57 Hilarious Troublemaker Antics That Went Too Far

Many parents will tell you that when the house goes super quiet, the kids are probably up to mischief. A crime is about to happen, or it already has. I was in the living room the other day, about to investigate the deafening silence, when my 6-year-old crept into the kitchen, fetched something and went back to his room without saying a word.

Somehow, I had a feeling something was up. A few moments later, he came to me with a sheepish look on his face. "Mom, I got green paint all over my white bedding," he said. "I tried to wipe it off but I can't." Ouch, I thought, imagining how a wet cloth would have worsened an already bad situation.

I told him it's fine and that I'd try to remove the stain. Then, I took a closer look. And I just had to laugh...

When the wet cloth didn't work, this little kid had tried his best to conceal the evidence of the crime - clearly not realizing that this in itself is a crime. In a rather ingenious move, he grabbed a white acrylic paint art marker and attempted to color over the green, thinking that would do the trick.

Needless to say, it didn't. Neither did some bicarb, vinegar, lemon, detergent and my washing machine. The whole situation was too hilarious to get upset over. If anything, it lightened my mood. Funny troublemaker at their best...

Interestingly, experts say getting up to mischief can be a good thing.

“Often in children, naughtiness is about social experimentation, driven by curiosity as to how other people will react – and those are both markers of intelligence,” says child psychologist, Professor Sam Wass. “Whilst this isn’t true for everyone, it is fair to say that mischief-making can be a sign of intelligence.”

Wass says there’s often an increase in mischief-making amongst three to five-year-olds. That’s because at this age, children are discovering that that the thoughts in their heads are not the same as the thoughts in ours.

“They are experimenting with the juggling act of pulling the wool over someone’s eyes,” says the expert, adding that mischief is “a sign of healthy curiosity.”

Not too surprisingly, exhausted parents are divided…

One survey found that 55% of parents believe that mischief encourages a sense of curiosity and adventure, while 52% admitted to trying to stop their children from being mischievous.

Wass warns against clamping down on mischief aka playfulness and curiosity, saying doing so can send the wrong message to kids. Instead, he says parents should try and see the humor in the situation.

Even in adults, mischief can be a good thing... Especially, say some, when it's used constructively. The team over at Connected Path, a specialist digital consultancy, describe constructive mischief as ‘positive misbehaviour.’ In other words, "a little bit of roguish conduct that is ultimately well-meaning and done to deliver something positive, be that a feeling or a relationship," notes that site.

They add that constructive mischief allows us to laugh at difficult situations, to bring humor to tough times, to distract ourselves from nerves or just to build rapport with somebody else. According to the consultants, constructive mischief is a great trait when it comes to leadership at work.

"The best leaders are able to use constructive mischief to create progressive organisations, to motivate, to relax and to drive transformational thinking," they explain.

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