I'm not being rude to you; I'm making an observation. You are so quick to judge that woman! She and her dh run the food truck by themselves, and also have to keep an eye on their kids in the process. That's very stressful! She was probably rushing to get in and out of that bathroom as quickly as possible. Why not just assume that she was in a hurry and that she was going to have everyone wash their hands as soon as they got back to the truck? Why not assume that they probably used hand sanitizer right away, as well? I don't understand why you felt the need to judge her, and then have it stick in your mind to the point where you came here and asked if you should post about it online. Why would posting online even occur to you? It almost feels like you were hoping people would tell you it was a good idea to publicly shame the poor woman.

I have to admit that I find it amazing that you pay so much attention to what other people are doing. I barely notice who's in the rest room with me, and I don't monitor who does and who doesn't wash their hands -- and even if I happen to notice, it's not something that sticks in my mind. You're coming across as a little bit of a busybody here. None of this is any of your business. (Although since you did notice, I would certainly understand if you decided against eating at that food truck.)

If that's the case, I would definitely give them the benefit of the doubt. If you'd said you'd seen inside the truck and there were cockroaches, or there was dirt and grime everywhere, I could understand posting about that for sure!

This is exactly what I was thinking. They would have had to wash their hands again once they got to the food truck anyway, so maybe they just used hand sanitizer for the moment, or if they were heading straight to the truck, they might have figured they would just clean up when they got there instead of lingering in a germy bathroom. In all fairness to @bibiche, your original post did specifically ask if people would post it, and I have to admit that I thought you were considering it, too, and was wondering if it was a good idea. I would definitely not post about it, either.

I’m just so happy to hear that it’s not cancer!!!

Sorry! When you said he was "away" for this week and next week, I thought he was far away and wouldn't be able to help you or the kids. I'm glad that's not the case!

I hate to be an alarmist, but this was exactly what I was thinking, too. Better safe than sorry!

Can't your dh come home? This would certainly qualify as a family emergency!

I think it must depend on the school, because we definitely did Geometry proofs at my NYC area school, although it was in the 8th grade.

I'm no expert, so please don't take this as an absolute fact, but I read that if you have Covid, you should immediately start taking one aspirin a day and continue for 60 days, to help prevent blood clots. (Regular dose aspirin, not the low-dose kind.)

I'm so sorry your son isn't getting the proper instruction he needs. 😞 He's obviously a very intelligent young man, and this must be so discouraging and frustrating for him (and for you!) Can he take an in-person class so he can bypass the online stuff, or if online is his only option, could he maybe hire a private tutor to help him navigate the online stuff?

Forget about higher mathematics for a minute, because before they even get to the point of studying those subjects, I think kids need to learn a lot more basic arithmetic skills than they are apparently being taught. Seriously, it amazes me when I see people who can't figure out such basics as how to give change, how to calculate how much a 25% off sale would save them, or how to figure out how much the sales tax on a purchase will be. I'm a fan of higher math because it makes kids think. And I would disagree that people don't use basic algebra and geometry in their daily lives in everyday situations. We don't really think of it as using those skills because we're not sitting down doing formal equations, but we are still using what we learned.

I guess you have to ask yourself what is the worst thing that could happen if you get confrontational and lose your temper. I think the most important consideration is your son and his feelings. Your son needs to know that you will have his back and will not tolerate this woman treating him poorly or speaking negatively about him. If you can do that without confronting the woman and you won't constantly kick yourself later for not giving her a piece of your mind about this, that's absolutely fine. It may very well be the most sensible choice. Personally, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't tell the woman what I thought of her and her attitude toward my child, but as I mentioned, I have no problem with confrontation when someone is insulting a family member, and if other people don't like it when they hear about what happened, oh well, it sucks to be them, because I'm going to defend my family no matter what. But I also realize that my way won't work for many people, so I think you should do whatever makes you feel the most comfortable. But do what makes you feel right; don't worry about that idiot woman's feelings at all. She certainly isn't worried about insulting your family or saying uncomfortable and negative things to you about your son. Her feelings don't matter here at all.

I would totally confront her and not be even remotely pleasant about it, but I don't have any issues with confrontation when someone insults a member of my family.

I'd tell the woman where she could stick her "chat" and her playdates. Why would you want any kind of relationship with someone who clearly dislikes your 7yo son to such an extreme level??? Does she think you should drop your son off at the pound so your families can have a nice, happy friendship? Because clearly you need to get rid of him so her kid can have playdates with your dd and your families can do things together without that pesky son of yours. I don't even know her and I can see that she's an arrogant, controlling jerk. Ditch her and her family and don't look back! Your son deserves nothing less!

I want to know, too! We are so nosy! 😂

Praying!

I would be so curious as to what she wanted to talk to me about, that I would probably talk to her, too. I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of the kids getting back together again, but that was a really good point about maybe not wanting to alienate the guy’s mother, just in case. I would talk to her, but be ready with an excuse to get off the phone quickly, if anything she wanted to discuss seemed inappropriate or weird.

@TexasProud do you have any idea what the boyfriend’s mother wants to talk to you about?

I hope you feel better soon, Dawn! I'm glad everything worked out for your appointments!

Thanks -- that's interesting! But I guess somebody better tell our Bishop and Monsignor about it, because they both definitely eat meat on Fridays. 😉 Meatless Fridays are definitely not a thing in my area. I wouldn't want@Melissa in Australia or others from outside the US to mistakenly think that Catholics don't eat meat on Fridays. Apparently some don't, but certainly not all or most. That said, we know that @Ellie's priest doesn't, so I think we should focus on that.

I don't know where you're getting your information, but that generalization is not correct. I'm sure some priests decide, of their own volition, not to eat meat on Fridays and I would certainly respect that if they do, but it's certainly not "nearly all" of them, and it is not a requirement.

This is incorrect. Perhaps some super-strict parishes ask parishioners to abstain from meat on Fridays, but that is absolutely not the case in general. Obviously, if that's the case with the priest you know, I would probably serve something other than fish (because he probably gets that at everyone else's house! 😉 ) I actually like your idea of keeping it casual with the mac and cheese, because I'll bet he would love it.

Why wouldn't the priest eat meat on Fridays? It's not Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, or a Friday during Lent, which are the only times I know of that Catholics aren't supposed to eat meat. And I have never heard of a "no dessert" rule during Lent, either.

I agree with @East Coast Sue and @KungFuPanda -- you're not obligated! But... even if you were technically obligated, a little social faux pas wouldn't be a big deal anyway, because you barely know these people and you don't really care what they think of you because you don't really have any interest in being friends with them. So you're a winner either way. 😉