So I'm not even sure if this is even a real memory or something I dreamed up.
I have this memory of me being in preschool when I was around 4 or 5 years old. One of the teachers there were giving Froot Loops to kids who could recite the alphabet. I don't remember if it was mandatory or not, but I feel like it more participatory, which would explain the teachers reaction more (spoilers).
Anyways, it was my turn to try and score a sweet snack and do my best at reciting the alphabet, but unfortunately I didn't really know it fully. When I recited my out of order and in general wrong alphabet, the teacher got annoyed and grabbed my arm. They thought that I was messing with them and playing dumb.
They started dragging me towards the daycare and threatened me with putting me with all the babies. That didn't end up happening in the end and I was let go and they were more than likely giving me a warning, which is where the memory ends.
I've had this memory for so long, so it might be true. Either way, it definitely had an effect on me in ways you can probably tell lol.
I think a number of us in our community have stories somewhat similar in nature to this one.
Back when I was in Elementary school (around the early to mid-2000s) my babysitter at the time, on different occasions, threatened to treat me like a baby for "acting like one." The one instance that really stuck out to me was when I was with her and her sister's toddler-aged kid in the mall. I was a bit hesitant about holding her hand at the time, once again mostly due to not wanting to be seen as a baby by others. I was being bullied at school at the time, so I was always very cautious about how I would be seen by others.
Cut to me now, where that fear has mostly dissipated in a way X3