One thing that I've never understood is competitive parenting. It's not a sport, people. There is no gold medal at the end. Just because your kids started crawling a week before mine doesn't mean your child is better than my child, and it definitely has no bearing on your perceived superiority as a mother.
I haven't experienced this firsthand, but a friend of a friend (this totally sounds like I'm making it up, but I promise I'm not) is one of the worst offenders I've ever encountered, to the point where she flat out lies about her child's abilities. "Zoe is only 3 months old but she's already walking! Isn't she AMAZING?!" That's an exaggeration, but you get the point.
What I don't get is, why? Why would you make that up? No one is keeping score. What worries me the most is that she's setting her kid up for failure with completely unrealistic expectations. What happens when she's 5 and doesn't win first place at Field Day? Or when she's 18 and only had a 3.96 gpa instead of a 4.0? Kids don't need that kind of undue pressure. They need encouragement and support and the confidence to know that as long as they try their best, you're behind them. That's not to say you shouldn't challenge them. But let's be reasonable.
Know anyone like this? Tell us your story.
Photo by Flickr member cradlehall, used under a Creative Commons License.