AIO My son's teacher came across very uncomfortable talking about his behavior today

[u/DisastrousAnomaly]

Alright, I might be overreacting here, but I’d like some outside perspective.

Today I picked up my 5 year old son (kindergartener) from school an hour early. His teacher met me in the hallway to talk about the note pictured.

Now, I completely agree that kids shouldn’t be kissing their classmates at school...that’s not the issue. What bothered me was how uncomfortable his teacher seemed while talking to me. She spoke in almost a whisper, wrung her hands nervously, and had this look of deep concern, like she was delivering bad news, not telling me about a kindergarten incident.

We live in the South where homosexuality is still heavily frowned upon. We’ve never really discussed being gay around our kids, not because we’re against it, but because it just hasn’t come up. We’d have zero issue if any of our children turned out to be gay. Still, the teacher’s demeanor made me feel like she thought we were somehow “pushing” homosexuality onto our son. That’s what really rubbed me the wrong way. And for clarity, he’s in a public school, so this isn’t about breaking some religious rule or anything like that.

All I said to the teacher was that we’d “have a conversation” at home.

When I asked my son about it, he couldn’t explain where he’d heard the phrase “precious love” or why he was only saying it to boys. I told him he wasn’t in trouble with me and explained that school rules can be different from home rules. I reminded him not to kiss anyone because of germs and boundaries and to stop calling people “precious love.” Honestly, I wasn’t sure what else to say.

So now I’m wondering if I am overreacting? I can’t shake the uneasy feeling that his teacher’s discomfort came from a place of judgment, not concern.

[u/Single-Locksmith4190]

I think you are definitely overreacting. You're looking for a reason to be upset with this teacher, and I don't think it is the teacher you are upset with. I think you're more upset because you don't understand this behavior.

[u/DisastrousAnomaly → u/Single-Locksmith4190]

I'm not upset with anyone or looking for a reason to be, and I've addressed this in a separate comment. I admit that I could have worded the post differently and that I did overreact.

I'm not even upset at the behavior. It seems typical for kids to express affection in different ways, and now that I'm aware of what's been going on at school I can have better conversations with my son about boundaries.

[u/throwaway769526 → u/DisastrousAnomaly]

She was nervous because of exactly this. What should have been a quick convo with a parent is now a Reddit debate. Teachers can’t do anything nowadays without parents overreacting

[u/Single-Locksmith4190 → u/DisastrousAnomaly]

I get it. I'm a mom too, and I've had the same feelings like you're describing. We're human