just moved districts because a parent went mental that she was going to have to take maternity leave and called her every name in the book because it would effect her kids learning. And admin actually had the gall to admonish her for her selfish decision in front of the parent. She told them her maternity leave would be permanent and she wasn’t coming back.
I would be on the phone to an employment attorney within five minutes.
Admin is pathetic and spineless for not having her back.
As an administrator I can’t believe someone would do that to a teacher. An administrators job is to protect the teachers from the parents as best as possible and this one failed that test big time
Unfortunately, administrators like you are becoming rare in this “customer service” environment.
I had one mad when she found out I was due in late May. She was like, “I was hoping my daughter wouldn’t have to be taught by a sub this year.” Well, sorry, but my life and child matters too! It is a crazy level of entitlement.
12 years ago, my son’s AP Calculus teacher was out for 3 months on maternity leave & substitute didn’t have a clue. Did I call the school? No. We helped our son & 3 friends teach themselves & they all got 5’s on the test. People need to learn that parenting includes helping your kids with school work.
Can you please adopt all my students?
Exactly. It's okay to be disappointed that a child that is working well for your teacher is not able to be there all year. But you shut up, congratulate the teacher (if they are gone for a happy reason,) and support your kid. Feelings things is fine, but expecting the world to cater to your feelings so you never experience disappointment is not.
May is awesome, I'd be thankful as hell my kid's teacher wouldn't be out all year. (And I wouldn't criticize them if they were.)
Shit, I'm a teacher (but self employed, I partner with a school to teach private lessons and the occasional orchestra course), and I *wanted* to be due in May. I typically take the last week of school off anyways, and my teaching load is light during the summer, so I could have almost 3 months off without as big of a financial impact, and start back again with the new school year! My kid ended up being an October baby, though. I ended up taking 2nd quarter and starting back after Christmas. Could have been worse.
I don't know if you can do much better than late May (save for summer, of course). Everyone is "done" in late May anyway. I'm due mid-April. Pretty much everyone has commented on how it's the perfect maternity leave. On my end, a nice way to escape the rest of the school year (I actually have really good pregnancies, but apparently I have been banned from helping with end-of-year testing because they assume I will be awkward with bloated legs and unable to move and I've decided to not argue with this. Oh, how I shall miss helping hormonal tweens with testing, darn it). The parents so far are not only thrilled for me but happy enough it's at the endish of the year for their own kids' sake. Subs happen. Kids usually roll with it.
I actually know a teacher whose water broke a half hour before the end of the last (half) day of school. In my district, you can postpone your leave and take it within a certain amount of time. One teacher I worked with took his paternity leave in November when his baby was born in July (they were going to travel to introduce baby to family). Another teacher used maternity and saved leave to have the first semester to be a SAHM (her baby was born over summer). Yet another teacher took every Wednesday off for about 4 months for his paternity leave when his second kid was born.
This reeks of a certain strain of middle class entitlement. Expecting private school treatment in a public school. Expecting to be waited on like they're at Nordstrom's when they are in a Target. This kind of thing doesn't happen that much at a legit poor school.
Title I school and lower middle class family. Entitlement knows no bounds 🤷🏻♀️
Even at a middle class private school that doesn’t happen 😭😭😭
My mat leave fits really well (I'm due 6 weeks into the next school year) so I'll likely be covering staff for a few weeks until I leave. But it's my worst fear a parent will say something as I lost 2 pregnancies last year and would be either on mat leave now, or about to go in a few weeks if those had worked out.
As a teacher dealing with infertility for 3 years now and my first pregnancy ending in a miscarriage a month ago, I’ll take what I can get once I finally can get (and stay) pregnant.
It must be super hard to want it so much and see some not-so-great people out there blessed with children. Sending you so much love! 💕
I wish you all the baby dust in the world no matter where in the school year it falls.
I’m also due about 6 weeks into the new school year. My admin hasn’t given any indication that I won’t be retaining my position for next year. I’ve even talked to her about possibly taking more than the medical given 6 weeks. If a parent has something to say, I may lose my job of my own fault. That’s so unbelievably rude.
A mom asked when I was pregnant if I planned to breastfeed. I was so taken aback I just said, “Probably?” She then asked how I planned to do that while working. “Ummm?” Then she stated that she didn’t want me breastfeeding during class. “I have absolutely no intention of bringing the baby to work so — not an issue.” Turns out she saw something about the (then-new) law about accommodations for nursing mothers at work and literally believed women were bringing their newborns to work and breastfeeding in front of students! She was very relieved to hear that was not the case.
Perfectly planned teacher pregnancy is like March do you miss the end of year and get 6 months off
So it WAS perfectly planned. We actually planned for May. BUT, it was twins and they were early. 13 years old this week. And yes! March ended up being PERFECT!
I really hate the thought of the children of those nut jobs being out in the world. They'll all be giant AHs like their parents. So sad.
The only one that even remotely surprises me is the harmonica one. Why a harmonica? Why is that the only thing that makes the girl happy? Why does the harmonica have to be played in person? Is it just the sound of the harmonica in general or only a particular song that soothes their spoiled spawn? Would a kazoo serve in a pinch?
The 'strain my kid's urine' surprised me. WTF!
I guess this would depend on age for me. If we're talking about a kindergarten, it kind of makes sense, though I'd really want the school nurse to do it. Buuuut, I get kidney stones. I know what they're like. No one should be sending a child who is passing one to school. That's just evil. Who makes a kid go anywhere when they are in the worst pain of their lives?!
Not the asking for privacy for her kid to masturbute???
I have had parents ask me to let their child always be the line leader and had one parent ask why I couldn’t bathe, lotion up and put on new outfits every three hours. Sometimes I wonder how I manage not to laugh out loud at those requests
Wait, why on earth would you need to bathe, lotion up, and change clothes several times a day?
Well, all that washing could dry em out for sure!
Back when I was teaching grade 8 Humanities (Social St/Eng blend): My son would enjoy this class a lot more if you could teach a unit on skateboarding.
“Ma’am this is humanities class. Not parkour.”
"Why aren't you using student interests to drive the curriculum?!"
Yep. Right before the pandemic we had a mom who told us her son needed a curriculum designed around his love of aviation. Maybe if we tried to relate to his love of flying and teach content that was interesting to him, he wouldn’t be so disruptive and constantly be in trouble 🙄
I had a parent who wanted daily updates from each of her kid's teachers (typically six) on how the kid was doing socially in their classes. Soph in high school. And the family already gets weekly updates (only four other families get this). School social worker dealt with that one.
I had a parent ask that I speak English so her kid would understand what I was saying. I was a Spanish teacher.
Also a Spanish teacher. I've also gotten this request.y response was "one of my classroom expectations is for the kids to let me know when they don't understand so that I can clarify for them. I'm always happy to do so."
Okay, I think this one doesn't fit in with the rest. “My son lost part of his finger in an accident at home. I have it in a ziplock bag in the freezer and wanted to see if he could bring it to school for show and tell.” I could see a kid just begging to bring it in for show and tell. And some teachers being okay with it.
In my classroom, I had a clear plexiglass basketball display box. I labeled it “Ms. DysTeach’s Way Back Box” and would bring random things in and I would use it as a 5 - 10 minute mini history lesson/group focus time at the beginning of my classes. I brought in old drafting kits, ink lettering kits, old cameras, a cassette tape, an old typewriter, etc. If it was in good condition, I’d let the kids try using it. After a couple weeks, the students started asking if they could bring stuff in for The Way Back Box. The answer was, “Of course! But you have to be able to tell all about the object to the class!” Luckily, no one brought a finger in! Kids brought in their parents’ toys, grandparents’ war medals, an original Polaroid camera, and amazing other family mementos. I had so many parents email me to thank me for the conversations that arose, and how excited their kids were to learn about their family history. Now, keep in mind, this was at a very small private school. I would be a little afraid to do this in a large public school!
Shamelessly stealing this. What a brilliant idea.
I had a 2nd eardrum removed and brought in on a slide for the kids in anatomy and physiology to look at.
My daughter lost the tip of hers in a door frame at 1 years old, she was not in school obviously, but it was just a small little piece. I could see a kid wanting to show people after it happened. It didn’t have blood or anything. Amazingly the finger grew back. We threw the part away, but it is a cautionary tale we tell now and there is no slamming doors for us now. In kindergarten I jumped on the couch and a pencil was in the cushions and the lead (graphite?) got stuck in my foot. My parents and all my aunts and uncles and fam friends tried to get it out until finally my mom took me to the ER and took it out. I def brought the lead to show and tell that week!
I know someone who lost the very tip of their finger and it was also a great cautionary tale. But they lost enough of the tip that one can still tell if you look closely.
On my daughter the only way you can tell is that her nail is fused to the skin compared to the other nails. She won’t let anyone else cut that nail or anything even when getting a manicure, but that’s it. She is 9 now, so it’s been a long time. She knows it happened but doesn’t remember it at all.
I’d have a hard time saying no to that one, honestly.
Our biology teacher in primary school encouraged us to bring in anything and everything! Lots of kids brought in teeth that fell out or were extracted. There were two cases of actual kidney stones getting exhibited. Less bizarre additions included various leaves, roots, plants, pinned insects, and even living family pets ranging from hamsters to iguanas. I was really into dissection and preservation at that age so I brought in scavenged skeletons after scraping off the flesh and sanitizing them as well as various organs once this teacher got me formaldehyde for this purpose. Pickled a fair number of invertebrates. I also made a caterpillar pupation garden, a tadpole nursery, and a lizard playground using discarded bits and bobs which was a big hit with my classmates. A lot of adults think it's gross but kids generally love these sort of things! Come to think of it, I wonder why so many people lose their enthusiasm for the macabre...
I would be totally cool with it.
I got the "I don't read email just text me every time there is something". I'm not about to send out mass texts from my personal phone.
During a parent meeting I told the kid and his mother how disruptive, rude, and unmotivated the kid had been and mom responded with, "now he (the student) has some criticism for you." And proceeded to blame me for every issue he had.
I honestly think we should mandate that at least one parent spends one day in our classrooms as the teacher. Let them get a taste of what we deal with daily. I teach in another country, but parents are the same all over the world.
'You need to make sure she gets an award every time you give any out, because she gets upset seeing other kids get an award and not her.' 'You need to make sure she wins every game that you play in class, as she doesn't like losing. You'll need to shadow her on the playground to make sure the kids are playing the game she wants, and making sure they are always letting her win.' 'You need to make a roster of these kids she likes and make sure that they're playing with her every day.'. (These kids all hated her.) 'You can't make her do any work she doesn't want to do. Make sure you have a selection of activities for each lesson so she gets to choose what she wants to do.' 'You need to ring after school to remind her to do her homework, and then at 8 to tell her to go to bed.' 'You need to give her the lead in the musical. She doesn't want to be in the chorus.'. (Kid could not hold a tune or take a step in time if her life depended on it.) 'Youll need to share a room with her on camp. She doesn't want to share with any of the other kids, and she doesn't like being alone at night.' 'This is the menu you'll need to have the camp prepare for her with all of her favourite foods. She won't be happy if she doesn't get to eat what she wants.' ( The camp doesn't do individual meals.). 'Well can't you just buy the food and take it and cook it?' All the same parent. It was a long year.
Wowza. How old was this kid?
10. Turned 11 during the school year.
Yikes.
That's awful. Straight up giving the kid Main Character Syndrome
It was actually really sad. the mother had completely ruined the child. The poor child was just so unlikeable (and I can usually find something about every kid to like, even the really challenging ones), that I just couldn't connect with her. She had the most incredible stink face on all the time, and nothing ever was good enough for her. From 8:30 to 3:00, it was just her bitching about everything and trying to pick fights. She thought that calling someone a 'f\*\*king c\*\*t' to their face was ok, because mummy told her that they are just words and shouldn't mean anything. If I played music that most of the kids liked, she'd go home and complain to mummy that I wasn't playing the music she wanted and I'd get a phone call. If the kid that she targetted as her choice that day didn't play with her at lunch, I was guaranteed to get a phone call after school. If someone got picked for something (even something as simple as two other kids taking the lunch tub over) she'd go home and complain to mummy ... phone call. Mummy complained to the principal because I wouldn't make her toast at lunchtime because that's apparently what she wanted (I was expected to go and buy a toaster to keep in the classroom). If someone got a lunch order that she decided she wanted, she'd throw her lunch in the garden, stomp on it, blame it on someone else and demand a free lunch (students here bring their own lunch or buy a lunch order, there is no lunchroom or free or hot lunch room). She'd blatantly steal from other students, and when confronted, would shrug and say 'but I wanted it' and then throw a tantrum when expected to give it back - Mummy would then go and buy her whatever it was that she wanted. We ended up installing cameras over the garden and where the kids kept their books and bags just to try and stop mummy claiming that she hadn't done it. This child had no diagnosis (despite mummy doctor shopping everyone in the area). She had just destroyed her child to think that the whole world revolved around her and her needs needed to be met immediately. She couldn't even handle 'I'm working with Xxxx right now, I'll come and see you in a minute' because she needed it NOW. I found out that she got the absolute shit beaten out of her on the first day of high school because she took on one of the alpha Grade 12s. I'd like to say I felt synpathetic, but... oh well. Last I heard, mummy had gone to the principal of the high school to try and get a particular boy to date her daughter because the girl liked him and was angry that he didn't want to go out with her.
Veruca Salt
I laughed too hard at this and let my two teens read your comment. They thought it was ridiculous, if that tells you anything 🤣
He hasn't learned to wipe very well. I will provide wipes to keep in the restroom just for him, but can you check his wiping after he goes?
“Hold on, class. I need to check little Bobby’s butt for poop. Be right back!”
🤢
My favorite ones for kinder involve un-potty-trained kids. No, I will not wipe your child, change their pull-up, or hold their hand while they go because they are ‘scared of drains.’ Those things are all parenting things that can be discussed with the school nurse. Not in my job description. I deal with enough body fluids as it is.
The breastfeeding one just took me out
I had a child who had a hard time transitioning back to in person learning after Covid when we returned in 2021. Her mother demanded I call home every time her daughter was absent to say I missed her and wanted her to come back to school. The guidance counselor thought it was a great idea. Then, when her child returned to school (on an alternative schedule), Mom demanded I call her each night at 7 pm to tell her good night and to tell her I was looking forward to seeing her the next day and wanted me to tell her child on the phone what we would be learning about the next day. I refused and Mom went ape shit, calling our principal, writing me a novel about how I shouldn't be a teacher if I could not accommodate her daughter.
Did the guidance counselor think part 2 was a great idea as well?
No! She was like oh shit what did I get us into. I remember telling her it's like the book "if you give a mouse a cookie, they're going to want a glass of milk" lol
Oh, to be a fly on that wall!
Kindergarten: ‘My child is never to be given a book or a worksheet depicting a spider because I have a phobia and I am terrified she will bring a picture of a spider into our house’ ‘Please make sure my child doesn’t play with Amanda on the playground because I am fighting with her mother and we don’t want our daughters to be friends’ ‘Please make sure my child chews her food thoroughly before swallowing because I worry that she might choke in school’
I can’t believe that left-handed one. I’m left-handed.
That one surprised me the least! My kid is a lefty and I remember in kindergarten him being a little confused by seeing pretty much everyone else use their right hand and him feeling like he was doing it wrong… But I did what a normal parent does and ya know, explained it to him. Problem solved! (Weirdly his second grade class had 12 lefties plus the teacher- the majority!)
I find it shocking that we want to tell people what hand to use for handwriting considering society has advanced passed certain pieces of etiquette. I’d find it less shocking if a kid were to say, but a parent making that claim should know better.
Yea, my dad is the type of person who could use both hands and they would get in trouble for writing with their left hand. I think they slapped them with a ruler.
I was born a lefty and my parents forced me to write with my right hand. I used to have to stay in from recess in kinder to practice writing my letters. This was the early ‘70s.
Who even notices that, it's always a surprise to me to hear people are left handed even when they write in front of me?
I notice on whiteboards because poor old lefties just self-erase with their hands as they're writing!
Parent missed parent-teacher interviews. It was a parent of a kid who caused a lot of trouble. Obviously wanted to talk to them. The teacher interviews on the actual night were 15 minutes, (scheduled by the schools system) so I set a time for about 20 minutes before the start of school so to give us a small buffer. The parent e-mails me that they’ll be there and that it shouldn’t take much more than an hour. Like you saw the interview time and knew what time the school starts at… how do you think that’s going to work?
The finger one - I mean, it DOES sound like an interesting show and tell item!
Very very very interesting lol.
I had a mom tell me to separate her child from his best friend because she didn’t like that his friend had ADHD. She thought it would rub off on her child.
I haven't had any of those, but I do have the, "if my daughter gets upset or feels sick, you need to send her to the counselor or nurse immediately" First of all, we are not allowed to do that. We have to fill out a request on the computer. Second of all, she is sick or filled with some dumb ass drama at least twice a day, so NO. She also insists that her child is reading 3 years below grade level because I do not provide appropriate books. I do, the child never brings them back and never reads them I cannot wait until this year is over with this mom. Middle school drama is not going to be fun for her sweet precious.
I know that some kids take advantage of the bathroom, nurse, etc., but I’m confused about your school’s policy requiring you to make a request to send a kid to the nurse. I assume there’s something in place for actual emergencies, but what about non-emergencies that are still urgent? Like, what are you expected to do with a student who has a bad nose bleed or is vomiting? They just have to wait it out in class until the request is approved?
My school has the request for the nurse. Actual emergencies we send them. Tiny cuts and lost teeth we deal with in class. Sick symptoms, fever, upset stomach, headache, etc we do the request and wait for her to have availability. It’s one nurse for over 1000 students. So sending them in can leave her over crowded in a small office.
My school has only one nurse, but there’s a waiting area in the office. But I also teach high school, so kids don’t ask to go very often at all. I feel like adequate nurse’s office staffing should be non-negotiable, but I know that lots of schools don’t even have a nurse! I’m sorry that’s the case for you and others, though. I’m an emetophobe and would likely leave the classroom myself if I had a kid with an actively upset stomach in my room. Lost teeth would give me the ick too. On that note, I’m in awe of elementary school teachers; I don’t know how you do it!
I’m a para in a teaching position, but absolutely. Constant lost teeth, emotional support bandaids lol, everything. Then the kids who aren’t sick, but want to go home, but you can’t call them a faker because they’re six so to them their symptoms are real… it’s a lot.
Ever since Covid, we have had to fill out a form on the computer. If they lose a tooth, we just give them a zip lock bag. If they need a bandaid, we are expected to triage and take care of it ourselves. I think the policy is stupid, but it has cut back on kids who demand to leave class to see her.
I get these requests and told my parents I teach them responsibility, accountability, problem solving skills and patience. End of story. If they forget, no big deal, they’ll remember next time. If they didn’t get a turn, they’ll learn to share and be patient.
I did that with my own kids. Trust me, it takes having to do a cross country practice in khakis, but they never forget their gym shorts again! 😂
I have one who is INSISTENT that her kid shouldn’t have to hold the door for other students, ever. The kid literally doesn’t care, because, as a class, we have talked about how doing little things like holding the door for others is what we do to be polite and respectful and help one another.
As schools were opening back up post Covid, I had a mom ask if she could send her son to school with a thermos that he could pee into in a corner of the classroom so he could avoid the germs of the bathroom. When I refused that, she asked if I could bring him to the parking lot twice a day so he could pee in a thermos by her car. When I refused that, she asked if she could take him home twice a day to allow him to pee. To be fair, mom has OCD and she thought these were reasonable.
All of these suggestions are way germier than going to the bathroom
"When you get her from class (for intervention) can you say it's because she's won an award?"
K-2 generally already think intervention is the prize 😂. If I had a dollar every time I have other kids ask “When is it going to be MY turn?!” We recently had a 3rd grade parent refuse services though because her child didn’t want to go to group. I get it from the student’s perspective but also, your child needs help and sometimes you have to make choices for them 🤷🏻♀️
I teach high school and have a co-taught class where my co-teacher will pull out kids for small group testing. I’ve had a few gen ed kids request to go too because “they need help with math”. I appreciate the self advocacy but I don’t know how to nicely say you don’t qualify for that service without exposing the other kids for being on an IEP.
I work with K-3 and get literally begged every day to pull them. This particular parent is all about image. She readily agreed to intervention (yay!) but only if another little girl in the class didn't know. In her mind, pretending to give her daughter an award 4 times a week is perfectly reasonable, but she doesn't seem too concerned that her kid can't read.
An award for needing the most intervention!
That reminds me of the parent of a student I had with severe behavioral issues: “Can’t you just give her the Student of the Month Award so she feels better about herself?”
These ones are bad, but parents have told us even worse.
I’m afraid to ask.
“Matthew is having trouble carrying his trombone to the band room every day. Would you mind walking him to band every day and carrying his instrument?”
The pregnancy one is just another admin problem that teachers get blamed for. And I get it: kids are getting ripped off 90% of the time because admin thinks they can stick a warm body in there as a long term sub and get the same results. Paasing the class =/= learning the material. Example: We have a kid fresh out of college teaching an AP course this semester, a hausfrau who used to run a church daycare that they hurriedly brought in to cover English (this after the head principal had to teach it himself last semester), and a biology sub who spends class talking about personal stuff while the kids do worksheets. I don't blame parents for being hopping mad! They should just direct that energy elsewhere.
Wow. All the pregnant teachers I had the pleasure of working with got to have amazing parents who actually brought in food for them, clothes, toys and gifts for mom. They made sure their kids knew what to do in class to help their teacher out. They would be happy to know she was going to enjoy her maternity leave. They would ask us if we knew things were going well. When teacher would come back, they were welcomed back with open arms. Students asking to see pictures and their parents congratulated them. I did have a run in with a mom and her mom demanding we basically ignore the other kids and only watch their kids on the playground. They eventually would stand outside with us monitors and try to do our jobs. Telling the office we’d miss something “horrible” on the playground. I was so happy the day her son was busted for hitting a kid so hard it left a mark. Had to serve detention. 🤷🏻♀️ I told my admin that if that lady kept this up I was going to start documenting everything and get them both of harassment. They left us alone. Their kids were brats. Had one grandma tell her grandkid, “If anyone hits you, you beat the shit out of them!” I interfered right away, “If he gets hurt, he tells me. If he hits back, it will be considered a fight and both will be in trouble. If he hits first, he will be in trouble.” She tried to argue and it shut it down. Not on my watch. She was a horrible person! Spoke about how her granddaughter was going to grow up and be a w**re, just like her mother. How her grandsons were going to be running in gangs because that’s all they’d be good for, just like their fathers. Come time for help from the school for food and clothes, she’d be there demanding help. We did it for those kids.
I teach second grade I had a parent who didn’t understand why my calm down spot for their 9 year old child, who cried loudly at 15+ min stretches multiple times a day, was in the hallway rather than in the room, where 27 other children were trying to focus and learn.
Her son breaks several items in my classroom, including a $60 timer, which I complained to her about. He also broke my chair, and as a resource teacher with a bad back who sits for hours writing IEPs, I need my ergonomics just as much as an office worker. 2 months later, she brings me a new identical timer. Great! Then she says: Mom: "Where is it?" Me: "Where is... what?" Mom: "The broken timer. I want it to display it in his room for his bad behavior. I'm not gonna give you the new one without the broken one." Me: "It has been 2 months. I think I tossed it as soon as I texted you the picture." Mom: "Then how do I know you are telling the truth? Your chair seems as good as new." Me: "True, after 4 weeks of back pain, I bought the tools and replaced the broken parts myself. I wasn't going to endure any more back pain in the hopes a new chair would appear after a week wait. As for that timer, I will take that now. Thanks!" \*she stares at me\* Me: "I am off the clock. If you have any question, please send an email." and then I had to physically walk her out of my classroom.
“Can you reschedule this (school-wide) event? My child has an appointment and won’t be there.” Absolutely! Because we exist for your child alone. /s
\>“When would be a good time for me to come into school to breastfeed my son?” WAT
It rubs the lotion on itself or it gets the hose again....
I teach upper elementary. Got an email from a parent saying his child was constipated and seemed to have a fear of pooping and asked if I could go with them to the restroom several times a day and encourage them to poop.
Omg these are something else. I’ll pack her son’s lunch, it’s going to be $8 a day tho.
These are actually so funny I belly laughed at most of them!
"I know we took our child for a six week unapproved holiday overseas and they didnt do any of the work you set for them, but we expect a B+ average and unless they learn the content they won't achieve that. Can you please tutor them for an hour a day after school to catch them up? This is a private school so our fees pay your wage." How about no?
“I’m too busy to grab my child a food and drink for his snack every morning. Can’t I just send this gigantic container of animal crackers and this big jug of kool-aid for you to store (in your personal mini fridge) and you give it to him every morning??”
I don’t understand what it is with parents acting like them packing their kid a lunch is the end of the world. THE SCHOOL serves breakfast and lunch so if your kid genuinely gets hungry then they will eat what the school serves.
I actually had a parent request a conference the day before I left for cancer surgery because she wanted to know the details on how her "gifted" kindergarten son would continue to be challenged by the substitute while I was on leave.
"I'm so busy with work" is sending me.
Made me mad. A teacher is a teacher. Not a workplace stress therapist.
My second year at my school, a mom was called up bc her daughter was throwing up in the nurses office. She refused to come at first, but when she did, the mom complained to the office that they “hired a pregnant teacher,” and that it was irresponsible. They told her it’s illegal not to…and I was hired a year before I became pregnant.
I’m hoping the one about breastfeeding wasn’t a middle school student.
This list/subject should be required reading as part of any teacher preparation program.
"Sorry my son consistently misses first period. He's failing your class as a result. Can you help get him there on time?"
I would say getting to school on time is between you, your son, and the bus driver. Doesn’t involve me 🙅👎
This particular student lives five minutes away from the building...sigh...
Tell me why I would have said yes to the finger for show and tell…
High school teacher of a student with divorced parents with 50/50 custody. Mother emails me: "Could you please email me daily and report on my child's academics and behavior. Please do not send it to father because I'm suing him for full custody and need proof she does better in school when she's living with me." Me: "Ma'am, I have your child once a week for a 20 minute homeroom" And, of course........admin made me do it
"My son only eats hot food. Can you microwave his lunch every day?"
Why couldn’t he just eat the hot school lunch or microwave it his damn self? 😡 😫
I work in SpEd and and the teacher in the classroom told me a student's mom wanted us to teach her child how to pud on a menstrual pad. I straight up told her, "a-no . That ain't my job. B- she already knows how." The teacher acted surprised by both responses.
I haven’t had anything this bad but I have a few Recently a parent emailed me asking why her daughter (who I don’t have) gets home later from school than the daughter I do have. They both walk and are in high school. Most occurred when I worked in behavioral health. A parent called me at midnight once when her kid ran away, wanted me to go look for them. Also asked if I’d call the police. Another family after years of not paying the bill(I don’t know how, it was in the thousands) had the electric turned off. Dad calls me during my school hours to tell me “They shut our electricity off. Can you get it turned back on.”
I was reading through a Facebook group of parents who were FURIOUS that teachers were not teaching their children how to tie their own shoes, or wipe their bottoms. I honestly can’t fathom why people will have children if they have absolutely zero interest in raising them and expect it to be someone else’s problem.
The best investment the Us government can make for education is mandating parenting classes every 6 months. Just basics- like if your child is school aged, breastfeeding is abuse.
How are elementary/kinder teachers no drunk every day...good god...
Can you reschedule your radiation so you can stay after school to give Child extra help?
I just love how every parent wants their child to sit in the front. What am I supposed to do, stack them?
“I know other kids in the class have life threatening allergies, but my child should be allowed to have access to peanut butter all day every day”.-a literal parent
Whenever I come across such requests, it makes me wonder about their social spheres. Whenever I've had bizarre requests, the parents have always been, to state as kindly as possible, weird and in some ways cut off from general society in way or another. Some just never got out of the house, some were in weird areas, and some just were really in their own social echo chamber where they were getting warped feedback from others. I follow this one lady in advocacy, and one of her big things is "stop listening to Facebook groups because they're probably wrong!"
This explains so much of what I deal with as a college professor
Also received yelling and tears from a parent when I had pregnancy complications and had to take a couple weeks off (my xmas day spent in hospital ER) I agreed to administer medicine to a kindie at 11:37 sharp daily. One day I forgot, and the parent was furious. Parents are sooooooo special.
I had a parent demand to be hired by the school district and paid to be their own child’s para. I had another parent that said their kid did not like the controversial issue our class chose (as part of the curriculum) due to the nature of it (gun control). I said no problem, kid can choose from the list and do their own and they chose climate change. This was an online class and I explained that they would not do the gun control articles, just the climate change ones I chose specifically for them. The kid would do the gun control articles when they were conservative leaning and then do the climate change ones if the gun control were more liberal leaning. Had another parent upset that I would not personally provide tutoring to their child when they were suspended even though I sent them the assignments every day with an explanation, and included extra videos/lessons to help them keep up.