One thing I hate on social occasions where parents congregate is when people start sharing the academic and developmental achievements of their kids. We all understand that my kid isn’t lacking in such achievements but she’s not a trained poodle for me to parade for social brownie points.
Share your own achievements and let the kids share theirs if they wish. (Usually they don’t because standing out from a peer group isn’t a good thing until well into adulthood).
Parents who go on about the achievements of their children are also parents who will go on about their secrets. I really cringe, for instance, at those mothers at the pool who share intimate health and psychological information about their teenagers with their other lady-of-leisure friends (and I am sorry if I sound mean saying this, but not that sorry, these people are reprehensible boundary violators and they imagine they own their children, which is abusive).
God, I’ll never forget how a friend started reciting the really intimate gynecological details of her 30-year-old daughter in front of her. The daughter was humiliated. I was extremely uncomfortable. The friend said she was doing it to get advice from me, although why would I be able to give advice on this subject? Now the daughter avoids me and I don’t blame her.
A conservative literary critic and college professor
Clarissa's Blog 
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