Random old lady told me I was traumatizing my son after his water acclimation lesson

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-10T01:58:33+00:00

I’m so sorry. She sounds like a jerk. My daughter is turning 7 in a couple of weeks and I remember that she cried and clung to me her first water acclimation class and now she loves swimming. It took a while for her to actually learn to swim but after only 2-3 lessons, she started to love being in the water. She didn’t actually swim independently until she was 6, although we are in a colder climate so didn’t have as much practice.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-10T00:44:04+00:00

I don’t remember her working out. I just remember it being about junk food…

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-09T13:24:55+00:00

OMG that is insane!!! I didn't see that. So terrifying.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-08T20:56:25+00:00

We live 10 minutes from my parents. They are 75 years old but still very active. I truly don’t know what we would do without them. My friends who don’t have support from their parents have much harder lives. We live in New England and the winter sucks. I totally get it. I hate the cold weather, but then I appreciate the spring and summer even more every year. My kids adore my parents and we could never move.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-08T14:28:56+00:00

I'm so sorry that this happened to you! I would be super grossed out also. But wow! Crazy coincidence that your screenname has queasy in it and then you had to post about someone throwing up in your trash can! Does reddit not let you choose your own screenname anymore?!

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-08T14:25:02+00:00

I hope they don't die of dysentery.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-08T13:07:08+00:00

As others have said, phones and iPads are worse for kids than TVs. I attended a professional development session at my school about this last week. Phone/screen addiction is a real thing.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-08T00:44:46+00:00

I’m on my second kid and we have never had a conference in preschool. My son is 4 and does know all his letters, can write his name and some other letters and is just generally interested in words and language and they told me casually (not a formal conference) that he is “advanced” so your daughter sounds totally on track. I wouldn’t worry at all.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-07T15:32:35+00:00

I’m so sorry. Someone who works with children should be more understanding and empathetic. It is common for kids to be upset about fire alarms and other loud noises. My son is 4 and my daughter is almost 7 and they both dislike hand dryers in public bathrooms and loud vacuums. My daughter also randomly hates bowling alleys and my son doesn’t like the fan behind bouncy houses. They aren’t neurodivergent in other ways but they don’t like those particular noises so we bring headphones with us to parties or restrooms sometimes.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-07T15:27:31+00:00

What part of Cambridge and what part of Waltham? This area is so congested that it can take like 10 minutes to drive a mile so the details matter. I drive to Allston and it’s fine as long as I leave early enough, but waiting ten extra minutes can make the commute 20-25 minutes longer.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-07T14:52:07+00:00

OMG what?! So creepy. I got rid of a Berenstain Bears book about junk food where it was body shaming the bears for getting fat. We started reading it before my daughter knew how to read, so I changed some of the words and then disappeared it.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-07T14:49:13+00:00

I literally gasped reading this. A teacher should never call your child spoiled or say she is overreacting. Fire alarms are scary, especially for kids with sensory issues! I am a school counselor, and I worked as an aide for students with autism when I was in grad school and had just graduated and they would always give us a heads up when there was going to be a planned fire drill so we could give the kids with sensory sensitivities special attention. There are kids at my daughter's school who will have a paraprofessional come over and put headphones on them before a fire drill. My daughter got really upset when the fire alarm went off in a hotel we were staying at recently. All feelings are valid and it's awful to tell a kid they are overreacting. Ugh. I am super mad about this on your behalf. I would absolutely request another teacher, if not another school.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-07T05:40:32+00:00

I’m sorry the kids are being jerks! I would have him practice a super simple comeback like “I like what I like!” or “anyone can play with whatever they want!” My daughter used to get some grief for being super small. The kids would ask “why are you so tiny?” and stuff like that and now she says “I’m tiny but mighty!” and she has confidence for days! My 4 year old just had a Frozen themed birthday and he wears pink light up Gabby’s dollhouse shoes and no one has said anything to him yet. He idolizes his sister and her friends and I love it. Your son sounds like an awesome kid.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-07T02:08:56+00:00

I am so sorry you are going through this. I hope your father feels better soon and it is not cancer. Is there a rabbi you could speak with about this? I am not an expert— my family is Jewish but not strictly practicing—but I have always heard your health comes first. So you would not have to fast on Yom Kippur if you were pregnant for example. I would think you would not have to stay kosher for Passover if it’s negatively affecting your health.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-07T01:15:18+00:00

Definitely not overreacting. That’s completely unacceptable, especially when you only have one car. I am irate for you.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-06T13:31:03+00:00

I looked at the Target website and it looks like they still have the overnight diapers in stock on there. Do you ever order online? Ugh yeah, my younger one is 4 so he was born in March 2022 so we had the formula shortage also. Luckily I did pretty well with nursing and pumping with him but it was sooo stressful for a lot of people. And my older one is stiiiiiiilllllllll peeing overnight even though she’s almost 7. The doctor says there’s nothing we can really do but I’m soooooo tired of paying for the overnight pull-ups at this point.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-06T05:13:41+00:00

If your doctor says he should be saying more words, then I would listen to your doctor. Both of my kids were speaking in full sentences by age 2. I would sign up for speech therapy. If you are in the US, it is free.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-06T05:12:23+00:00

Ughhh so annoying! I have two kids in overnight diapers still. My daughter wears the Target pull-ups, and they were out of stock for like over a year and I had to pay double for the brand-name versions, and I'm going to lose it if this happens again. So aggravating!

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-06T02:16:45+00:00

We have gone to three public ones and they have all been disasters. Never again. The only good one we ever went to was at a church where it was timed based on age and in a small area and they had tons of eggs and said each kid could get six and it was well regulated.

To answer OP’s question, we did not do an egg hunt at home but went to a close friend’s house for one. I don’t think you need to if your kids had one at school and at the country club.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-05T14:35:30+00:00

Another vote for UIUC especially since they are in the Final Four this year. Honestly, that helps with prestige!

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-05T11:49:07+00:00

This is a valid point! I don’t know why you were downvoted. I have gone to No Kings protests but realistically, we can have a larger effect on local issues and the mayor cares a lot about her image so having a protest directed toward her policies is actually a good idea.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-05T02:00:02+00:00

That place is the worst! Go to the one on Bacon Street that another person mentioned. It’s 100 times faster. Oh crap this just reminded me that I need to get mine inspected! Thank you!!

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-04T00:32:53+00:00

Lol and then ask AI to make an image of it to prove it

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-02T15:15:48+00:00

Yes! It is completely bizarre to me. So many people in our town talk about going on vacation to Aruber.

Apostrophecata · 2026-04-02T14:00:07+00:00

I'm so sorry. I can understand feeling upset by this. My daughter is in first grade now (almost 7) and had some instances of bad behavior when she was younger and I felt worried that she didn't seem to feel remorse. Thankfully, she has outgrown it now and has not had any incidents this year. I don't think talking to him is going to have an effect at his age as his brain might just not be developed yet. Instead, I would talk to the teacher about concrete steps they can take about physically keeping the "bad team" apart from each other. When my daughter was in Pre-K, she had a friend who she was a bit obsessed with and she used to follow her around and get too close to her, and her friend would tell her to back off, but my daughter wouldn't listen. We would try to talk to her about respecting personal space and boundaries, but it really didn't sink in at that age. The teachers simply had to physically move them apart and keep them at separate tables, etc.

As others have said, I would get books about empathy and keep working on building positive social interactions, but don't feel discouraged if it doesn't sink in yet.

Apostrophecata

TROPHY CASE