A Kitchener mother of two has been blacklisted by her neighbours and wants answers.
“One day we were sipping our soy chai lattes at the park, the next day I was pushed out of the group. I saw them scurry away after the school drop-off. They all claimed to have errands and appointments, but thirty minutes later one of them Instagrammed her banana bread and I could see the cluster of them in the reflection on her microwave. I just don’t understand what I could have done to upset them.”
“I thought we were friends,” said the confused mother.
Sources close to this baffled parent tell a different story. According to moms on the playground, this ostracism has been imminent for months.
“Just last week at a playdate she proposed handing out fruit cups decorated like jack-o-lanterns and bananas with ‘Happy Halloween’ scribed on the peel,” reports one exasperated mom.
Her former cardio-walker partner adds, “But the final straw was the plastic ring comment.”
She goes on to explain, “After we talked her out of the fruit and vegetable candy substitutes, she announced that she was handing out plastic spider rings instead of candy.”
Despite protests from her fellow parents that an overabundance of plastic rings and Halloween-themed pencils are more of a nuisance for moms and dads than dealing with a sugar high, this deluded mom suggested that parents could repurpose these trinkets.
“They could make a really fun mobile or maybe some DIY hair accessories.”
The other moms say that reentry into the group is possible, but that they need time to heal.
Tough Bananas 
Really? I thought everyone loved my spider rings and pencils. Next you’ll be claiming they didn’t like the sticker sheets or even the (environmentally-responsible) little jars of bubbles…
The tiny bubbles cause no frustration whatsoever. Those minuscule wands are perfection. Who doesn’t want to dig right in there?