Kids are far more clever than we give them credit for. We should know, we used to be kids ourselves! Their imaginations are in overdrive, their wittiness is off the charts, and they have their ‘snappy comebacks’ levels set all the way to 11.
Today we’re featuring the times that kids outsmarted their parents with some hilarious and genuinely impressive power moves, as shared on the r/madlads subreddit.
Scroll down, upvote your fave posts, and let us know in the comments which of these made you giggle the most. And be sure to read on for Bored Panda’s chat about parenting and how kids like to test limits with relationship expert Dan Bacon, a loving father of two.
Oh, and if any of you Pandas reading this are parents, we would absolutely love it if you’d share your own fun experiences raising your kids.
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9 Year Olds Being Absolute Madlads
Relationship expert and father of two Dan explained to Bored Panda what the right balance should be between strictness and fun when it comes to raising kids. According to him, patience is key. As is the understanding that children love to see what they can get away with doing.
“In order to be good, functioning citizens of a society, children do need to be shown what is good and what is bad. However, you have to remember that a child is a clean slate and is effectively innocent,” he said.
Mad Panini Lad
Not Sure If This Counts But Madlad Strikes At His Mom?
According to Dan, kids are constantly testing boundaries and checking to see what their parents will and will not allow them to do at home.
“The child will often say and do things that could make you angry if you don’t understand that he/she is simply testing to see what is okay or not, or what the limits are. Without testing, the child will just sit there, be quiet and do nothing, which isn’t going to happen,” Dan explained.
Madlad Kid
This Kid Deserves An A For Creativity
D E S T R O Y E D
“The child wants to explore the world around it and see what he/she can and cannot do. The child will also regularly forget what is right or wrong at times, or remember that something is wrong, but do it again anyway to see if you have a different response this time,” the dad of two pointed out what parents should be aware of.
“By doing it again, the child often shows you that it doesn’t need to follow a particular rule because the rule was too strict, or unnecessary, which then results in you changing and allowing the child to do it from then on,” he said.
Mothers Children Are Absolute Madmen. Out Of Control
This Little Mad Lad's On A Mission
Power Move
“So, you need to be patient as the child grows up and figures out how to behave and approach life in a way that suits you and himself/herself. One way to think about expecting a child to change or follow your orders is to remember how long it can take you to change a certain behavior as an adult,” Dan mused.
“Sometimes it can take weeks or months for you to stop a habit, change a behavior or take on a new behavior that people are asking of you, so you shouldn’t expect a child to change everything overnight and be completely obedient to every new rule you come up with," he said.
You Cant Speak Chinese Here
Honestly I Would Do That
Absolute Mad Lad Dad
"You have to love patiently, otherwise being a parent will make you feel stressed all the way through the child’s life," Dan said.
Some of us honestly think we peaked in terms of humor and wit and creativity when we were kids (and it was all downhill from there!). So it’s no wonder that we’ve been trying to recapture some of that magic. One of the ways to do it is to remind yourself what it actually means to be a child: speaking boldly and without a filter, setting our imaginations loose, and finding interesting ways of looking at the world.
What A Legend
Hope He Didn't Get Detention
Little Miss Madlass
Recently, Bored Panda went in-depth about how clever kids can be. Comedy writer and single mom Ariane Sherine said kids take after their parents in terms of wit, sense of humor, and creativity.
“Both I and my daughter’s dad work in the media, and from an early age, she’s wanted to be a pop star, writer, and actor. I don’t know how much of her creativity was influenced by seeing her dad’s writing in the newspaper and seeing me go out late to perform at musical comedy gigs. She definitely has creative talents, but how much of that is nature or nurture I don’t know. As for sense of humor, she’s far more sassy and sarcastic than me, so I think her sharp wit is all her own!” she told Bored Panda.
Madlad Son
Yup, S**t Happens
Who'd want to buy a High School ? I'm curious.
Load More Replies...We did something similar in 1978. But we had to take an ad in the newspaper. Was kind of expensive for kids but we pooled our resources. Ad was written as if the school was a large private compound. Swimming pools, home gym, sports fields, tennis court, professional kitchen, home office, art studio, extensive grounds. Used the school office phone number. What's nice about a newspaper ad back then is that it can't be removed in a click and usually takes a day or two to get it out. We had paid for 3 days Fri-Sun. No weekend changes!!
I'm impressed cause it was a lot more difficult back then
Load More Replies...One year the 6th formers at my school put ads for our principal’s car in several newspapers as part of the last day of school muck up. Suffice to say he wasn’t impressed.
My sisters year 12 class did something similar for their end of yeah prank. This was before internet so they hire a big for sale sign and stick it out the front. It included full description of rooms and amenities. Every thought it was hilarious. They also hid the teachers coffee mugs and that prank got them in big trouble.
Howie Mandel hired a construction company, bulldozers and all. They showed up at the school. He did get into trouble, but what a great start!
We have so many vacant school building here in STL, that student would probably have gotten a medal- or at least a nice commission.
My son's school prank was putting the school up for sale , he had a sign made advertising it for sale with the office phone number, it stay up for about 2 hrs. Coolest prank ever!
HaHa! My friends and I did the same thing for our senior prank. The one girl's mom had just gotten her real estate license a month or so beforehand. We worded everything so perfectly too. Large spacious kitchen, personal gym, large office space, grand library, we counted restroom stalls as individual half baths, the building had just gotten finished with additions not long before so we could say freshly constructed. It was 😃 great. They had no idea who was responsible for it either! Muah ha ha ha ha!
Can I make an offer? Not really, but... Hmmm, Lessee... Paint it all black, duct tape stuffed animals on the roof. Big sign out front, Pokemon Refuge Center.
"So why's your kid in detention??" "Ugh.. they got the idea to post the school for sale on craigslist & the office was bombarded w calls from absolute creeps."
Before Craigslist in the 80s my friends and I would put realtor signs in front of our high school.
A bunch of kids made my highschool a Chinese restaurant on Google maps
I would have arranged a honour guard for him the next time he entered school. With the band playing the National Anthem!
What is this end of the year prank I keep hearing about? Is that like a tradition in the states?
Aww that's not new. My senior year in 1991 at homecoming we put for sale signs in front of our school. Nice job though!
Madlad In Lecture
“My daughter loves starring in my social media posts. She actually asks me to tweet about her! When she does something cool or impressive like skateboarding or graffiti writing, she asks, ‘Can you put it on Twitter?!’ Then she loves to read the comments. I guess some kids are more shy and retiring, but I like the fact that mine is confident and happy to show the world her talents,” she said.
Mad Student
Madlad Kids
Absolute Madlad
Ariane told Bored Panda that she is a very liberal mom because she had very strict parents herself.
“I think being liberal encourages creativity as it gives kids the confidence to express themselves fully, and my daughter is usually very sweet-natured and well-behaved. She’s also a lot of fun, while I didn’t dare to be fun in such a strict environment when I was a kid, so I’m really pleased that I’m giving her a happier and freer upbringing.”
Lad In Progress!
Madlad's Mom Has Got It Going On
The Pastafarians Are Rising!
Farting Madlad
Nacho
Mad Dad And Mad Lad Jr
One got grounded, one was banned from bedroom but it was still worth it! :D
Child Mad Lad
Yeah, we're an enlightened bunch when we were kids. I drank a 500ml bottle of Hai Karate aftershave because my brothers and I wanted to know if it made my farts smell better. Just for the curious: Farts could still peel the skin off the back of your eyeballs at 20 meters, and you get weird hallucinations, but at least the nurses in the hospital saw the funny side
He Did It
My God Her Daughter Is A Madman
Absolute Madlad In The Comments
When my kid was five or so, they told me they would never get tattoos. I assume that having heavily tattooed parents has this effect on many kids.
This Kid
Vax Lads
Madlad 12 Year Old
This Kid Is Going Places
How To Scare The S**t Out Of Your Siblings 101
Bro, He's Just A Kid
Child Mad Lad
4 Year Old Madlad
Absolutely Devastated
Legend, This Kid Is
Madlad Kids
Once A Madlad Was 7 Years Old
Mad Lad Child
In Australia we say "step on a crack, break your mothers back; step on a line, break your fathers spine"... we're equal-opportunists!
Madlad Son
Maddest Of Sons
This Lad Has Zero Chill
Mad Lass
The Dedication Of This Mad Lad Nephew
Son Is A Madlad
Note: this post originally had 83 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
Of course that children are smart, that is the part of their survival instinct, so let's teach them compassion and kindness and that starts with animals - children tend to be drown to animals for reason. This only way to save our planet and their future. - "As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will NEVER know HEALTH or PEACE. For as long as man massacre animals they WILL kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain CANNOT reap joy and love." - Pythagoras (580 -470 BC/BCE) Greek mathematician & philosopher
When my son was in elementary school, you used to be able to play games with random people on Yahoo messenger (idk if that's still a thing because who uses it anymore?). He was matched up with a (apparently) older woman in Scrabble who asked at one point how old he was. "I'm 9, how old are you?" To which she replied "I'm older than dirt!" Later in the game she said, "You're pretty good for 9!" My son typed back "Thanks! You're pretty good for dirt."
I was a young teen when my future uncle babysat us for the first and last time. He woke up on the couch to find a mostly empty can of beer he left on the coffee table the night before. So he took a giant swig. I think he got most of it down before he realized that the large mouthful was not beer but pure pickle juice.
These are funny, but there's a difference between being smart and being clever. My niece was composing music at 5, last I checked speaks 3 languages and is the youngest black belt in her category, but can't have an original thought to save her life.
Of course that children are smart, that is the part of their survival instinct, so let's teach them compassion and kindness and that starts with animals - children tend to be drown to animals for reason. This only way to save our planet and their future. - "As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will NEVER know HEALTH or PEACE. For as long as man massacre animals they WILL kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain CANNOT reap joy and love." - Pythagoras (580 -470 BC/BCE) Greek mathematician & philosopher
When my son was in elementary school, you used to be able to play games with random people on Yahoo messenger (idk if that's still a thing because who uses it anymore?). He was matched up with a (apparently) older woman in Scrabble who asked at one point how old he was. "I'm 9, how old are you?" To which she replied "I'm older than dirt!" Later in the game she said, "You're pretty good for 9!" My son typed back "Thanks! You're pretty good for dirt."
I was a young teen when my future uncle babysat us for the first and last time. He woke up on the couch to find a mostly empty can of beer he left on the coffee table the night before. So he took a giant swig. I think he got most of it down before he realized that the large mouthful was not beer but pure pickle juice.
These are funny, but there's a difference between being smart and being clever. My niece was composing music at 5, last I checked speaks 3 languages and is the youngest black belt in her category, but can't have an original thought to save her life.