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Parenting

14th Mar 2019

Mother asks for advice on how to leave a ‘cliquey mums WhatsApp group’

Olivia Hayes

This is a tricky one.

We all have them – those WhatsApp groups that we don’t want to be a part of.

Whether you were lobbed into one years ago and have yet to exit it or you were thrown into a parenting committee group, they can be really annoying especially when a million notifications pops up on your phone.

“My twins are in reception and at the start of term some of the cliquey mums set up a Whatsapp group and added me to it.

“Over the course of the school year I’ve taken a step back from the group and declined social invites with them as I’m increasingly uncomfortable with how cliquey and also bitchy it’s becoming. I want no part of this. What’s also made it awkward is that someone added into the group chat a mum who is notorious for bitching/gossiping/back-stabbing (she did this to my friend) and I just do not trust this girl at all as can already see her working her usual tricks on some of these mums.

“I guess what I’m asking is does anyone suggest a polite message I can send to explain why I’m leaving the group?! Or do you think not say anything. I don’t want to make a big deal out of it (and give any more reason for bitchiness!).”

Many mums replied to the post, with one saying that muting notifications is the easiest option:

“I’d mute notifications and say nothing if you don’t want to cause a fuss. Otherwise I’d just say group chats aren’t for me (which is true, I find them really pressurising) and retreat politely.”

While another said:

“Just say you’re trying to cut down on social media as its distracting so you are deleting a few apps including WhatsApp to try and refocus.”

What do you think is the best option for this?