Mom seeking advice on helping her 'weird' child make friends receives a flood of heartfelt responses

Kids can be unkind, especially when they label others they consider "uncool." During school years, many children gravitate toward the 'popular' crowd, leaving some feeling isolated with unwanted labels. A mother recently shared her third-grade daughter’s struggles with being labeled as "weird" by her peers. The mom, who goes by u/Katren08 on Reddit, turned to the online community for advice. What she found was more than support—it changed how she viewed the entire situation.

In her viral post, the mom explained that her own mother passed away years ago, leaving her without a close mentor for guidance. Adding to her challenge, none of her friends have children. "My daughter is starting third grade and she told me the other day she was nervous to start school because she's the weird kid, she doesn't have any friends and she doesn't know why no one likes her," she mentioned in her post.

"She said the other kids tell her they don't want to play with her. It breaks my mama heart and I don't know what to do. I've always told her to be herself and ask the other kids to be her friend," the mom elaborated. Since she wasn't a social person herself, she felt clueless as to what to do in such a situation. "I am socially awkward and have anxiety with new people, as does my husband, so we're not the best role models for making friends, lol," she shared.

Concluding her post, she asked for meaningful recommendations from the Reddit community and people gave her some unexpected and kind responses. u/Internal_Armadillo62 wrote, "I would recommend finding an extracurricular activity that she's interested in. Bonus points if it's not affiliated with the school. I was one of the weird kids in school, but I found similarly weird kids at gymnastics, art clubs, camps, etc." u/PupperoniPoodle shared, "Girl Scouts helped me tremendously. I stayed in until I graduated from high school."

u/noopibean added, "Get her in with a group of girls and they'll find things to like about each other through mutual interests. Unfortunately, 3rd/4th grade is where girls start cliquing. I was never in the club and neither are my kids. Also, make sure she practices good hygiene. Also, my grandmother once gave me this sage advice, 'Don't let them get your goat!' This means, don't let other kids know you are bothered. Having confidence goes a long way to build relationships and avoid bullies."

"Starting in third grade is when the girls begin to get catty. By fourth to sixth grade, they can be catty and even mean to each other. Everyone has their turn being labeled as the 'weird kid,' but eventually, the focus shifts to someone else. In time, she may even become best friends with the kids who once called her those names," remarked u/Pumpkin1818. “There is no right or wrong way to exist in this world. Crazy cat ladies have just as much right to exist as anyone else. It’s about teaching themselves to love themselves and not devalue themselves based on societal norms,” u/Sweetishcargo said.