Being a single parent can be tough, but one mother rebelled after another parent expected her to look after her child for free so they could have some peace and quiet in Pilates class.
A parent has revealed that she faced trolling from the community after leaving her son’s friends at school because the mother wanted him to be held close to her and cared for.
The woman shared the situation on social media, explaining that she has two boys, Simon*, 8, and Nathan*, 6. They both go to the same school, and she works part-time and her husband full-time, so dropping them off and picking them up is relatively easy.
Recently, her oldest son had befriended another boy, David*, and they wanted to organize a playdate. After speaking directly with David’s mother and discussing things, arrangements were made and the afternoon went off without a hitch.
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However, after a successful planned playdate, David’s mother seemed to take advantage of the situation.
Simon’s mother said: “The week after the playdate, I was picking up my two sons from school and my eldest had brought a friend with him.” When she asked where her mother was, David said that her mother told her to go with Simon. She continued: “Obviously this was such an irresponsible act on her part that I called her and immediately switched to voicemail because I wasn’t going to leave this kid alone at the end of school. , after many attempts to contact him, I just took him home.
“Then she contacted me about two hours after school ended and asked where my kids were and then came to my house to pick them up. When I asked her why on earth she did that, she said she was a single mother and couldn’t pick her up in time for a Pilates class.
Understandably, Simon’s mother was upset that she had just been used for free childcare, and told the other woman that she could no longer provide childcare or she would report the child to the school.
She continued: “A few days later, as you can imagine, my eldest son came to the car with his friends. I asked where his mother was and he said that his mother had instructed him to go with her again. At this point I got out of the car with all the kids, went to the front desk, told them about the incident and left the kids there.
“I got a call from his mother after school, and she was abusing me, accusing me, calling me every name in the book, saying that I had gotten her into trouble with the school. We got into an argument. I got angry and hung up. After this, she posted on Facebook about me calling her names and calling me a selfish piece of shit. I really didn’t know what to do and felt like I was I want to know if it was the worst.”
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Most people who read the Reddit post sided with Simon’s mother, sharing several options for what she should respond to in the Facebook message. One person suggested, “Reply to her post and tell her that she’s lucky you didn’t call CPS on her and that her friend’s Pilates class is more important than her child’s safety.” did.
But another person replied: “I know exactly what you mean, but if you can afford it and your son is a good boy, do it for his friends, not for lack of motherly protection. He’s 8 years old. So, you might be the saving grace of his life. He might be feeling ignored by his parents or something else. If possible, be there for him and give him hope. Please give it to me.”
*All names have been changed.
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