It’s always nice when the person you care about is successful. For example, if a kid is very successful at school, it’s natural that their parents want to brag about it. Yet, there’s always a time and place for that. Sadly, not all parents seem to understand that, which leads to uncomfortable situations.
Like when the wife of today’s OP kept bragging about their daughter’s test results to the parents of a boy who didn’t do so well on said test. This led not only to them feeling awkward but to a nasty fight between the OP and his wife as well.
More info: Reddit
Sometimes, people just don’t know when to hush, which leads to some awkward situations
Image credits: Alissa De Leva (not the actual photo)
The author’s daughter cleared a competitive test, giving her parents a chance to brag about it to others, which her mom enthusiastically took
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)
Image credits: PICHA Stock (not the actual photo)
Image credits: u/Throwra_stopmywife
This bragging made some of the couple’s friends uncomfortable, which made the author tell his wife to shut up or he would embarrass her in front of everyone next time
The OP and his wife’s 16-year-old daughter cleared a highly competitive exam, making her parents very proud and giving her mom permission to brag about it to her inner circle of friends.
However, the couple has friends from a different social circle whose son of the same age didn’t do so well on the exam. So, the OP thinks they shouldn’t push their daughter’s achievements in the faces of those who failed, but his wife doesn’t seem to catch onto this idea. Even when the mom of that boy got uncomfortable and nudged her to stop, she kept on rambling about her daughter’s achievements.
Then, when they got home, the post’s author berated her for such behavior. After the woman tried to plead plausible deniability, her spouse told her that if she ever did it again, he’d call her out in front of everyone and would embarrass her.
This made the woman cry and tell her spouse how awful he was for saying the things he did. The OP apologized but still stood firm on the idea that if she messes up, she needs to be called out, as it seems it’s the only way of getting through to her.
Many people online shared a similar sentiment with the OP — it is not nice to constantly brag about achievements and rub it in other people’s faces when they aren’t so successful. Some even went to the extent of calling her selfish or a bully, as she probably knew how hurtful her words could be, and she still went on and on.
Image credits: Ben Mullins (not the actual picture)
Actually, a focus on children’s achievements can be detrimental to people who get hurt by bragging but also to the children themselves. Forcing kids to perform to feed parental egos teaches them that they’re only as good as their achievements.
Instead, it is better to nurture, love, support, and encourage children to be the best they can be and not compete with their peers. After all, everyone is different, and they should be valued for who they are as people, not only for their successes or failures.
Rubbing it in that your child was more successful than someone else’s is a rude thing to do, especially when that person nudges you to stop. So, we can see where the OP was coming from when he wanted to stop his wife.
At the same time, there were some folks in the comments who pointed out that the way the author approached talking about this with his wife was kind of harsh. Phrases such as “run your mouth” didn’t sit well with people, and they called out the original poster for being condescending and told him to rethink his language because his wife isn’t the only person having trouble controlling it here.
So, we can say that both the author and his wife need to start thinking about how they talk to each other and other people. Showing your superiority to people outside of your family is rude, but being patronizing to your wife isn’t less rude, either.
After the author revealed how he berated his wife online, some people justified it by saying the wife was a bully, while others were concerned with the author’s nasty language
