Here’s a hard one for you, dear Pandas: how many different dinosaurs do you know? No Googling! Look, we don’t wanna show off too much, but we know someone who can name over 30 of them! If that’s not worth bragging about, nothing is.
When we were kids, many of us probably had way more confidence than we do now. We didn’t overthink stuff—we simply said what was on our minds and did what we wanted to do. And ‘flexing’ in front of others, whether at school, in the playground, or at home, was very different than humble-bragging at work or university. Kids would flex about the most unusual stuff. Like having cool toys, being able to count really high, and (yes!) knowing a ton of dinosaur names.
The parents of Reddit shared their funniest “weird flex, but ok” moments they’ve ever seen from their kids in a roaringly witty viral thread. We’re sharing the best stories with you, Pandas, to give you something to smile about—and to remind you to bring back a bit of that confidence most of us had when we were little. Got any similar tales to tell? We’re all ears! Drop by the comments and out your digital quills to work.
Bored Panda wanted to learn about the right balance to have between confidence and humility, and how to help keep your kids active, curious, and engaged with the world as they grow, so we reached out to Lenore Skenazy for a few insights. Skenazy is the president of Let Grow, a nonprofit promoting childhood independence and resilience, and the founder of the Free-Range Kids movement. She was kind enough to answer our questions.
"We all want our kids to feel confident, even cocky—but we don’t want them to be smug jerks. Is there a way to make sure the good side of feeling self-assured doesn’t become, 'I’m better than you, little peon'? Yes, and it’s simple: Give your kids some time for free, unsupervised, unstructured play," she said. Read on for our full interview with her!
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Not a kid but when I was 5, I had a mad crush on the 20 yo. daughter of this wealthy family friend of ours. I had asked for her hand in marriage and she agreed willingly. Playful to her but fully serious on my part, she was carrying her soon to be groom when her mother confronted me.
"you need to have money if you want to marry my daughter".
I looked right into her eyes and without missing a beat reached into my little pockets and tossed her a penny. Her face priceless, my smirk flawless.
My game never peaked again.
Skenazy, the president of Let Grow and the founder of the Free-Range Kids movement explained to Bored Panda what this type of unsupervised and unstructured play looks like. It is "play where the kids have to decide what games they’re going to play, and make the teams pretty fair, and solve their own arguments. Why? Play is how, throughout history, kids have become socialized," she said.
"Mother Nature put the drive to play in kids so they’d do all the hard work it takes to get to the goal: fun. To get there, kids have to collaborate, communicate, compromise. They have to 'read' the other kids to get buy-in, and tolerate some frustration. Those are all social-emotional skills kids need to develop so they can get along with other people. And since no one wants to play with a smug, selfish prima donna, the prima donna learns, through play, to be a little less pushy and prima-donna-y. The reward is happiness, so the lesson reinforces itself."
Skenazy shared some tips and resources for parents on how they can make all of that start happening. "Set aside some time when your kids can play WITHOUT you or another adult organizing the games or solving the spats. If you’d like your school to start a 'Play Club' like that, here is the free implementation guide put out by Let Grow," she shared some resources. "Look it over and consider giving it to your child’s teacher or principal! Or if you’d like to start a Play Club on your own, on your block, or at your church/synagogue/mosque, or at home, here is the Let Them Play Kit from Let Grow for parents—also free."
When my kids was potty training, he was in a phase where he loved temporary tattoos. We used tattoos as a reward for a successful potty trip. He got so he was covered on both arms, back and chest. We didn't think much of it, living in Seattle, until one summer day we took him to the wading pool. For one of the first times in public, we took his shirt off, and he strode out into the pool with his toddler abs, and Thomas the tank train shorts, looking like he had just finished a hard set of reps at the free weights in the prison yard.
My 5 year-old son woke up with his voice hoarse from a cold.
Me: oh, you’ve got a cold.
Him, solemnly: no, I think i’m a man now.
Bored Panda wanted to get Skenazy's opinion about how parents can help their children stay active and curious as they grow and mature. What's more, we were very curious about restoring kids' confidence in themselves (if they should ever lose it!).
"Old-time wisdom says: When you fall off the horse, get back ON the horse. It’s the same with goofing up on a test, a stage, a playing field. Failure is inevitable at some point. But! That point is not forever. Get up and try again—especially after a little more practice—and you will see the new
outcome for yourself. Simply reassuring a kid (or adult) that they’ll be fine does not do the trick. They have to try again," the president of Let Grow shared with Bored Panda.
Of course, failing is never fun, but Skenazy noted that it's all part of the learning curve. "In fact, it IS the learning curve: Your brain learns BEST when it is challenged or gets something wrong. So we have to give our kids a chance to do something on their own and realize: this is a little scary, I might fail, but it is also thrilling! Kids climb trees for exactly that experience!" she said.
My son, 4 at the time, was (I guess) trying to impress the 6 year old neighbor girl. He leaned casually on his arm and said, "I have lots of accidents. Pee and poop accidents."
I hope for his sake his pick up lines improve.
My 8 year old son's doctor was trying to make him comfortable during an EKG by telling him he had to leave his ear with the doctor. They went back and forth for a while and finally the doctor said he would trade him the ear for a lollipop. My son said he would not give up his ear but wanted the lollipop. The doctor said, "What! That is not a fair trade. What will you give me for the lollipop?"
My son answered dead serious, "I get the lollipop and you get my respect."
When my son was about 5 we went to visit relatives in the Washington, DC area. We were on the Metro when my son eyed a very pretty professional young woman. "I've got a lot of blocks," he told her. "If you come to my room I'll show you." Then he made motorcycle noises for about 10 seconds.
Meanwhile, when it comes to boosting curiosity and engagement with the world, you can't install these into kids by saying something like, 'Look at this leaf. Isn't it interesting?"
"The kid becomes the consumer of the experience, not the creator. It’s the difference between being in the driver’s seat and the passenger seat: The driver notices everything because they have to. They are alert, curious, processing information. The passenger is passive. In our culture, we turn kids into 'passengers' by presenting them with information, rather than giving them some freedom to go out, explore, and fall in love with the world by making their way IN it."
According to Skenazy, the solution to this passiveness is for parents to loosen the reins. "Let your kids do some things on their own: ride their bike, run an errand, walk to school, play outside. If you’d like your school to encourage this kind of independence so ALL the kids in a class, or grade, or school district start venturing beyond their comfort zone, suggest they assign The Let Grow Project: Kids get the homework assignment to 'go home and do something new, on your own,'" she said.
"Whole neighborhoods come alive with kids again! The Project Implementation Guide is FREE—here! And if you’d like to see how kids can become more confident and active once their parents trust them with some independence, check out this 2-minute video of incredibly ANXIOUS kids who grew much more confident and engaged after they did The Let Grow Project… 20 times! Curiosity breeds engagement, independence breeds curiosity. This mom couldn’t believe how much her daughter was ready for until she let go a little bit. Good luck! Email us with your story of new independence: Info@LetGrow.org!" Skenazy urged parents to encourage their children to be more independent and share their success stories.
When my son was 5, a waitress at Applebees asked him how old he was, to which he exclaimed, "I'm 5 and I pooped today!" I think everyone within 4 tables of us was very impressed.
My daughter (3) can poop in the back yard without anyone knowing. I picked it up for weeks wondering why the dog's poop looked so weird. I looked out of the sliding glass door one day while my girls were playing. I saw my 3 year old pooping in the middle of the yard. Her older sister (5) sprayed her with the water house as soon as the log hit the ground. It was a spectacular scene, and I will never let them forget it.
Sassy Niece after 1st day in school: "I learned how to count to eleventy today, I bet you can't!" Weird flex but... wait.
I indeed cannot count to eleventy.
Confidence is to be celebrated! It helps us push through failure, embrace mistakes, and chase our dreams with energy and creativity. However, confidence can morph, run wild, and turn into entitlement and arrogance if left unchecked.
Generally speaking, being proud of who you are and believing in yourself and your abilities is a great thing. However, putting others down to raise yourself up or believing that they are somehow ‘beneath you’ is crossing the line. Parents have a lot of power when it comes to shaping their children’s sense of confidence. And a lot can be said about what values a particular family prioritizes by looking at how they tackle special days like birthdays.
"When someone's sense of entitlement begins to encroach on the rights or good nature of others, then it's become a problem that the overly entitled person will need to address if they want to continue to enjoy the company of others," Suzanne Degges-White, Ph.D., was kind enough to explain to Bored Panda recently.
"It's normal to want to feel 'special' on special days, but when friends begin to resent you for the level of 'special treatment’ you feel you deserve, it's time to back down and remember that everyone deserves to be thought of as special and treated with equal respect,” the licensed counselor and professor at Northern Illinois University said.
While leaving a family gathering, my cousin asked my little boy for a fist bump. My child refused, cousin said 'come on, why no fist bump?' My kid, 5 at the time, looks him straight in the eye and says 'I don't want to break every bone in your arm'.
My three year old said she wanted to be a scientist.
I was so proud.
The next day we were driving and she says "Dad! There's a scientist!"
It was a guy on a street corner spinning a sign for a pizza place.
A sign-tist.
Sigh.
My son told me he doesn't need school because he already knows the name of 10 dinosaurs.
For anyone who wants to know, my son's favorite dino is the Spinosaurus.
That was my son’s favorite too. He learned to read a bit early at around 4. He loved dinosaur encyclopedias and had many of them. Was always drawing them and explaining them to me and his father. When we took him to the natural history museum, he was telling the patrons about all the fossils and skeletons… Wow, he’s 18 now and I haven’t thought about that in a long time. How time flies.
My wife?? (Oh lord, she saw this! I'm on the couch again for yet another two weeks!)
Stegosaurus - as a small kid I use to imagine them fighting T-Rexs with their tail. I was heartbroken to find out they lived about 80 million years before the T-Rex. That was two weeks ago... :(
"By making small events the 'annual birthday traditions' and including suggestions for 'giving back' to others on a birthday as a way to celebrate another year of maturity, families can raise children who don't expect to be showered with 'things' on their birthdays," the professor pointed out that parents might want to consider raising their kids to value their birthdays for other reasons besides the gift bonanzas they get.
"Traditions can include 'birthday pancakes' or 'cupcakes for breakfast' or some other celebratory start to the day. A special meal at dinner, getting out of chores on their birthday, and choosing a toy/book/clothing item to donate to a shelter or charity on the birthday are also ways to cultivate generosity and charity in children," she said that humility, kindness, and generosity are wonderful things to focus on.
"We all learn what we live and when we live in a world where we're feted and made to feel 'uber special' just by nature of a particular day rolling around on the calendar, we come to expect similar treatment throughout our lives. Small changes early on can make big differences down the road."
My son was in the tub and asked exactly how old he was.
Me: “Ummmmm...about 4 years, 10 months, and 4 days.”
After a few moments of deep thought, I heard him say quietly and reverently to himself:
“...and I haven’t been bit by a single wild animal.”
Oh man. Still kills me.
Had an Amber Alert hit my phone one night while my then 6yo was playing a game on it. She asks what that was and I explained it’s a message that gets sent out of a kid gets kidnapped. She looks at it again and sees it’s for a town over two hours from where we live. She then asks me why they sent to if it’s so far away. I said because they want everyone to look and find the kid, wouldn’t you want everyone to look if you got kidnapped? They want to find the kid so they don’t get killed. She leans over close to my ear and whispers “I’m very difficult to kill”
That's the spirit! Also, do everything possible so that they can't bring you to another location...
Was playing with figures from Pixar's Cars with a five and a three year old. The five year old was Lightning McQueen and was narrating the story. It was super mundane stuff like "Let's go get groceries" and "We need to fill up on gas" until this exchange:
>Five year old: Look, there's a hitchhiker.
>Me: What should we do? Are we going to pick him up?
>Five year old: No. We're going to eat his skin.
I haven't looked at that kid the same since.
My 7 y/o daughter didn’t want our houseguests to go in her room because that might see her awards (good grades, tae kwon doe belts). She worried they would think she was famous.
My wedding day. The ring bearer (5yo) is meeting one of my groomsmen (19yo) for the first time ever. Ring bearer walks up, is introduced and he responds by going "I know where your nuts are. And, I'm the perfect height to just punch them!" Then he just stood there.
That’s terrifying, pandas who would get hurt from this most, what would your response be?
A friend of mine had two young boys. The older one,
maybe 5, was sitting with him and pointed at a white hair and said “what’s this papa?” My friend said “oh it just means I’m getting old” and his son looked at him dead serious, looked at his brother and said “Well. I guess it’s just us and mom soon, huh?”
My 7 year old said “ I know everything until you ask me a question”. Whelp, ... ok.
Tonight my 3-year-old stopped midway up the stairs and turned slowly to me and said, “Mom. Earlier. While you were out. I. Put. On. My. Pants. All. By. My. Self. “. I have no idea why he emphasized every word, but then he smirked and turned and kept climbing the stairs. Big day. The kid is really going places.
My 6 year old son recently put his foot down letting me know it was not OK for me to tell him what he could wear or not because he is allowed to have "his own fashion". Ok, fine. Shorts, sandals and one black sock it is.
"Kati, you have to eat 3 more green beans before you're excused."
"No! No more"
"3 more."
"I'm gonna eat 4 more!!"
Oh no you got me good.
'I farted...say thank you' - 4 year old
'Don't you mean excuse me?' -Dad
'SAY THANK YOU!!!' - 4 year old
I thanked him
“There are lots of members of our family tree, and I’m probably the prettiest one, don’t you think?” - my daughter (to me), age 7
She is an identical twin, so kind of a weird flex.
My toddler just threw her dinner on the floor, started clapping, yelled "HOOOOOOORRRRRRRAAAAAYYYYY!" as loudly as her little lungs could possibly allow, then looked right at me holding up her palm for a high five.
When my brother was two or three he rolled down the car window to get the attention of the gas station attendant and shouted “hey mister, I got a penis!” He had a mullet, if that helps paint a better picture.
My nephew is 4 and thinks he's cooler than everyone else because he can tuck in his shirt by himself.
When I was an after school tutor for primary school kids, I excused a boy to the bathroom. He came back telling me he made the 'biggest poo' in the world. He intentionally didn't flush so that I could come look at it. I told him that was great, but it was art time. He said his big poo was art.
When my first son was 2, out of no where while his father, my father and he were watch sponge bob, my son just comes up and tells my that when he was in my belly "some bald guy kept asking him if he wanted some ice cream!!..." Among a few other things he said but, that line made me cry we were all laughing so hard. He is now 23 and once in awhile I'll tell him And his face turns red.
When I was young, my little sister nearly failed *kindergarten*: she didn't know the alphabet. In fact she didn't bother trying to learn it. When asked why she said: "I don't need to learn my letters because I'm *pretty*."
When my son was about 6, he was in the back seat with a friend, and he boasted that he had once thrown up his entire Chinese dinner on his bedroom carpet and you could see the food and everything.
PSA. Down votes get people banned, sometimes permanently. They are not dislike buttons. They are supposed to be used as a reporting system for comments that are harassing, hateful and spam, not comments that are different than your opinion or you don't agree with or may not understand. BP does not check the comments, and if someone is down voted they get an automated message that they have been banned for suspicious activity. Please save the down votes for people who really deserve it. Zara the squid did nit deserve Down votes.
My son kept asking me something and I said "You have already asked me that twice " and he said "I will ask three times".
I have been told that years ago when my SO’s daughter was around 5, he had gotten a serious back injury that put him into the hospital.
She went to visit him and told him to “Suck it up, Princess”
~Obligatory not a parent disclaimer~
When I was in kindergarten, one of the boys came up to me and said, “I’m so strong I brush my teeth without water”.
It’s always stuck with me because I was genuinely impressed. I ran around all day sharing the news as if it were some miraculous superpower or something.
Good for that kid I would destroy my gums if I didn't use water........
My daughter had a paper from school that she brought home. On the paper it said “If I had a million dollars I would...” and all the kids had to put their answer. My daughter wrote that she would pop out her eye balls. When I asked her about it later she explained how she wanted to pop out her eye balls and replace them with chocolate eyeballs.
My oldest told me she used to control me from the inside when she was in my tummy.
Note: this post originally had 42 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.
Omg I actually laughed at some of these.. I don't really literally laugh at posts much either. Thanks I really need positivity lately xxx
Idk if you needed this but i love you, you're gonna get through this <3
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Daughter was 3 or so at the time. During her bath she was asking about the differences between boys and girls (son is 7 years older) etc. As we leave the bathroom, hubby is sitting on the bed watching TV. She looks at him and says "Daddy, when I grow up I'm going to have breasts just like you!" I had to leave the room I laughed so hard! Hubby, bless his heart, just said "Yes, you will." 🤣
Omg I actually laughed at some of these.. I don't really literally laugh at posts much either. Thanks I really need positivity lately xxx
Idk if you needed this but i love you, you're gonna get through this <3
Load More Replies... Daughter was 3 or so at the time. During her bath she was asking about the differences between boys and girls (son is 7 years older) etc. As we leave the bathroom, hubby is sitting on the bed watching TV. She looks at him and says "Daddy, when I grow up I'm going to have breasts just like you!" I had to leave the room I laughed so hard! Hubby, bless his heart, just said "Yes, you will." 🤣
