Every fall, teachers gear up for yet another challenging academic year. They head back into their classrooms to act as role models, inspire young souls, and guide them into achieving their full potential. Educators and their seemingly limitless reserves of patience allow them to mold students into well-rounded citizens. But even with the best intentions, dealing with one too many daredevils — from legions of screaming first-graders to droves of rebellious teens to even their parents — is no easy task.

When it comes to the latter one, there’s an online thread that offers a glimpse into the occurrences from obligatory, illuminating, and sometimes very confusing one-on-one times that usually start with a question: “How is she doing in school?” Redditor winter-velvet reached out to the teachers of ‘Ask Reddit’ and invited them to open up about the most memorable parent-teacher conference they’ve ever been to. And I’m telling you, the responses did not disappoint.

Below, we wrapped up a collection of some of the most interesting responses to share with you, ranging from painful to hilarious to emotional. So sit back, grab some coffee and enjoy the read! Be sure to upvote your favorite stories, and then let us know about your personal experiences in the comments!

Psst! For more entertaining statements, check out Bored Panda’s earlier piece where teachers reveal how kids have changed over the years.

Read More: 30 Teachers Say What Meeting With The Parents Was Most Memorable

#1

I’m not a teacher, but a parent, but I want to share this story. In 2015 my husband was shot and killed during (what we presume to be) a carjacking. This happened toward the beginning of the year. I called the school to tell them two of my 3 kids wouldn’t be at school for a week in order to take time off to grieve (my youngest was a baby). So they were very supportive. Came to the funeral. Brought food by my house and came to visit the kids. When the kids went back to school they came back with tons of handmade sympathy cards that the teachers had their students make. They also provided therapy via the psychologist at the school. Anyway, the months are passing by and we’re getting back to normal routine when in December I get a call saying they need to meet with me. The kids are getting good grades, so I’m wondering if there is some kind of behavioral issues going on. When I got there though, they provided us with Christmas gifts that were collected from the teachers and students. I wasn’t in a bad situation financially, but still the gesture meant a lot. So, not a teacher, but as a parent that was my most memorable parent teacher meeting.

Image credits: Jjkkllzz

#2

I had a parent meeting with the father of one of my students who was a well-known gang leader and drug dealer in the area. He came in looking very intimidating in head-to-toe gang tattoos, and I was nervous, but I treated him as I would any other parent. We had a great meeting in which he asked how to keep his kids on the right track so that they don’t end up like him (his words). And he even ended up being one of my most helpful parents, attending every school event and parent meeting and even helping me change my tire one day! That day I learned not to judge a book by its cover.

#3

My students know I’m obsessed with hedgehogs because I always use them in my lessons. Well, on the last night of conferences, one of my favorite students came in with her mom and a fuzzy bag. After I went over all of her child’s assessments, she PULLED A FREAKIN’ HEDGEHOG OUT OF THAT FUZZY BAG, and I shrieked like a child! I got to hold him for about 30 minutes, and was so giddy. My student’s mom informed me that her child talks about me all the time, and wanted to do something cool for me!

#4

“I was meeting with a parent that spoke mostly Spanish, and my Spanish is weak. Turns out, her English was about as bad as my Spanish, so when we couldn’t get across an idea, we reverted to charades or grabbed paper and drew things out. By the end, we were laughing so hard! That was, by far, my favorite parent-teacher conference ever!

#5

The one where mom came to conferences and used “what a good fundraiser!” to market her MLM business to me. Needless to say she was also the psychotic “why is my kid not the star” parent later in the year.

Image credits: 2friedchknsAndaCoke

#6

When I(f) was student teaching, my mentor teacher(older guy) and I did parent teacher conferences together. We had a female student and her mom come in. This girl never played attention in class and just wanted to hang out and talk to friends, so we put her on the front row. Well evidently she needed something to tell her mom why she was failing this class, and had told her mom that the teacher moved her to the front of the room so he could look down her shirt. So her mom comes in angry and yelling at the teacher that he’s a pervert putting her daughter in the front row and sexually harassing her. My mentor teacher just calmly turned to me and said, “have you noticed any of that behavior in this class? You’ve been the one teaching for the last two months.” The mom and daughter went silent. They had forgot that I, another female adult in the room, could witness for my teacher. They quickly left after that, and I think the mom realized her daughter had been lying to her. I felt great being able to protect a fellow teacher from sexual harassment accusations.

Image credits: letthemeatcak

#7

The one in which the mom brought her lawyer — who sat behind her rolling his eyes the whole time.

This was the same mom who — when I addressed her first grader’s homework being written in cursive and ink — said, ‘Nowhere in the student handbook does it say a parent can’t do the child’s homework for them.

#8

A parent threw a chair at me once. She believed her son shouldn’t have to do homework. She believed that he was a genius. He wasn’t.

#9

My mother works in a school, and she has told me about a little 7-year-old girl who misbehaves, refuses to listen, has violent tantrums, cries and screams at lunchtime, and refuses to eat. When she calls to speak to the girl’s mother, she only whispers, ‘It’s not her fault — it’s because she’s adopted.'” “Her mom blames everything on her being adopted, and refuses to discipline her.

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