Recently, I came across this post on the popular r/Teachers subreddit entitled, "What can I teach my kid to make your lives easier?" and I thought that was such a great question.

So, I decided to ask teachers in our very own BuzzFeed Community for some helpful things parents can be teaching their kids before they get to your classroom; and reader, they delivered. Here are some of the most insightful answers:

1."How to deal with failure, and that low grades are an opportunity to learn."

2."Mom of a teacher here: teach your kid how put his own coat on, and zip it up."

3."Look up each milestone by age for your child and make notes on whether they met the milestone by the appropriate age. This may help your child get evaluated for a learning disability by the school if needed."

"The earliest you can do this, the easier it is to get your child the academic help and support they need. This is what my mom did for me, which helped me get diagnosed with Asperger's when I was a kid."

—jennies4783ed5b8

4."As a Pre-K teacher, these are the things we look for or complain about:"

5."Preschool teacher here; a 4-year-old should be able to put on their own shoes and socks."

6."Empathy."

—jennifert50

7."[Kids should know] that there are places and situations where you need to sit still quietly, listen, and follow directions."

8."How to buckle and unbuckle themselves. It makes drop off and pick up go so much faster if the parent doesn’t have to help."

9."My parent taught kindergarten for 20 years. Teach your kids how to zipper their coat, if you can. She said it was such a hassle zipping 30 winter coats before class could go out for recess."

—re89245

10."From a lunch lady: please, thank you, [teach them] not to throw food back into the salad bar if they have food allergies, and how to eat grapes (because I'm not cutting them in half for your kid only)."

11."Not a teacher, but a school bus driver. Teach them how to ride the bus safely and [teach them] appropriate behavior. I should not have 5-year-olds dropping the F-bomb on the bus, or yelling, or refusing to follow directions."

12."Really, I think it boils down to not babying your children — which is not to say you shouldn't respond with compassion or model good EQ."

"[This was all] much to the shock of their parents, who were often still doing things like spoon-feeding their two-year-old because he insisted he 'didn't know how.'"

"Babies stop being babies quickly. Enjoy it while it lasts, then embrace your child's new abilities. You don't need to infantilize your child to show him that you love him. It makes it hell for anyone else who has to deal with him."

—lobster_lemon_lime

13."I teach preschool and I love to get kids ready for elementary school. I feel like it’s my job to bridge the gaps between home life... and school life. However, parents, please teach your children to use words!"

14."How to put their coat and shoes on independently, open their lunch boxes/snack containers/juice boxes, how to put marker caps on properly, and how to fully close a bottle of glue."

15."Work with them on knowing the alphabet. The number of kindergarteners who don't recognize their letters and the sounds they make is astonishing."

—berchenika

16."Principal here. Toilet training would be number one. [Other than that, teach them] that adults are to be listened to; to share, and say please, thank you, and sorry; how to speak intelligibly; the meaning of the word 'no.'"

17."Basic manners! I'm a third grade teacher and so many kids don’t even know how to say a simple 'please' and 'thank you.'"

"It goes beyond that, too. Many kids are so selfish, and I can tell which kids were taught manners by their parents [and who were] not taught at all."

—silkycrab88

18."Simple social skills. I taught preschool, and a lot of children had a difficult time being around other children."

19."Patience!!!"

—slyowl532

20."Their last name."

ABC

—dazzlingsorcerer156

"This! They need to know their full name (and how to spell it, preferably), home address, and a grown-up's phone number."

—sunnie14

21."Respect."

—tootszoids989

22."How to go to the potty by themselves. All I can say is 'Good grief, how did you make it to the tenth grade?'"

23.And finally: "Manners. Teach them basic manners like [saying] please [and] thank you, not running to be first, no pushing, stealing, [and no] lying to the teacher."

If you have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them in the comments — especially if you're a parent or a teacher! Or, if you want to comment but prefer to stay anonymous, you can check out this anonymous Google form. Who knows — your thoughts may be included in an upcoming BuzzFeed article!

I think it is safe to assume wedding planning can be pretty stressful for many people — not all, but a lot.

And, weddings are often a topic of debate online, so it's no surprise that when Reddit user u/stay_zooted shared this screenshot of a text exchange he had with his mom two days before his wedding, over 100,000 people became invested:

First of all, most were fuming. Like u/pink_wing, who said, "What gets me is that she didn’t even INVITE them. They just randomly told her they’d be showing up; they invited THEMSELVES! Who the hell does that?"

u/OneDragonfruit9519 sensed the intensity through the screen. "I can feel the frustration from here. Calling someone 'Mother' is the equivalent of your mom calling you by your full name," they wrote.

Soon, people started sharing their own horror stories. "My MIL asked for 50 spots for her 'friends' and 'coworkers.' It was a wedding of 125 guests. We couldn’t believe she was serious," u/rogan1990 shared.

"My mom wanted me to change people’s seats on the morning of, while staring at the gigantic poster we had created with people’s seating arrangements. I feel your pain," added u/kluvspups.

u/final_grl has been in the situation of trying to figure out last minute seating, too. "My mom's random ass cousin texted her three days before my wedding and told her he was coming with his family of five…. Like where would I find an extra table to put all of you shmucks."

u/777marcus further expressed how seating arrangements aren't that easy to move around. "My step mom decided to change seating arrangements at her table to fit in her niece and daughter WHILE MY WIFE AND I WERE TAKING PICS AFTER OUR CEREMONY because they showed up unannounced. This resulted in my friends not being able to sit and we had to scramble to find another entire table for them to sit at. I have never been more heated in my life."

Many people were also going off about the annoyance of unexpected guests. "My husband's unhinged aunt who lives out of state RSVP-ed 'no.' Then she decided three days beforehand that she was coming after all. I had to move things around at the last minute, and she proceeded to get wasted on alcohol and sob in the venue bathroom to anyone who would listen. Five years later, some of my guests still talk about the 'wasted lady in the bathroom,'" u/siriuslycharmed said.

And u/DankestDrew experienced the worst type of unannounced visitors: "The owner of our wedding venue brought people in to do a viewing DURING speeches at our reception. When we confronted her, she said, 'It’s my property; I can do what I want.' My father and several guests left some scalding reviews on their Facebook page, which she demanded we take down. We didn’t. Get fucked."

With so many people commenting in the thread, however, other viewpoints started coming in. Like u/chaldaichha, who said, "This is so interesting as someone who grew up in South Asia. My parents invited more than half of the 600 people at my wedding, and I barely knew any of them. We just invite anyone and everyone. There are no specific seating arrangements, and the food is a huge buffet rather than served at tables. The wedding is more about the couple’s parents and family than the couple, which must be bizarre to you guys!"

"I find it interesting how structured and strict the seating arrangements are in most western weddings. In Pakistan, you can book a hall for 350 or 500 guests in most venues. We booked for 350, and about 250 were confirmed shows; families generally picked where they wanted to sit and with whom. There were couch seating areas for the elderly, and most attendees brought extra guests. This complex had about eight halls, four on each side, with weddings taking place simultaneously. We had buffet arrangements, but my uncle was very peculiar about the meat dishes, so he had a butcher supply all the meat to the venue's chefs; the lamb and the chicken turned out incredibly tender. Overall, it was a very relaxed and carefree experience," u/ry-zen7 shared.

"This wouldn’t be an issue at a Mexican wedding," added u/Due-Style941.

u/Medaphysical chimed in to say, "To be fair, weddings having strict seating arrangements that are finalized weeks in advance is kinda dumb. We live in 2024 and people act like it's impossible to grab two extra chairs. It's a party."

"Why do you care about seating arrangements? They are adults. They can find a place to sit," u/black_mamba_returns said.

And, finally, u/HAPPYDAZEWAZE left everyone with food for thought: "As a guy who lost his mother a few years ago, my advice is to chill out and tell your mom you can’t wait to meet her friends."

Alright. We can't wait to hear your stance on this situation. Let us know in the comments!