‘Moms in the '80s were built different’: Internet loves mom who went mafia-style on her daughter's bully and hired 2 kids his own age to pick on

Parenting is a wild ride full of unexpected turns and decisions you never thought you'd have to make. In 2023, there are countless books, classes, online resources, and more to help you parent the best you can parent. But back the day, say the 1980s, it was a kind of "figure it out for yourself" thing. Sure you had other moms to give you advice and maybe a book or two from the library, but the psychology done on parenting was not something to be desired quite yet. So many moms just mom'd by following their gut. 

This mom from the '80s took "following her gut" to a whole new level and the internet is loving It. Posted by Reddit user Such_Caterpillar_396, she shares the story of how her mom went full mafia-style on her bully. She was a little girl in 3rd grade who had a bully twice her size. The bully was also in her grade, but had been held back a couple of times, so he was several years older. He also came from a seriously rough home. So when OP one day saw her bully's mom getting violent with her bully's little sister, she told an her parents. This got CPS involved and it was a whole mess. But it was the '80s, so the kids ended up back in that toxic home. 

The bully found out she was the one who "squealed" and he found her and sucker punched her right in the face. Little did this misunderstood bully know, that OPs mom was quintessentially Italian. OP didn't tell anyone that her bully hit her, but word got around and OP's mom found out. So what did this Italian mom from the '80s do? She went to a seedy part of town, hired two kids the bully's age, brought them back to her neighborhood and had them beat him up and tell him not to lay one finger on her daughter ever again. 

Now, if a mom would do this in this day and age, that would be worrisome. We all know that this bully is only a bully because of the toxicity he is surrounded by and is still just a scared little kid at heart. So really, he just needs to be placed in a healthier environment and get some therapy in order to heal. But this was the '80s… I wasn't alive in the '80s, but I've heard some pretty gnarly stories from friends and family (and my own folks) who were. So, though we don't want to encourage any other parent to pull off such a mafia-styled parenting tactic, it's pretty fun to read about! 

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Author image for Elna McHilderson Elna McHilderson
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