Teachers have a tough job that only gets tougher upon meeting a weirdo parent.
Redditor caddingtontv provided today's burning question. They asked the online community: "Teachers of reddit, what is the craziest thing you've seen a parent do?"
Yikes. That's what we have to say to some of these stories.
"Her daughter's voice..."
Giphy
A mother threatened to yank her daughter out of the school if she didn't get chosen as vocal soloist to sing "O, Holy Night" during the holiday concert.
Her daughter's voice was not suited to the part. Moreover, she had told both faculty and her peers that she didn't want to do it - that her mother was forcing the issue.
As I described here quite some time ago, the mother made a big, embarrassing scene in front of students and faculty - eventually transferring her daughter to another school "where she could get the recognition she so richly deserved."
"She was screaming and yelling at me..."
One day I was reading to my class when a mom, who we all knew was a little bit of a problem, came in enraged. She was screaming and yelling at me while I just continued to act calm and smile at the kids, trying to keep them from freaking out.
She was yelling because when her son came home the day before, he had an ant bite and he's allergic. She was yelling about how there shouldn't be any ants on the playground (in our state, that's impossible). She was also yelling that I didn't go inspect the playground prior to recess for ant piles. She was also yelling that I didn't inspect every kids for any ant bites they may have gotten and called any parents of effected kids. She mentioned, in them middle of her rage, almost in passing, that the ant bite was on his penis. It ended with her threatening me with physical harm.
Basically, since I just ignored her, continuing to interact with the kids, she eventually stormed out. Shortly after, my principal arrived, out of breath after running. Apparently a teacher down the hall heard her and called him before I got a chance to. I told him what happened, he said that he'll never let her be alone with me again. He's a BIG guy and a Marine, and I'm a small woman, so that was great.
About 30 minutes later an announcement was made that the playground was shut down for the day, possibly week.
Come to find out that she took it upon herself to "take care of the problem." She went home, loaded her truck with her strongest pesticide, and came back to the playground and sprayed it down. Unfortunately, the stuff she used was not appropriate, so we had to pay a lab to test the dirt to make sure it was safe. The playground opened up the next week.
"I started locking my classrooms..."
I had a new class filled with 3-4 year olds. This one younger girl was quite quiet throughout the lessons but generally not bad for her first lesson with a new teacher. Half way through the class her parent came into class a smacked her around the back of the head because she wasn't speaking enough.
I started locking my classrooms from that point onward.
"I once had a bright..."
I once had a bright, junior student who I recommended for AP English. He was proficient and well spoken--he would have done great, but he declined because he wanted to focus on trades and sports. I understood and told him the offer still stands if he wants to reconsider.
A few days later, I get the signed consent form with his signature on it in my mailbox about him joining AP English. Great, I thought. I went to talk to him about it and he looked nothing but confused. I showed him the page and he just went
"Oh, yeah, no. Ignore it. My mom keeps trying to sign me up for stuff. She has a stamp of my signature."
"She was so nasty..."
I had a parent come in and scream at the childcare assistant because her son came home with mosquito bites. She was so nasty that she made her cry. She wanted us to solve the problem by making sure her son didn't sleep near the windows.
"I teach..."
I teach inner city preschool. Many of my students have learned to fight through their parents and one student recently bit and hit me to the point of bleeding and bruising. I'm not technically allowed to restrain so I just hugged him, told him I care about him, he cried, and now he's my best bud.
"Honestly, our assistant principal..."
Countless verbal assaults at me, but those are not as interesting.
I saw a parent attack our assistant principal. I mean physically grabbing him and pushing him up against a fence(this was at a football game). Police arrived, parent taken away and permanently banned from our campus. Honestly, our assistant principal is a big and tall guy, but this was out of nowhere. I assume the parent was drunk/high.
"Wonder where they got it from?!"
Giphy
A few weeks ago a mother was screaming "I'm going to slap you in the f---ing face", as someone dared to let her know her children were bullying others. Wonder where they got it from?! Luckily, she's banned from the building finally.
"The mother of my best student came."
Teacher in France here. Craziest thing a parent ever done to me was during a parent (& student most of the time)-teacher meeting. Idk how they're organized in other countries, but in France you have to meet like hundreds of parents on the same day, so you usually don't spend too much time with them, especially if their kid has really good grades.
The mother of my best student came. I had a huge smile when I saw her entering the classroom, because she was obviously very proud of her mom meeting me: she had a perfect GPA (20/20) in my subject. I honestly thought this was going to be a "well hello Miss X, I've got nothing to say, I'm just happy to have your daughter in my class, you can leave if you have somewhere else to be" conversation, but her mother obviously misinterpreted my smile and started flirting with me.
The first thing she said roughly was "ah, I understand why my daughter is so interested in your classes" and then she started talking about me, asking questions about me and my life, etc. Her daughter was mortified (and I was, too: it was my first year as a real teacher, meaning I had never dealt with parents before and didn't how to kindly ask her to leave). It lasted a long 20-25 minutes before her daughter convinced her to go and freed me from what was my cringiest moment with a parent.
I've been a real teacher for only two years (three if you count the first year where you're sort of an intern) so that's probably tame compared to other answers, but I can assure you that was an intense moment
"I had a parent demand..."
I had a parent demand I reprimand a teacher because she lied to the class. The lie? Their child wet herself and when the teacher sent for the janitor she told him that someone had spilled their juice. This was done so the other kids didn't find out about the soggy pupil.
So I asked: "You want me to discipline an educator for protecting your child's dignity?" "Yes," was the reply.
"The mom drunk texted..."
Teacher & I coached cheer for a few years. Parents pulled their daughter off the squad before we got uniforms, and the assistant principal told me not to give her the uniform because then she'd wear it and people would still think she was a cheerleader. The Mom drunk texted me all night sh!t talking me about what a loser I was and how I was a terrible cheer coach anyway. I quit at the end of that season.
"I don't know where that kid is now."
There is one kid that never passed his tests. Never worked for it. Didn't do homework, didn't do anything. Just sat back because his father was rich and he will get all the inheritance.
One time I was called into a meeting because I was responsible for this kid's homework that he told me that he did but he never did. I sat down one seat from the head of the table. It was a pretty big meeting.
The father and the son sat at the other end. The principal pulls up a slide on the SmartBoard, showing the poor performance that he has done. 50% were marked across and no homework was done. I was dumbfounded.
The father raised an eyebrow and nodded towards his son when asked to explain his poor performance.
I took a sip of water and he said "my homeroom teacher's butt is too big. I can't focus on the class."
I swear to God, and I'm going to hell for this, I spat out all my water and laughed. Nobody cared. Everyone was so surprised. I looked at the homeroom teacher and I felt the guilt wash over me.
After the meeting, the lady cried. She wanted to quit as a teacher, and I didn't blame her. She eventually began wearing longer jackets to cover up her butt. I told the teacher that I couldn't teach that kid anymore.
I don't know where that kid is now. Hopefully he got what he deserved.
"That parent..."
One of my coworkers had a parent cast a spell on her. That parent was later banned from visiting campus.
"Having a normal conversation..."
Having a normal conversation with student's guardian who is her grandmother, when the woman reaches down to the floor, picks up a leaf, and eats it like it's a potato chip.
"We had to have a long talk with her."
I had a parent in an IEP meeting ask us when her child's autism would be cured. She said he had been at school for 10 years now and it's taking too long. We had to have a long talk with her.
I had a parent at a conference suddenly slap his child HARD on the leg because she wasn't cooperating with him. She was 13 and definitely has one hell of an attitude, but she had issues with her dad and didn't want him there at all. Her resentment was palpable every time he opened his mouth.
When he slapped her she got really upset, jumping up and trying to get away from him screaming he had hit her for no reason. He's grabbing her arm to pull her back and she's fighting harder to get away. He appeals to me like I'm going to jump on board and I calm her down a little and get her to sit down. She's calming down and getting back a conversation but he is not even noticing that this is already deescalating, and he takes off his belt. He took off his belt, in front of me, to whip her. I told him that absolutely would not be happening in my classroom and I could not allow that, and he basically told me I should ignore him and pretend not to see anything. When I shot that down he tried to convince me to LEAVE my classroom DURING THE MIDDLE OF PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES so he could use it to hit her and I would "look the other way". I said that absolutely would not be happening and if he kept trying I would have to call security. He settled down and put his belt back on.
I went to the principal immediately, and we went to the guidance counselor. He is the one we go through to make reports because he has all the information about what can be reported and who to contact. He told us we couldn't report it because it was discipline and it's his right to discipline her that way if he wants to as long as she isn't injured and there are no marks. He said it was not even illegal for him to do it on the premises.
The same night, another teacher had a mother punch her son in the face suddenly.
F*cking nuts. Poor kids.
"I saw a dad's ballsack..."
I saw a dad's ballsack during a parent-teacher interview.
He was wearing coveralls with a giant rip in the crotch and nothing underneath, and he was sitting with his foot up on the opposite knee (providing a very obvious viewing angle).
Considering how his child was, I am 95% sure he did it on purpose.
"Had a parent..."
Had a parent who really liked me because her daughter liked me. During the first parent conference, she asked a few personal questions (my age and dating status) and was shocked to hear I was a teacher at the age of 24 and yet I wasn't married (This is in SEA and culturally people marry quite early.) I told her I was in a LTR+LDR of about 3 years and she was even more shocked he hadn't proposed yet. Told me my boyfriend was no good and I should drop him.
Over the next parent teacher conferences, (I taught her daughter the following year too), the mother would bring a different man (family friend or whoever) and what was supposed to be a discussion of the student turned into an interview for dating. She would claim she doesn't speak enough English and that the person was there to help her out. It was quite awkward and I didn't know what to do about it so I just tried to shift the conversation back to her daughter (who was excelling my class anyways.)
I was later told that the mother comes from an extremely wealthy family and she is so so so so bored at home (husband didn't want her to work) and enjoys matchmaking.
"He has also offered..."
My first year I had a parent text me trying to convince me to buy drugs from her. That was a fun time.
This year, I have the daughter of a moderately well-known rapper who, instead of sending his kid to school with treats for school parties sends "exclusive demos" of his new music. He has also offered to hook me up with drugs.
"She had the projects..."
A member of my teaching team had her kids do a pretty cool project. As with most projects, some kids put in a lot more effort than others.
She had the projects on display in her room. At the end of a class period, she noticed a very nice one had been vandalized and ruined.
She asked the class who did it. One student calmly raised his hand and admitted it. She talked to him, and he wouldn't really say what possessed him to do it.
She wrote him up and emailed the parents. They were livid and demanded a meeting.
The entire team and our principal went to the meeting. The mom said her son didn't break the project.
"But he admitted to it."
"He's black, and knew you'd accuse him anyway because of his race, so he just wanted to get it over with."
(His teacher and our principal are also African-American.)
DQ: What's your best parent-teacher conference story?
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
Giphy
Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
Giphy
See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
homer simpson episode 23 GIF
Giphy
Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
Giphy
Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
Disney World GIF
Giphy
The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.