A Canadian mother thought the ‘Players Gonna Play’ T-shirt she bought for her young son was adorable — so she was nonplussed when another mother in her kid’s playgroup was so offended that she sent her rude text messages about it.
On Wednesday, a Redditor with a little boy shared a text message exchange she had with another mom in her son’s playgroup.
The other mom claimed to be ‘unimpressed’ by the ‘rude’ and ‘demeaning’ shirt that the Redditor’s son was wearing, and went on to insist that the boy couldn’t wear it to the group again.
Mom drama: A Canadian mother shared a text message exchange she had with another mother in her son’s playgroup… which didn’t go well
The baffling exchange started off friendly enough, with the angry mother telling the Redditor that she ‘want to talk’ about something.
‘Well,’ she wrote, ‘the other day at playgroup, I was a bit… Unimpressed with what [your son] was wearing.’
‘I’m sorry?’ the Redditor replied. ‘What was wrong with it?’
‘I mean… it was just demeaning to boys don’t you think?’ the offended mom asked.
When the Redditor insisted she had no idea what the issue was, the other mom said that the shirt — which said ‘Players Gonna Play’ — was ‘rude.’
‘It was a funny cute play on words t-shirt that meant nothing deeper than that,’ the Redditor replied.
Sensitive: The other mother was offended by the Redditor’s two-year-old son’s ‘Players Gonna Play’ T-shirt, calling it ‘rude,’ ‘offensive,’ and ‘demeaning’
‘No it wasn’t!!’ replied the offended mom, who seemed to think that the Redditor would immediately cave and apologize. ‘It was rude and demeaning and I found it super rude to boys!!’
When the Redditor pointed out that the other mom had a daughter, not a son, she said it ‘was offensive for her too!’
‘It insinuates that boys can just use girls as playtoys and do whatever they want to them. Not the best message to send out to your boy or my girl!’ she said.
‘You’re actually crazy,’ replied the Redditor. ‘It’s a funny joke for adults.’
The other mother then insisted that she and her two-year-old daughter both found it ‘incredibly rude.’
‘Wow, I didn’t even know [your daughter] could read. Y’know since she only 2,’ the Redditor shot back.
Whatever: When the angry mother said the little boy couldn’t wear it again, the first mom said she’d prefer they not see each other again, anyway
‘That isn’t the point!’ said the angrier-still mother. ‘He can’t wear that shirt to group again! I’m sure the other moms will have an issue with this too! I know for a fact that [other mom, name redacted] said she didn’t like it either.’
When the Redditor said that that other mother had actually asked where the shirt was from so she could buy one, too, the angry mom lost it.
‘You can’t let [your son] wear it to group again! Or we won’t be setting up playdates for [my daughter] and him anymore!’
‘Honestly I couldn’t care less,’ the Redditor said, finally going off. ‘You’re very inhospitable hosts anyway, you’re too stingy to even let [my son] drink some of your homogenized milk when we come over, you rarely let him or I snack and you hate to pay for things when we meet up outside.
‘And you’ve let [your daughter] pinch him before too because he wouldn’t share, but you never cared if she didn’t. I don’t think this is a healthy relationship for him or me.
Chill: The angry mom lost it when the first mother told her she wasn’t such a great playdate partner, anyway
Offensive stuff? The little boy had a T-shirt similar to these
‘And for the record, my son will wear whatever I want him to. Don’t come to group again if you’re soooo offended.’
Thus called out, the angry mom replied: ‘You’re a real b****! I’m gonna make sure all the playgroup moms hear about this.’
The Redditor, for her part, replied with a smug meme of Honey Boo Boo.
Speaking in the comments, the Redditor went on to explain that the T-shirt also had a picture of an X-box controller, so there was no confusion over what ‘play’ meant.
She also said she’s known the other mother for a year now, and ‘her and her daughter have been so horrible to us since we starting setting up Playdates and other things.
‘She’s bitten him, pinched him, pushed him, and because he has Apraxia he can’t really say anything back about it. I’ve just had it with her.
‘She’s told me before that I’m just not trying enough with his speech, told me that his ginger hair makes him souless, that his curls are tatty etc. So I just had it.’