Mom protests when ex's girlfriend of 5 months insists on attending 5-year-old son's teacher meet and greet: 'She doesn’t want people to think him and I are together'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Aug 13, 2025 9:00 AM EDT

When a relationship breaks down, many people would love nothing more than not to have any dealings with their ex and the people in their life ever again. Unfortunately, when there are kids involved, this is a lot less plausible. Even when two people have figured out that they are not life partners, they have no choice but to try to be civil co-parents for the benefit of their children.

This is further complicated when people begin to get into new relationships. Potential stepparents only add to the potential for disagreements and drama with things like custody or parenting styles. Being both the ex and the parent at the same time is sometimes a tough role to fill without ruffling some feathers.

While it is of course important for kids to have the best relationship possible with any partner that a parent might have, many parents feel there are limits to this, especially if the relationship is new. Often, it isn't wise for a dating parent to rush things.

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  • Ex wants to bring relatively new girlfriend to meet the teacher.

    I feel like I am losing my mind a bit here, so I need opinions/advice on this. My (soon to be ex)husband (30M) and I(29F) have been separated for about a year now. It was my choice and I have fully moved on. However, he has a relatively new girlfriend (they started dating maybe 5 months ago) and he moved in her into his house about 3 months in to the relationship. This was after he was sneaking around my kid to meet her(25F) and telling him(5m) to lie to me about it. My kid was honest with me ab
    via Shutupcatlady

  • One mom had concerns about this after her ex got a new girlfriend who, after 5 months of dating, wanted to go along to their 5-year-old son's teacher meeting. Her reasoning was that she didn't want there to be any confusion about who her partner was with.

    While the mom was happy that her ex's new partner seemed to get along well with her son, she felt like she was overstepping what was acceptable at this stage of the relationship. She wanted to know if she was overreacting.

  • a woman helping a young boy to paint
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • My issue is that now he is insisting on bringing her to meet the teacher. I know she likes my kid and wants to be involved and I think that's definitely great they get along so well, however he told me that the issue was that she "doesn't want people to think him and I are together." To me, this is really weird. Meet the teacher is just as much for the parents as it is for the kids, and I feel like this is seriously overstepping simply because they are still in early relationship stages.
    via Shutupcatlady
  • a boy covering a woman's eyes while holding a heart shaped balloon and gift bag
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Their relationship is still very new, and I feel like they have rushed it and I'm worried about the impact it could have on my kiddo if things go south. But maybe I'm overreacting? I just want to know what I should do in this scenario, because I don't want to come across as some sort of overbearing or controlling ex wife. I just think this is wildly inappropriate?? Am I overreacting?
    via Shutupcatlady
  • the inside of an elementary school classroom
    via Nathan Cima

  • Outsiders assured her that her complaints were valid.

    Radiant Solution9875 If the new gf wanted to be part of these sessions because she's actively involved and you're coparenting as a trio, I'd say you were overreacting. But given that the reason is based purely on her not wanting people to think you're with your ex, it's completely inappropriate.
    via Radiant_Solution9875
  • ChoreomaniacCat No girlfriend or boyfriend of 5 months should be co-parenting their partner's child, even if they're the nicest person on Earth.
    via ChoreomaniacCat
  • JadedCartoonist6942 What does his gf have to do with your child's education? She might be a girlfriend but is not a parent. Id be annoyed with this personally and not because my ex had a girlfriend but because the girlfriend is overstepping trying to involve herself in my child's education.
    via JadedCartoonist6942
  • KookyInteraction1837 NTA!! At all "I'm worried about the impact it could have on my kiddo if things go south." You're right to be worried about it
    via KookyInteraction1837
  • Lisa_Knows Best Completely inappropriate to even introduce your child to a girlfriend of 5 months let alone try and include her on anything, ANYTHING, regarding your child. Stop this now. She's already overstepping and your ex isn't doing anything about it, things will only get worse. Go to the school meeting alone and make sure the school knows the girlfriend isn't allowed there or to make any decisions pertaining to your child. Take it to court if you have to. This is wildly out of bounds on b
    via Lisa_Knows_Best
  • Quiet_Village_1425 That would be a hard NO. Until she's officially the step mom she has no business in a parents role. You need to get the divorce finalized and have that put in your parenting plan!
    via Quiet_Village_1425
  • Frosty-Win-6472 I would be more worried about the new gf meeting and living with the kid in the short time period. I hope she is there to stay. If you ever go back to court, you need to ask for an amendment to not introduce partners until 6 mo and living arrangements longer. GF IS living in the house. If she's advocating for your daughter, focus on that. It's about how she treats your daughter. Teacher issue is the least of your concerns.
    via Frosty-Win-6472
  • whateveratthispoint_ Not over reacting!!!!!!!!! Their reasoning is immature!!! For a 5yo's teacher, it's likely to come up that mom and dad aren't together anyway!! EMOTIONALLY IMMATURE ALERT. Edit: the impact on your kiddo if the relationship ends is impossible to mitigate and she already lives there so, he's going to be impacted!
    via whateveratthispoint_
  • gdognoseit NOR He doesn't really know her and he's already trying to dump his parental obligations on her? I don't see any reason for her to meet with teachers. This is massively overstepping! As for the girlfriend's concern people will think he's still married to you, who cares? It's not your job to help his girlfriend. How ridiculous.
    via gdognoseit
  • writekindofnonsense You can't really stop him from bringing the girlfriend to parent teacher night. But you can have a private word with the teacher making sure she understands the situation that the girlfriend isn't a decision maker when it comes to your son. You can request any communication between the school and parents be sent to both of you. Fact is little kids talk a lot and that teacher is gonna know everything your son knows about your relationship dynamic.
    via writekindofnonsense
  • 0512052000 She can absolutely stop him. It's a data protection violation if the parents don't consent. She can't share information to non parents unless they are a carer or have temporary custody or something.
    via 0512052000
  • Imaginary_Being 1949 Not overreacting. Let him know it's inappropriate. If he insists then you can schedule separate ones until you get a court order modified to make parenting spaces private.
    via Imaginary_Being1949
  • Global_Fig_6385 "I feel like it is inappropriate for her to be there. She is still new to our child and isn't a parent yet, so she has no reason to meet the teacher. Showing up just to let people know we aren't together is weird and dramatic, especially when I have no intentions to make it look like we are together, and our separation would probably be brought up anyway. If she becomes a step mom, then we can start including her in parent stuff, but until then, she has no reason to be that invol
    via Global_Fig_6385
  • XWarriorPrincessX I would be so uncomfortable if my new boyfriend asked me to attend his child's meet the teacher event. However I would never be living with someone this quickly, at most I would have just barely met their kid. Because that's what you do as a mature adult who is looking out for the welfare of children. So your son lived with you both as a family just a year ago. And in that time, you guys separated, his dad starts dating, he meets the lady and they move in together in just 5 mon
    via XWarriorPrincessX

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