40 Parents Share How They Tried Teaching Their Kids Life Lessons, But It Didn’t Go As Planned
Raising children is no easy task, and pretty much every parent wants their kid to succeed in life. That’s why time and again, they try to pass on precious wisdom to make sure they grow up to be generally good human beings. However, even when moms and dads have the best of intentions, their lessons sometimes reveal unexpected results.
If that sounds familiar to you, we hope that you’ll find comfort in knowing you’re definitely not the only one. One Reddit user decided to find out what funny accidents parents had when they shared advice with their young ones. They asked, "What lessons have you tried to teach your kids that completely backfired?" and thousands of stories rolled in.
Bored Panda handpicked some of the best answers from this thread to make up a collection of hilarious parenting mishaps for you to enjoy. So continue scrolling, upvote the ones you enjoyed most, and share your own anecdotes in the comments below!
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Taught my daughter that whining and begging doesn't get her what she wants. She needs to make a logical argument. I now live with a 12-year-old lawyer who is really good at making me change my mind on house rules
Told kids that if they were bad they would get coal in their stockings on Christmas. "What's Coal?", they asked. Well, it is a rock that you can light on fire. They now want coal.
When I was about 2 years old my family was at a game in Angel's stadium. My mother went to the restroom and left me and my siblings with my dad. While he was busy watching I wandered off. When they eventually found me I was halfway around the stadium. A crowd had gathered to watch as a police officer held me out at arm's length while I screamed "call the police, this man is not my daddy" over and over again. My parents had taught me stranger danger but forgot to teach me what police look like.
Taught my now 16-year-old to always compliment people who insulted you. We were in a Burlington Coat Factory in Michigan when my mother was shopping for a bathing suit to take to Florida. There were few to choose from, so she was complaining. My kid was 4.
A woman tried on pants and said something rude to my mom who was asking my opinion and my daughter caught on that my mother was agitated. She squeezed out behind me and told the woman,
"Your teeth are such a pretty yellow!"
My dad tried to implement the whole you MUST eat ALL the food on your plate in our house during meals. My mom was never a fan of that lesson, but my dad was stubborn so she just let it go. Well, one day my sibling had 2-3 bites of food left on their plate, and was very clear that they were absolutely full and couldn't eat another bite. Dad wasn't having it and insisted they could not leave the table until all the food on their plate was gone. My sibling realized they weren't going to convince our dad that they were too full and finished the last few bites and then proceeded to vomit on the table and our dad. He stopped enforcing the rule after that.
this rule is a little gross though! like i get why its a thing but i don't really like it
Not only gross, but stupid rule too. I don't think childrens are good at estimating quantity of food they are able to eat and often parents will place the food on plate for them. Children are not robots, no one except for them can know when they are full. I remember this idiotic rule was enforced in my elementary school, where everyone got the same amount of food (kids often didn't like). And sometimes teachers stood there until some children finished their plates completely. Barbaric!
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Forcing children to eat can destroy their relationship to food and in those worst case lead to eating disorders. It really is terrible parenting.
This rule still makes me so mad. It doesn't even make any sense because, until a certain age, kids don't even choose the size of their portion. How is it healthy to teach a child to continue eating even though they're already full? Shouldn't the lesson be: Don't fill more on your plate than you can actually eat and if you're still hungry after you finished your plate, you may have more. We shouldn't waste food but we also shouldn't force someone to eat more than they can swallow. My father did this to me all the time, especially when it came to meat. I'd tell him, I didn't want more and he would still put more on my plate and then be mad at me for refusing to finish it. This doesn't do anything else than create unhealthy eating habits and resentment.
The mother could just put a little less on the child's plate. Surely the child could ask for more if still hungry. Or was that not allowed by the domineering father?
Yeah, good point! Why didn't the mom step in ti help the child? Sounds like an abusive dad.
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Worst rule EVER teaches bad food behavior/relationship with food. No one can decide how much food should eat.
This rule caused obesity in my childhood. If the child's physical development is normal, don't force your child to finish everything in their plate. Instead, put smaller amount of food.
The rule is fine if you dish up your own food, but totally unfair if someone else is dishing up for you. Yes you might take too much the first time and then realize and adjust accordingly the next time, but if your parent is just dishing up the same amount every time you're not learning anything.
Great way to make kids ignore hunger/fullness and make them fat for no reason, if kids can't finish their food and you don't want to waste it just make a smaller portion next time
..and let's overlook that no amount of therapy helps my brain to acknowledge that I am full and I won't be punished for not finishing everything on my plate.
I feel for you. It would really frustrate me. I'm sure you've tried this, but making a smaller amount that is appropriate and once done then distracting your self with something like a book, puzzle, walk around the block or something crafty to stop you from thinking about the fact you might not have had enough?. There's also the phrase 'I will have it later', if you want a snack, despite having eaten recently. Again redirect your attention elsewhere.
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This is how fat, diabetic people are made. That and withholding meals as punishment.
Its such a stupid rule! All you teach kids is to ignore their body signal when they are full. This leads to over eating and adult obesity. Dad's a jerk.
My parents realized early on (when I barfed at a Pizzeria) that when I say I'm full, I'm full. My parents aren't horrible, but I was their first child, and they were still learning.
That 'rule' is the culprit of a lot of minor obesity and ill health.
I don't like this rule. I think it's very controlling. Start small with food portions; so they can finish their food. Help kids succeed; not fail. Eating disorders most likely arise because of making kids sit at the table until they finish their food. Sitting at the table should be enjoyable not tearful.
My father was like this, especially in restaurants where his harangues were particularly embarrassing. I'm 62 and I still vomit after eating in a restaurant. Please don't do this to your kids.
I feel for you. Most of times when we are a a restaurant we were on vacation and we could choose whatever we wanted, within reason. Want a slice of lemon meringue pie for dinner? Go ahead. (I was too distracted to order an entree, and was jumping ahead to dessert).
Load More Replies... It's just unhealthy to make somebody unlearn to listen to their bodies telling them:thanks I'm full. It's one of the reasons we as a society struggle with obesity. I get it came from a time when there wasn't so much food available and nutrients were vital to your health, but that time has long gone. Although now, we do have a problem with too few nutrients, that is not because we have too little food but too little of the right food...
This is one of the reasons we have a problem with obesity... Not teaching your kids to listen to their bodies telling them whether they're still hungry or not. It makes no sense. I get that it's coming from a time where there wasn't so much food around and it was important to get all the nutrients available.
Switch the parents, and that's what mine were like. My mother would scream at me specifically to finish what was on my plate. I'm not a picky eater, but I'm also now overweight.
Shouldn't be a rule in the first place and glad your dad learned his lesson
When I was in elementary school & had hot lunch every kid got the same amount of all the same things & we weren't allowed to leave our seat & go outside to play until we finished every single bite.. Period. No exceptions. I absolutely hated their rice pudding & refused to eat it so on those days I had to sit there alone all afternoon until it was time to go home. I still hate rice pudding to this day & refuse to eat it but at 70 years old there's no one going to tell me I can't leave the table. Lol.
If you’re going to enforce a rule like that… then I get to choose what foods and how much of the foods go on my plate.
If you want this rule then start with smaller portions. If you force your kid to eat like that, they get used to overeating and grow up thinking that's how it is to be "full".
I feel it is so important to teach kids to listen to their bodies. "Eating all of what you are served" is why so many Americans are obese.
Our rule was you finish your plate if you served yourself. If someone else served the food that rule didn't apply. unless you were a guest at someone else's house. Ur unless we were in Egypt where you're supposed to leave a little food to show you're full. Unless you're eating at a farmers house in Egypt - they don't usually do that.
My rule is that if you don’t finish what’s on your plate, then you don’t get dessert! Because I get if you are too full , just don’t eat anything else!
I used to do this with my kids too. Then I realized I'm asking them to overeat just so they can go over eat some more! It's a bad precedent. Life is short. So if we want dessert, we eat LESS of our meal - not more.
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This has happened in so many families. I herad this story over and over again. My own grandmother stopped forcing my mother and uncle to finish what wa son their plates after they both threw up once.
Good! Thats a stupid rule (it happened to my sister and she vomited all over the hag that was forcing beets down her throat)
My parents had that rule, to this day, I can't eat food that gets cold, and I can never leave anything behind. I hate that rule. Small portions would have helped.
My Parents and grandparents enforced the clean plate rule now I'm in my 60's and obese as hell....
My dad had that rule when I was little. When I pointed out that I wasn't the one who put that much food on the plate, all that did was lose my TV privileges for a week.
Wow. Sorry you went thru that! Your dad sounds like a jerk.
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Also, hot dogs make me sick...I refused to eat them ny the time I was 8. Last time I was forced...I managed to cram the whole thing into a napkin and flushed it down the toilet. They were so proud until we got home and the toilet exploded from my hot dog.
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That is a really stupid rule as long someone else filled the kids plate and glass! But a smart rule if the kid constantly overfill and then don’t eat up in order to teach it’s better to take small portions several times until you are actually full instead of throwing food away.
You should NEVER teach this. This is what I was taught and I've been morbidly obese for decades. Obviously my fault now, but don't get that started. Good for her for throwing up.
When I was 3 my mom said, once, there are starving children elsewhere. When she walked away, I found a box, put plate inside, and told her we needed to send it. And time I sat at the table until my parents had to go to bed. I was a bit cheeky, but I never power struggle about food that way with my child.
This is a staple rule in my house cos me and my siblings all have fast metabolisms and are underweight no matter how much we eat :/ for reference I am 16 and 40 kg at 5'1 *cries*. Also my parents value food alot and teach us to do too, as we are fortunate enough to have food on the table but millions of children around the world don't. However, my parents didn't enforce it to the point of vomiting tho
i did this at maybe age 10. my dad cooked chipped beef on toast and tried to force feed me. i promptly threw up on the plate.
My aunt made me do that once, n after I barfed all over Grandma's house she told my aunt there would b no more of that b.s.!
I have heard that this rule has actually worsened the childhood obesity crisis- teaching kids to ignore their body telling them they are full and keep eating. I strongly suspect the rule came about during the Depression or WWII eras, when food was scarce. You probably had to eat whatever you could before it spoiled because you didn't know the next time food would be available. Those kids just grew up with that as the norm and passed on to their kids, and so on.
This happened to my cousin, instead of vomiting... He's appendix burst
Wish I had thought of that, cuz. that was The Rule at our dinner table! (Brother had the dog on this side!)
In any asian families this is a rule of thumb. You don't waste food.
I think the rule should be is to only get the amount of food you can eat. Then get some more later if you want to eat more. That's what we do.
My parents enforced this rule but they also asked us (within reason) how much food we wanted. So it was more a lesson in not taking too much and wasting food.
if he’s really concerned about leftovers, just stuff in fridge. They can reheat and eat the rest some other time (probably as in-between)
My dad sometimes still mentions this. And I'm in my 30's. I feel like it's kindof guilt-tripping. also I never got how that's supposed to directly help someone malnourished in Africa, or somewhere. That never made sense [maybe it's not.].
wasting food is bad and belittles the millions of children that die from starvation every year. Eating all your food without wasting it means that the food didn't just rot and someone gained sustenance from it. However, i do think more people with the ability to eat everyday should donate to starving people - that's a more direct approach
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Actually it works well when in the right situation. One of my little nephews had an issue with ARFID, the eats one food only disorder, with jalapeno cheezits, for a very long time unfortunately. We'd put little amounts of different foods (fruit, meat, veg, etc) on his dinner plate and make him finish it all. It would never fully enforced to the point of vomiting though. Helped him greatly in the long run!
My dad sometimes still mentions that. And I'm in my 30's. I kindof feel like it's guilt-tripping.
I can understand that for like small things but whole meals is a time that i definitely shouldn't be enforced especially if they don't control how much they are given
Our rule worked; you take it, you eat it. Also, you have to try any new food.
actually positive reinforcement - you are ADDING something bad, not taking away something good
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I once told my mom several times I did not want Spagehettios for lunch. Later that day, while sitting on her lap, I threw up Spaghettios all over her.
The exact thing happened to me, the last time my Mom ever insisted I eat a creamed vegetable. Creamed carrots! Who TF even thought of that?! They looked exactly the same on my plate before I ate them, and after they came back up!
This is exactly what my husband did to his parents when he was a kid! And why we only make the kids eat their veggies, everything else they just have to try once.
Yeah the clean plate was a thing in our house. When I was 12, my dad got on me about not finishing what I had. I told him I didn't want to grow up and be 150 lbs overweight like him. His wife burst out laughing and he never said anything thing to me. I need to call him and apologize LOL
And they wonder why most Americans (like myself) are a bit overweight... I was a member of the "clean plate club" myself. This is a horrible way to teach kids proper eating habits.
I once hid lima beans in my pocket at school lunch for the same reason.
Before my stepfather & his mom were in my life, I was a healthy little girl, who was on the slim side. I ate very slow & never ate a lot (not even sweets or other junk food). They didn't like this, always got onto me for "eating like a bird" & started dishing me up & making me eat every last bite on my plate. I'd sometimes be at the table for a couple hours. By the time I was a teenager I began battling my weight & it's only gotten harder the older I get. Needless to say, I have NEVER made my kids finish their food! They're teensgers now & both know how to eat healthy and have no issues with weight or food.
I never understood this . If your full stop eating. It's a great way to raise children who are obese. My MIL tried to do that. They were visiting grandparents. She gave entirely too much food. My oldest was full and she was going to hit her with a fly swatter. My then 8yr old grabbed the fly swatter and chased MIL. Last time she went. Only two things I regret I wasn't there to see it or record it. Still funniest memories. Not my oldest grandmother.
We always had a far more sensible rule. If you put something on your plate yourself, you have to eat it all. If someone else serves it to you, you only have to take one bite. That rule got me and my sister, and later on our kids, to try new foods, but they never felt forced to eat something they didn't like or want. Why do parents force their kids to do something they would never apply to themselves?
Thus rule un my hime is only enforced if you begged for it then dont wat a bitr
It's important that parents scale the meal to a size slightly smaller than the kid can handle. We did 'clean our plates' in my home growing up, but we were also told, "if you're still hungry, you can have seconds". We ate relatively slowly and sat at the dinner table and talked. Kind of a lost art.
My parents did this to my sister who was a pickey eater. She used to sit at the table from lunch to dinner. Didn't eat a bite more then she wanted to. That is how I've learnde it doesn't work. Now I teach my kids to eat until they are full. It is ok for me if they eat only a few bites, they can eat again in a few hours if they are hungry again. I keep healtly snacks of same homemade cookies that they can eat.
I've never been a fan of that rule. My kids can stop eating whenever they want. Of course if they're too full for something they can't have something else...
I did excatly this in school. We wasnt allowed to take food outselves and forced to eat up. It was canned fish "meat"balls, distgusting food. I returned it all over the stubborn teacher.
That's a bad policy ask all the fat ( me) from the clean plate club. Small servings and self regulation is the most appropriate course of action
I kind of had this rule. I insisted that my children eat a little of everything on their plate if I was serving something new to them. My mom's rule was eat or don't, there's nothing else.
Nah, not the same rule at all. You said 'a little of everything' rather than 'must clear their plate' and it's good to get children to try different foods. Food should never be a battle ground - that way eating disorders lie but in the OPs example I suspect it was a case of 'that's what my parents did and I'm okay' without remembering how they felt and the misery it probably caused them at times (are they really okay if forcing it on the next generation without thought?). The one thing I do remember being upset by is that sometimes a food just can smell unpleasant to a person and if they don't like the smell they may well not like the taste. You can shut your eyes to a food's appearance but you can't reasonably block up your nose!
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I remember doing that exact thing at my grandmother's house. She would not give in at all. Very sad.
My youngest boy would never listen, and he was always totally fearless. He was also always really lucky. Damn near every time either of us told him "don't do that, you're going to get hurt", he would do it and then not get hurt. So we ended up teaching him that when we said not to do something, that probably meant it was a fun thing to do. I remember really hoping that he would fall and break an arm or something non-life-threatening or disabling like that so he would stop constantly giving us heart attacks, which is weird to say as a parent but it never happened so it doesn't matter anyway. He never got anything worse than a small scrape or cut that could be cleaned and covered in five minutes before he was back at it again. Looking back I'm just glad this was before there was anything like Jacka** around to further encourage that s**t.
Now he's a stunt man for movies. Can't say I'm surprised.
When my daughter was 10, she wanted to try out for a community theater version of Beauty and the Beast. She got nervous though, and almost backed out, because she was so sure she wasn't going to make it.
My husband, who did some acting in high school, stepped in and said that he would also audition, even though he knew he was never going to make it. He wanted to demonstrate to her that it's okay to audition for something that you don't think you're going to make.
She ended up not only just making it, but she got the part of Chip. My husband got the part of Maurice, Belle's father. He didn't even want to be in a goddamn play
And now they will have a shared connection that will last a lifetime. What a gift!
A coworker of mine was trying to teach her kid the "don't talk with your mouth full" rule. Instead, the kid just spits out their food when they want to talk.
Children are the absolute masters of malicious compliance.
My kids were begging for a pet. I don't want to take care of a pet, and I told them that they don't clean up after themselves without me hassling them, so why would they clean up after a pet without me hassling them. Told them if they could keep their room clean for 6 months without me telling them, they could get a pet.
The youngest child proceeds to clean the room, then moves clothes and a sleeping bag into the hallway and locks his door so his room can't get dirty as he sleeps in the hallway.
Evil genius. He’ll either grow up to be a stock broker or a gambler’s bookie.
Not a parent but when I was around 12, my father suspected that I stayed up late playing video games, even though I didn't. One night he went into my room and told me that I shouldn't play my Game Boy Advance past bedtime because I needed to rest. That's when I realized I could play my Game Boy Advance past bedtime, and I've suffered from insomnia since then.
This happened to me growing up. I was always getting in trouble for all sorts of things like smoking (I was around 9 when I was first accused of smoking) after years of accusations and groundings for something I had never done and with new found confidence (hormones) in adolescence I figured if I was going to be punished for something I probably should do it. The irony is because the accusations had been happening for so long people stopped caring so I got away with pretty much everything.
Told my children repeatedly that if I found any more mess/junk on their bedroom floor, I would be donating it to the thrift store. I told them they had 15 minutes to clean it up off the floor.
Came back to find everything picked up, except they went into the kitchen cupboards and had put every food they didn't like in a nice neat pile right in the middle of the floor.
Read a book that suggested you ask your kid what an appropriate punishment for misbehaving would be and then carry it out. 6 yo son pinched his brother or something, so we asked what an appropriate punishment would be. He said, “pluck out my eyeballs and throw me over a cliff?”. We didn't follow through. And stopped reading parenting books.
Perhaps you should offer choices for punishment as for them to not be so drastic.
Not a parent, but as a child, I noticed my sister was writing her name on the walls when she was drawing on them with crayons. Taking on the role of Helpful Big Sister, I informed her if she was going to graffiti things she shouldn't write her name and give herself away.
A few weeks later, she was carving patterns into the wooden desk in the study and carved my name into it instead.
My sister tried to teach her kids not to gamble, so she bought a few lottery tickets to show them that they were all going to be losers. She won $500
Had a boss that used to curse us for "wasting money on the lottery"... one day he finally broke down and bought a $1.00 ticket and won $800 and couldn't stop buying them after that. Ended up in counseling for gambling addiction...
Not a parent, but I work in a school.
At my school we have a lot of kids with learning disabilities (more than in your average school, as we have a special program for it and get special funding), so one of the first lessons of the school year is "everybody needs different things to learn, and if somebody is getting something different from you it's because that's what they need to learn at school." You know, a kid-friendly way of explaining accommodations.
Now, the usual accommodations we offer are special chairs/wiggle seats, extra breaks during the day, and extended testing time and tests were taken in a quiet room. One kid, however, has decided to take the 'everyone learns differently' lesson to heart and now talks in a fake-British accent (I live in America btw) all day. Because 'it helps him learn.
Then all of the other kids started talking in fake accents.
I taught them about democracy. Now everything’s a vote and when they don’t get their way they call me a dictator.
Only half the lesson here... 1) What a democracy is, and 2) Not everything is a democracy.
Saw a clip on local news about a toddler saving her mom's life by calling 911 when she collapsed. Figured it was a good idea to teach my toddler 911. Had two cops at my door 5 minutes later.
My wife tried to explain the concept of heaven to our 5-year old after great-grandpa passed. My daughter did not believe one ounce of it. She responded, "you're making that up mommy, you can't be in heaven and a cemetery at the same time".
My parents tried to start a chore/payment system around the house. There was a list of chores and then payment for them.
"Clean guest bathroom...$1.50. " First, I just kept using that bathroom, so it needed cleaned daily. Basically got paid to poop. They stopped that after the first week.
Next, I realized it didn't say WHO had to do the cleaning. I'd pay the neighborhood kids to do it instead. I'd give them $1 to clean the bathroom and pocket the $.50. I did that one for like, 3 weeks before the other parents found out and I got yelled at.
One of my 5-year-old twins was still having occasional accidents because she would get so caught up in playing/doing something else that she just wouldn't go and would pee her pants. To combat this we would give her a special prize of some variety when she wouldn't have an accident. This, in turn, caused her twin sister to START having accidents so she could get prizes for not having accidents (even though she was fine on this front beforehand.) We had to rethink our methods.
Not me but my dad teaching the nephew. He hated smiling so in pictures my dad would tell him to say "whiskey". When he tried cheese it wasn't the same. Anyway, at school, the principal was taking a picture of the class and told everyone to say "cheeeeese!"
My nephew very loudly says WHISKEEEY.
My child asked about sex because he heard it at school so the wife and I had an age-appropriate discussion with him (10yo). Informed him that it's something that men and women do when they are in love and want a child.
He then got angry accusing us of having sex even when we don't want more children. My wife and I couldn't be in the same room without him for about a month after that day. If we were sitting on the couch together he'd had to sit between us like our chaperone.
We've been working with our 2-year-old on holding hands when we cross the street or walking through a parking lot. After a couple of weeks, he tried holding his own hands. I have to give him credit since I never specified whose hand he had to hold.
My parents did the thing where they gave 4-year-old me a sip of Budweiser under the impression that I could say that it was yucky and then turn it into some lesson about not drinking Mommy and Daddy drinks, or whatever. I instead took a sip and said "Mmm! Can I have one?"
The lesson that beer is good has lasted to adulthood.
My parents taught me to call 911 when I saw somebody doing something illegal. I called the cops on the Wiggles movie I was watching when I was 5 because a clown stole a cake.
Luckily the 911 operator realized I was young, my story didn't make sense because it was a kid's movie, asked to talk to my mom before sending out cops.
Took my son to see the Wiggles in ‘02. They’d walk around the stadium giving out roses to kids. Can’t tell you how many mom’s tried to get in on that so they could flirt. Not gonna lie tho, I watched them as much as him for that reason. SAHM life got tedious at times lol.
Taught my four-year-old that you're not allowed to say that food is gross if you haven't tried it. Apparently, I'm not allowed to criticize her booger eating until I try it.
Reminds me of an old joke: What's the difference between snot and broccoli? Kids won't eat broccoli.
Not a parent, but my in-laws love telling this story about my fiance.
He was resistant to potty training, and they eventually got him to start using the potty by telling him that he had to be out of pull-ups before a family trip to Disney World, because "Mickey Mouse only sees big boys and girls." And also who wants to log a diaper bag around Disney?
Anyway, it went great, they had a great trip... and the day after they got back, he pooped in the living room. When asked, he said "I don't gotta use the potty cause I already saw Mickey Mouse." They very firmly told him that if he was old enough to use logic, he was far too old for diapers, and that was the end of that.
only sees boys and girls? hehe im invisible to mickey mouse, i must adjust to my newfound invisibility power!
I've been teaching my kids that life isn't always fair. The tantrums when one is invited to a birthday party have been too much. It's been helping, some.
Then I was playing tic tac toe with my youngest. She covered up the column she wanted to use to win. When I told her that cheating isn't fair and I didn't want to play if she was going to cheat, she reminded me - "life isn't fair, momma."
Touche, kiddo.
Nothing is fair. Especially Undyne the Undying. (Seriously, I need help.)
Not my story but my girlfriend’s: she and her sister were given a penny for every ant they killed from inside the house. They had to present the dead ants on scotch tape. Next thing you know, they were leaving out food under the counter to lure additional ants inside the house in order to make more pennies. There were caught. Parents were not impressed.
History keeps repeating itself. Just search for "The Cobra Effect".
Successfully taught my child to question authority. Forgot I was an authority
I don't think this one is easy. Sometimes authority figures do bad things and children need to encouraged to speak up. But other times it's a parent or a teacher telling them to do something they don't feel like doing. Finding the right balance in a way that children can properly understand is one of the big challenges of parenthood.
Tried explaining to my daughter that she can always trust me. That anything I do is always for whats best for her. I told her that while she wont believe it now, or even in a few years, eventually shed say "Dad you were right. You are the smartest man I know." I said I knew this because when I was a kid the same thing happened, and eventually I had to tell Poppy he was right, he was the smartest man I know. She responded with "Well wouldnt that mean Poppy is the smartest man I know then? Not you?" She was 7 at the time. 3 years later and I still laugh about it.
This is actually sort of a dangerous thing to teach children, that an authority figure is always right and knows what's best and that they should trust them unfailingly. They are likely to apply that to all authority figures and some authority figures do not have their best interest in mind. It's okay for kids to know their parents are flawed. It might mean explaining your reasoning to them more often, but that might also lead to children who are more likely to speak up if an adult is doing something to or around them they shouldn't be. Also, if they think your perfect because you told them so, then they realize your not and that you are capable of mistakes and poor decisions like the rest of the world, they will feel lied to or think you're a narcissist, either way it's broken trust.
When my son was about 3 or 4 he started to ask about how babies are born. I sat him down and gave him a very simple, age appropriate explanation.
He just looked at me, shook his head and said just said 'No.' Very calmly but in a 'I can't believe you think that's how it works' tone of voice like I'd told him fake news.
I was prepared for difficult questions and even prepared for the fact that he might ask me things that even I didn't know, but I was completely unprepared for him to just simply not believe me when I told him the truth. I just sat there not knowing what to do while he went back to playing lego.
Not a parent but one time my parents grounded us from using their dishes because we never washed them, they said from now on we had to buy our own paper dishes and plastic cups/utensils.
I went that day to the dollar store and stocked up. Come dinner time none of my siblings had. I sold them all plates/utensils at a huge markup. This went on for several days as my lazy siblings kept putting off going to the store. Best punishment ever.
Why would the parents give disposable things as an option if they wanted the kids to wash the real ones? Taking away items doesn't seem like an effective method for this type of thing.
My little brother refused to eat while my gf and I were babysitting him. My gf decided to explain the concept of food as an energy source to him. Which he then proceeds to use an excuse to not do s**t. Anytime you told him to do something, he said he couldn’t because he would run out of energy and pass away.
Playing carnival/fair games is a waste of money. My son wanted to spend his $20 to win a Pikachu stuffed animal from his allowance that he saved up. WE told him he would be wasting his money and he would not win. He spent $15.00 and won the biggest prize.
Same with claw machines. Let my daughter play one at a movie theater thinking it would be a good example of gambling and losing money. She grabbed a stuffed toy and got it out. Then played again and won again. After that, my daughter, me, her step dad and her grandma became addicted to claw machines. Sure we spent a lot on the toys we grabbed, but we had loads of fun and once a year we donated all the toys to the local hospital during their annual toy run.
not me buT my sister. Dad after having a long conversation about teaching her to say pardon instead of what...
my dad calling up the stairs "what are you doing?"
sister "mumbles"
dad "what are you doing"
sister "mumbles"
dad "WHAT?"
sister yelling "DON'T SAY WHAT SAY PARDON!!!"
I've never understood the problem some people have with saying what. It's a legitimate question so why is it unacceptable?
My daughter ran down the stairs so I sent her back up so she could walk down them properly. She promptly fell down the entire flight.
Taught them to read early. My son could read by age 4, and my daughter by age 3. This leads to some unwanted conversations as they will read things over your shoulder when you aren't expecting it. Or even just signs on the road. "You're going too fast, Daddy. It says 55 mph and you're going 70."
I wanted to teach my son the value of money and work ethic because he kept wanting Robux... I decided it would be a great teaching moment, and a win-win opportunity as he was just getting to the age in which I think he should start doing chores around the house. He really wanted to buy some skin or something, so I created a chore chart and gave each chore a value. We established a schedule and everything. It was working out majestically, every day without asking he was doing dishes, cleaning his room, picking up the dog poop, it was epic. Then one day, I came home and nothing had been done. I asked him "hey man, what's up with the dishes? Oh and go pick up the dog poop too." He simply replied, "Nah". Fighting back rage, I simply said, "excuse me?" He said, he made enough money over the last x days that he bought his skin and he was good now. It was hard to argue.
Not my story, but I heard it from a friend a long time ago:
She got a book for her kids about people from different races and cultures, designed to show the world is full of more than just white people.
Which was fine, until one day in a supermarket, when her daughter, pointing at someone down the aisle, said "look mummy, a black man".
As the object of little kids doing this frequently when living in a white area in my 20s, I honestly never minded. I thought it was hilarious how uncomfortable parents would get, and I'd smile and talk to the kids. "Yeah, I'm black! Are your white? Cool!" Then they'd sometimes ask questions and I'd wind up having a whole conversation with them. I also got, and still get, "are you a boy or a girl?" "Why does that boy look like a girl/girl look like a boy?" And I'm always super honest, I've had parents get embarrassed and try to shut kids up, but I always answer honestly. Kids are curious about the world and the people in it's that's a great thing. Once a conversation starts parents are nearly always really cool about it too. I tell them I've got kids so I get it, and I think that helps.
Note: this post originally had 68 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
My dad told me when he was a kid his class was sent to the library, where the librarian told them they mustn't rub their shoes on the carpet and then zap each other with static electricity. Needless to say this resulted in the kids going "WOW, you can do that? COOL!" and zap-happy chaos ensued.
During potty training I would give my daughter a few M&Ms if she went in the potty. She then would take the poop from her diaper and put it in the potty and show me to get her chocolate. She only did that twice. It was funny. She was potty trained in a couple of weeks and she's had a chocolate addiction for 17 yrs now but who doesn't?
We have been teaching some independence so he will be OK later in life (autistic 7 year old) Things like getting the milk from the fridge, pouring it into a glass and putting the milk back, things like that. One morning about 9.15am during school holidays I went downstairs to make a tea and I found him sitting on the sofa eating a Cornetto, he had found the box at the bottom of the freezer so he helped himself.
I have a funny story, not really backfireing on life lessons. Tought my kids to say please, thank you, you are wellcome etc. The polite words in every situation. If they didn't want to do something to say :"No, thank you". Fast fovered few months, woke my them 3,5 YO to go to the toillete in the middle of the night. Her responce, more sleepung than awake: "No, thank you."
My SO & I have a 4yr old daughter. We do our best not to say bad words around her, however we occasionally slip. Well just a few months ago when my daughter was confused by something she said WTF (the actual words) we kept telling her say what the heck because the other phrase (without repeating it of course) was very bad. Finally one day she said and I quote "mommy I want to say WTF". Once again I told her don't say that. I was secretly impressed though because she'd figured out a way to say it like she was asking permission. I will say though she's gotten better and now says what the heck.
My son figured out the whole Santa thing really early, and, as he likes to have more information about the world he figured the other kids in his preschool class would like to know too. After the first day of this the teachers asked us to have a talk with him about not spoiling for the other kids. Trying to find the right approach I decided to tackle the "Santa's not real" with the idea that he sort of was, that saint Nicholas was a very kind man a long time ago who wanted to make sure the children in his village has Christmas presents but over the years the legend got bigger and bigger and now it's nice to pretend about so please stop telling the other kids Santa's not real. He seemed to take it in well and I thought we were golden. Next day we hear from the teachers again... He matter-of-factly told an entire class of 3-6 year olds that "Santa used to be real but he's dead now." He also decided that meant he should write a letter to Santa by leaving it on his grave
Nice post, but the whole parent-shaming going on in the comments are just annoying. Here's a thing, parenting is hard and that is what this post is trying to show. What works for a family might not necessarily work for another. Heck, you might even need to use different methods with kids of the same family. Instead of judging other people's methods as "bad" or "dangerous" or "malicious", I think we need to be a bit more understanding.
I'm just going to comment on the image. Since my parents went to such lengths to prevent me from playing my Gameboy during the day, I never had time to play it, except while they were asleep. I would stay up all night playing because it was the only opportunity I had. It significantly affected my health and my performance in school. I was an idiot kid and didn't know better, but I'm never going to put my daughter through some insane BS like that. There is a balance.
I wonder how many of these situations could be avoided if parents taught their children about "bad faith". The concept that while, technically, you're correct, you're not doing what they're trying to convey. Of course, this is how we get so many juicy malicious compliance articles that feed my schadenfreude.
I related to a lot of these and there's a lot I want to comment on but I'll just say how much I enjoyed the last one! I recently started dressing and styling differently and this little girl told me she liked it but I looked like a clown. Her mother was super embarrassed but I told her I took it as a compliment because the person who I'm most idolized is a performer who is somewhat of a clown if you think about it that way. And I love when children ask questions and I can talk to them honestly and it doesn't bother me at all.
adults are just as bad, just a bit better at deceiving and putting on a face
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Oh look, a dickheaded bot. Shut the f**k up and get outta here. Noones gonna click that link.
Load More Replies... My dad told me when he was a kid his class was sent to the library, where the librarian told them they mustn't rub their shoes on the carpet and then zap each other with static electricity. Needless to say this resulted in the kids going "WOW, you can do that? COOL!" and zap-happy chaos ensued.
During potty training I would give my daughter a few M&Ms if she went in the potty. She then would take the poop from her diaper and put it in the potty and show me to get her chocolate. She only did that twice. It was funny. She was potty trained in a couple of weeks and she's had a chocolate addiction for 17 yrs now but who doesn't?
We have been teaching some independence so he will be OK later in life (autistic 7 year old) Things like getting the milk from the fridge, pouring it into a glass and putting the milk back, things like that. One morning about 9.15am during school holidays I went downstairs to make a tea and I found him sitting on the sofa eating a Cornetto, he had found the box at the bottom of the freezer so he helped himself.
I have a funny story, not really backfireing on life lessons. Tought my kids to say please, thank you, you are wellcome etc. The polite words in every situation. If they didn't want to do something to say :"No, thank you". Fast fovered few months, woke my them 3,5 YO to go to the toillete in the middle of the night. Her responce, more sleepung than awake: "No, thank you."
My SO & I have a 4yr old daughter. We do our best not to say bad words around her, however we occasionally slip. Well just a few months ago when my daughter was confused by something she said WTF (the actual words) we kept telling her say what the heck because the other phrase (without repeating it of course) was very bad. Finally one day she said and I quote "mommy I want to say WTF". Once again I told her don't say that. I was secretly impressed though because she'd figured out a way to say it like she was asking permission. I will say though she's gotten better and now says what the heck.
My son figured out the whole Santa thing really early, and, as he likes to have more information about the world he figured the other kids in his preschool class would like to know too. After the first day of this the teachers asked us to have a talk with him about not spoiling for the other kids. Trying to find the right approach I decided to tackle the "Santa's not real" with the idea that he sort of was, that saint Nicholas was a very kind man a long time ago who wanted to make sure the children in his village has Christmas presents but over the years the legend got bigger and bigger and now it's nice to pretend about so please stop telling the other kids Santa's not real. He seemed to take it in well and I thought we were golden. Next day we hear from the teachers again... He matter-of-factly told an entire class of 3-6 year olds that "Santa used to be real but he's dead now." He also decided that meant he should write a letter to Santa by leaving it on his grave
Nice post, but the whole parent-shaming going on in the comments are just annoying. Here's a thing, parenting is hard and that is what this post is trying to show. What works for a family might not necessarily work for another. Heck, you might even need to use different methods with kids of the same family. Instead of judging other people's methods as "bad" or "dangerous" or "malicious", I think we need to be a bit more understanding.
I'm just going to comment on the image. Since my parents went to such lengths to prevent me from playing my Gameboy during the day, I never had time to play it, except while they were asleep. I would stay up all night playing because it was the only opportunity I had. It significantly affected my health and my performance in school. I was an idiot kid and didn't know better, but I'm never going to put my daughter through some insane BS like that. There is a balance.
I wonder how many of these situations could be avoided if parents taught their children about "bad faith". The concept that while, technically, you're correct, you're not doing what they're trying to convey. Of course, this is how we get so many juicy malicious compliance articles that feed my schadenfreude.
I related to a lot of these and there's a lot I want to comment on but I'll just say how much I enjoyed the last one! I recently started dressing and styling differently and this little girl told me she liked it but I looked like a clown. Her mother was super embarrassed but I told her I took it as a compliment because the person who I'm most idolized is a performer who is somewhat of a clown if you think about it that way. And I love when children ask questions and I can talk to them honestly and it doesn't bother me at all.
adults are just as bad, just a bit better at deceiving and putting on a face
Load More Replies... Oh look, a dickheaded bot. Shut the f**k up and get outta here. Noones gonna click that link.
Load More Replies...
