Over 100 Ridiculous Parent Requests for Teachers

I was greeting my students this morning at the door when THAT parent stopped me. She handed me her son’s lunchbox and then proceeded to let me know that there was a frozen meal in there and if I could heat it for him at lunchtime, that would be great. Ummm… Ma’am what?! ?‍♀️? I was in shock and didn’t respond as she waved goodbye and walked to the outside gate. Well, looks like I am heating up someone’s lunch today… ?

Have you been getting some RIDICULOUS parent requests lately? We asked our teacher colleagues from the Fearless Facebook groups this exact question and received over 500 responses. ? Some of them are completely outrageous and had me laughing so hard I was in tears. It is shocking what some teachers are being asked to do! Y’all, we can’t make these things up!!! Can you relate to any of them?

Outside of School Ridiculous Parent Requests

Can you drive my child home from school? ~ Jaycey P.

A parent called me and said, “I told her if she didn’t wet her bed and did her homework she could come over to your house, so are you home?” MA’AM WHAT?!? ~ Jalisa N.

In a text from a parent of a child, I had the year before: ‘My child is suspended from the bus and I need to work. Will you take her to school?’ ~ Drew D.

A friend of mine was given a grocery list and asked if she could take the parent’s child grocery shopping for the parent. ~ Catherine C.

“We have a schedule conflict with carline pick up. Can you keep ____an extra hour?” ~ Brooke B.

Can you drive over to the Boys’ and Girls’ Club and tell my eldest kid ( my student’s older brother) to go home? He won’t listen to me. ~ Lynn H.

“My child doesn’t feel like going to school today, can you deliver the homework to our house” ~ Lynne Y.

Parent Requests Through Admin

I had the principal ask me if I told a child in front of the class that I hated him???? He said the student told his mom I said it! I was appalled that he would ask me that!!!! ~ Mary M.

Mrs. B, where can I go to complain about you? Do I go to the principal or the school board? I politely asked why? She responded, I am not a rocket scientist and I don’t expect my child to be one. You are expecting way too much from my son. This all happened because I requested help at home to review the letters and sounds. I then responded, well the state requires the kids to learn them, so maybe first go complain to the state. ~ ML L.

Ready for this one? I had a student out because they were sick, the next day (after school) I ended up in the ER getting prepped for emergency gallbladder removal. The parent pulled their child from our school because I hadn’t called to check up on her child! The principal was like “your child’s teacher had emergency surgery and is currently in the hospital!” ~ Sherry B.

 

A mom told our assistant principal “You have some serious testicular fortitude to call DFS on me. Next time, just call me!” ~ Natalie B.

A parent called the office yesterday and wanted to speak to the principal. Our secretary said no and that she was busy. The parent then said, fine, I want to talk to Mrs. H. Our secretary asked for what….the parent said I need Mrs. H to take off D’s shoe and check the size, then I need her to trace his shoe on a piece of paper and bring it down to the office. I’m going to buy him boots RIGHT now and I need to make sure they will fit.  Our secretary said no, she is teaching. ~ Kaylin H. 

Family moving out of state Dec 1 doesn’t want to enroll the child in new school until Jan- asked me to prepare a month’s worth of work for them and teach her virtually.   Luckily my admin said virtual is only for long-term quarantines. ~ Amy R.

Ridiculous Parent Requests for Behaviors

I had a parent ask me to give her misbehaving child a large king-size candy bar when he started acting up in class! Said her kid had a sugar deficiency!!! ~ Annette W.

Years ago, I had a mom call my school about 5 minutes before class started and insist that she needed me to come to the phone. Her 4th-grade son was having a rough day and had crawled under a king-size bed and she couldn’t get him to come out. She wanted me to come to the house and talk to him. “He listens to you.” ~ LoAna B.

It’s 8 o’clock at night and I’m home with my family when my phone rings. I see it is a parent of one of my students. Concerned, I said is everything OK? The parent said that their child is not going to bed and wanted me, the teacher, to talk to them and tell them to get to bed! I told them I am not the parent they are. This is their responsibility. I just couldn’t believe it! ~ Lynette Z.

“Please talk to my child about not getting up in the middle of the night and coming into my room to wake me up. I just started a new job and need my sleep!” ~ Michelle T.

Can you excuse my child’s piss poor behavior! It is my fault my child is acting out today because I am on my period and my cycle affects her even though she is only 6. ~ Marcy G.

 

Not so much a request but I had a parent tell me it was perfectly okay to spank her son if he wasn’t following rules or meeting expectations. ~ Chrissy M.

“Can you please talk to her about brushing her teeth? She listens to you and we are really struggling with getting her to do it at home.” ~ Erika H.

I once had a Parent that wanted to beat their kid and make me watch! ~ Rhonda G.

I had a parent tell me their child could not be disciplined without her presence. Ummmm that’s not how this works. ~ Kristyn W.

 

I got a handwritten note along the lines of, when my daughter gets home from school, she just throws her shoes on the floor and won’t put them away. Will you please talk to her about this? I still have the note, and that was probably about 15 years ago.  ~ Roben A. 

Ridiculous Restroom Requests

The toilet in my classroom flushes too loud and scares her daughter. Could mom come to school and flush all the toilets around campus to listen to how they flush to figure out which one would be most comfortable for her child? ~ Audrey G-L.

The first-grader gets constipated and tends to completely strip in the bathroom. Could I call her fifth grade sister out of class every time she has to poop to assist her in getting dressed again? Umm… NOPE. ~ Anonymous

Check the color of her child’s pee to make sure she wasn’t dehydrated! ~ Michelle C. 

The child swallowed a coin at home. The parent brought in a training potty for him to poop in so we can check it for the coin. Um…no ma’am! ~ Christina B.

Can you go in the bathroom with my son to make sure he actually goes potty? Ummm…..that’s a very firm heck naw! ~ Jessica D. 

A parent wanted me to use a poop chart that showed different types of turds and compare them to her child’s turds for gastro documentation. ~ Nicole D.

Sent in bathroom wipes and asked me to wipe child when they went #2 so they would be fresh and clean and wouldn’t ruin their underwear  ~ Samantha S. 

A parent asked me to monitor the color and consistency of her child’s poop during school hours and report back. This was 1st grade. No thank you, ma’am. ~ Dawn C.

Send a friend with him to the bathroom when he needs to poop so he can have company. Sure. I’ll add that to the jobs list and they can all take turns being the poop buddy. ~ Heather O.

Can you count how many times my child uses the bathroom? ~ Courtney R.

Pour warm water on daughter’s foo foo while she peed because she had a UTI. ~ Kelly B.

A bidet installed…for their son ?‍? ~ Cathy E. 

Litter boxes in the bathroom.  ~ Sara M.

I had a parent ask me to wipe their child’s butt with wipes because he doesn’t like toilet paper. ~ Alyssa J.

“Can you please explain to me why you guys send students home just for throwing up?” ~ Ashley B.

9 year old: “He uses Charmin wet wipes on his bum in the bathroom but when they are in his backpack while outside at recess, they get cold. Do you have an idea on how to warm them up before he uses them?” NO! ~ Wren H.

Please help my child not be afraid of automatically flushing toilets, which we do not have at school. ~ Natalie B. 

A parent asked me to change my whole schedule to work around her child’s poop schedule… it made it easier on him. It was March when she asked. ~ Tearrany N.

 

Please check her bowel movements for the coin she swallowed! ~ Kathy H.

 

On one of the parent surveys I do at the beginning of the year, a parent wrote to please not pull her child’s foreskin back when he’s using the bathroom. ~ Jessica W.

Parents Requested You to do WHAT?!

I got yelled at because I could not shampoo and clean a 1st grader’s head from lice. Besides the liability issues, our school doesn’t even have a shower.

Please go through _____’s backpack and make sure his dad’s adult magazine is not in there. Said magazine was missing and they were afraid their son took it. ~ Judi W.

Bring a pony to school for pony rides for the class to celebrate the child’s bday. ~ Gail G.

 

Many years ago, I had a student bring me a postcard invitation to a sex toy party. Her mom was a rep.  ~ Jocelyn K. 

I had a parent ask me if there was a study abroad program for kindergarteners! Her work schedule was hectic and she had already sent her baby 10,000 miles away to live with his grandparents so she could sleep at night. Having her kindergartener leave for a year would have been conducive to her work schedule. ?‍? ~ Kelye K. 

A mom sent me this note, “ K” said you were crabby yesterday. Are you on your period? Can you tell me when you have it so I can ignore her when you’re crabby”? Bec. F.

“I’m sending five one-dollar bills today, but I only want you to give my child $1 each Friday for the next five weeks. If you give her all five today, she will buy ice cream for the next five days and she is only allowed to have ice cream on Fridays.”

Me: Actually, you will need to give her the money each Friday because I do not hold cash in my room for students~nor manage their lunch money or their eating habits. I also do not sit with the class during lunch, so I have no idea what she buys with the money you send on any given day. ~ Phyllis H.

Can you pick up my kid from Waffle House on the way to school? ~ Laura L.

Last year I had a parent accidentally group text me in with her mom (student’s grandma) at 3:30 am asking her mom to come to pick her up from “Mike’s house” and not to tell her boyfriend that she spent the night there… ~ Kelsy F.

Calling the office to see if she left her cigarettes in the kid’s bag. ~Jessica R.

I’ve had to search for numerous debit cards and may have found one bag of weed. ~ Amanda H.

P has no underwear. Please see if she can borrow from another girl. Kindergarten. ~ Beth P.

“I’m revoking all permission for you to speak to DHS”   uh…that’s not how it works, ma’am. ~ Nicole M.

A colleague was asked to read a book to the class to teach them the ‘birds and the bees’ when the mom got pregnant. They would send in a book they bought off Amazon!  ~ Nicole R. 

My student was number 13 in alphabetical order and after said student got hit by a door (minor accident), I had to switch his number because 13 was too unlucky. ~ Danielle M.

I asked kids to bring in a rock to paint and was asked where she could buy a rock. ~ Donna B.

A parent wanted to know my medical history because I was out sick a bit and there were also times I was at school on crutches because of my flare-ups. Hahaha, he said it is his right to know why I am not in school and when I am in school why I am on crutches. Hahaha, I said, ummmmm no this is not something I am sharing with you. (Mind you I would totally tell most families and have but for him to come in and almost demand I tell him my health issues was too much.) ~ Maureen B.

A few years ago I had a mom insist that my class rules should include that 5th-grade girls must wear a bra. She said it would really help her out since her daughter did not want to wear one! ~ Cynthia S.

We had a parent request that all the poles on the playground be removed after her child bumped into one- so you would rather the playground structure fall on your kid or does yours float? ~ Rachel R.

I had a parent request picture retakes for their child because they couldn’t see enough of the waterfall (chosen background) behind their child’s head… ~ Michelle U.

Mom explained that her husband’s love language is words of affirmation and it would help if I say something nice to him every morning to make drop off easier…for her husband. ~ Nadia G.

 

Requests Because You Have Nothing Else To Do

A parent sent valentine cards with their child to school and asked me to stuff them with candy and fill them out….um, no mam! Not sure where they think we have the time for that!  ~ Mallory T. 

I have a student out on quarantine and will miss 7 days of school. I put together the work he will miss and the parent picked it up. The parent then emailed to ask how much of the work needs to be returned to school. Um…ALL OF IT? ~ Laura A

? We all know that the majority of the work won’t be done, so don’t spend hours putting it together. Use some worksheets from these monthly packets and just print, staple, and hand them to the parents when they ask. ?

Please make sure he keeps his shoes on and tied because kids get sick through their head and feets. Feets? Really? Oh, he’s 9 y’all. ~ Kemberle B.

A parent took her child on vacation and when she came back said I shouldn’t have my lunch break until I reteach her child everything she missed. ~ Dalia E.

Have staff check the playground after recess so her child doesn’t accidentally leave a jacket. ~ Cheryl W.

“Today is school picture day. Can you fix my child’s hair? I didn’t have time to do it.” ~ Savanna W.

Sorry to bother you I know you’re busy but could you ask X if he knows where his grandpa’s phone is at? ~ Leslie B.

I had a parent write a note telling me I was to take her child’s “good shoes” off before recess and put on her “play shoes” and then help her change back into her “good shoes” after recess because they looked better with her outfits. ~ Cassie D.

Calling me at school to see if their kid knows where the tv remote is. ~ Katie W.

Years ago a mom brought me a box of Q-Tips and asked if I’d clean out her daughter’s ears because she always put up a fuss. Mom thought she’d be more cooperative with me  ~ Kylie M. 

The parent sent the student on the bus with a 250 piece lego set. A note attached said: help him put this together and send it back assembled on the bus. That was a fat NO! ~ Magen R.

This happened in my co-workers class today. The mom was running late so she called the school and asked if a teacher could keep the doors open until she got there with her daughter. She was told no because the assistants had children they needed to walk to classes so she would need to walk her daughter in. She then told our secretary she would need someone to walk out and get her daughter when she gets there because she isn’t wearing a bra so she can’t walk her in. ~ Jen J.

“My daughter has a brother in another Kindergarten classroom that she doesn’t know. Can you introduce them please?” ~ Donna C.

Use the washcloth sent in bookbag to wipe the sweat off her daughter’s back when she returned from running club. ~ Jennifer W.

Please give my child a tissue before he sneezes so it doesn’t get in his mask didn’t know I was a mind reader and knew when the students were going to sneeze. ~ Haile F.

Academic Requests That are a Little Ridiculous

Copy her copies on pink paper because she likes that color and would respond better. ~ Holly H.

Forgot this one… I finally got a parent to come in for a meeting (years ago) & I told her that her child was performing well below 1st-grade expectations. Her response was “First Grade? I thought she was in Kindergarten!” ~ Donna D.

 

I had a parent interrupt a live proctored math test to ask me why I wasn’t giving her child the answers. (Virtual class). The kid had not attended any lessons for two weeks and didn’t even know what we were studying. I finally had to remove her from the live meet when she started cursing at me. ~ Terri M.

“Can you please create a completely separate curriculum for my child?” ~ Heather P.

 

A few years ago a teacher I worked with got a note from a parent in MAY that was basically stating that she had no idea her child was in first grade all year (she was retained) and that she wanted her to be up to third grade the next school year because that’s where she was supposed to be. She was still struggling with first-grade material even after repeating and the mom wanted her to just skip second because she is the age of a third grader. ~ Haley V.

Allowing a child to have their cell phone to text home when they need reassurance. ~ Jocelyn K.

I didn’t know that they needed to know their basic math facts by memory. Is that something new? (After a discussion of the 1s facts that the child didn’t know). ~ Kamille V.

Why can’t my grandson play fortnight at school instead of his school work? ~ Terri M.

I had a parent ask me not to grade in red ink or use exclamation marks (even when it was positive feedback) because it sounded mean and angry. ~ Julie S.

Write his spelling words in blue, not black.  ~ Melissa D. 

“Can my child skip ahead to 2nd grade, so it’s less stressful on the 1st-grade teacher?” ~ Kayla W.

Don’t call on my child to answer questions because it upsets them.  ~ Gina R. 

Absurd Food Requests

Could you ask the cafeteria to provide cheese and pickles for J on hamburger days? He won’t eat a hamburger any other way. ~ Cynthia S.

I had a parent ask if I could make their child a PB sandwich every day for lunch because he didn’t like school lunch. ~ Hailey C.

Hand-feed their daughter so she’ll eat. ~ Jennifer H.

My daughter has a sore throat and I placed some tea bags in her backpack. Will you please make her hot tea when she feels she needs it??  ~ Amy L. 

They had a cavity filled yesterday, please have the school cooks make her some soup for lunch!  ~ Susan H. 

I had a parent that wanted me to keep a gallon of ice cream in a freezer and scoop it out when their child wanted it since they didn’t like school ice cream. ~ Diedra W.

“Please don’t let my child buy school lunch with meat. He is a vegetarian.” Sends him chicken nuggets and hot dogs every day for a snack.  ~ Elizabeth M.

“Would it be ok if I purchased a small air fryer for your classroom so you can crisp up ________’s chicken nuggets every day?” I wish I was making this up! ~ Heather F.

I had a parent bring a case of food to school so that the teacher could make lunches for her child. ~ Chaya B.

Watch my child eat her lunch and tell me what foods she eats. ~ Lindsey E.

A parent sent in graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars for a birthday treat. They said I could just put s’mores together and melt them in the oven in the kitchen before serving them to the kids. ~ Jill C.

One of my students enjoys ordering pizza on Fridays from the cafeteria. I received a note from her mom asking me to please remove the cheese for her daughter because she not only doesn’t like the cheese but she doesn’t like touching it!  ~ Mel R. 

 

And the list goes on and on! Are you laughing as hard as I am at these ridiculous parent requests for teachers?! SMH!!! I cannot believe that some of them feel that monitoring bathroom goings-on, disciplining their children while at home, and cooking food for them during our lunch periods are part of our teaching contract.

Do you have any ridiculous parent requests you would like to share? Let’s keep this list going in the comments below. ? We all can use more laughs this school year, and the ridiculousness just keeps getting grander.

Written by – Janessa Fletcher

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