Read These Parental Redditors Tricks That Backfired
The problem with manipulating your children is that they will manipulate you in return. And on the Ask Reddit thread, thousands of people have shared stories of parenting lessons that backfired . They all teach their own lessons, mostly the ones that the kids will amaze you every time.
Berteev taught his daughter “to always compliment those who insulted you.” One day the family went shopping, and the woman said something rude to mother Berteev.
My daughter noticed that my mother was worried. She squeezed behind me and said to the woman:
“You have such beautiful yellow teeth!”
LearnedButt learned about perverse incentives:
My youngest niece [made a fake 911 call] and the cops took it easy … They talked to her for a long time, explaining to her that you should only call 911 in an emergency, like when people are injured. As soon as she seemed to understand, they gave her a sticker with a police badge and left.
Its interpretation: call 911, get a sticker.
Turtelbob learned another lesson from 911:
My parents taught me to call 911 when I saw someone doing something illegal. I called the police when I watched the Wiggles movie when I was 5 because the clown stole the cake.
Shanisasha learned about apologetics:
Told my kids that they should always have a good reason for what they want to do as a way to curb impulsive behavior.
I hear about ALL REASONS all the time.
If I have yet to listen to all the reasons why I have to go out into the rain to save a butterfly with a broken wing (three days after publication), I might have my ears ripped off.
One of the common lessons in this conversation is that you should never give your children choices if you really don’t like that they are making the “wrong” choices. Wisteriahaze shares:
The two-year-old refused to wear a hat. It was hot. I told her that if she didn’t wear the hat, she would have to wait in the car. She began to leave me. “Where are you going?” “Car.”
A colleague of mine tried to teach her child the “don’t talk with your mouth full” rule. Instead, the child simply spits out food when he wants to talk.
Children are absolute masters of malevolent obedience.
Nash_Rambler learned Newton’s third law:
Taught my little son to climb stairs. What I didn’t realize was that descending stairs is actually a completely different and much more dangerous set of skills. Luckily for us, the child seems to have finally figured out the intricacies of head protection.
After that, the editors collectively decided that the slogan for parenting was “You will have a completely different problem.”
The Pope of Catastrophichysteria had a very different problem:
My dad was trying to enact everything you MUST eat ALL food on your plate [rule]. One day my brother or sister had 2-3 bites of food left on their plate and it was very clear that they were absolutely full and could not eat another bite. Dad did not eat and insisted that they should not leave the table until all the food on the plate was gone. My brother finished the last few bites and then vomited on the table and on our father.
Mizeli taught her children that “life is not fair.” And then:
I played tic-tac-toe with my youngest. She covered the column she wanted to use to win. When I told her that cheating was unfair and I didn’t want to play if she was going to cheat, she reminded me: “Life is not fair, Mom.”
Siblings also catch fire, for example frozennie :
As a child, I noticed that my sister wrote her name on the walls when she drew on them with chalk. Taking on the role of Big Sister’s Assistant, I informed her that if she was going to paint graffiti, she should not write her name and give herself away.
A few weeks later, she carved designs on a wooden table in her office and carved my name on it instead.
At about the age of three , forever_monstro’s son became too spoiled, so monstro showed him a photo project in which children from all over the world pose with their favorite things. Many of the children had very few. Monstro’s son stared at the boy, who was holding his only treasure – a battered stuffed monkey. You know what awaits us.
After a long silence, he finally looked at me, smiled sweetly and said: “I want this monkey.”
Many stories revolve around paying children to do housework, and children quit their jobs as soon as they buy what they want. But with Sansinegal’s fiancé it happened much earlier:
He resisted potty training, and they eventually got him to start potty use, telling him he shouldn’t pull up before the family trip to Disney World because “Mickey Mouse only sees big boys and girls.”
Everything went great, they had a great trip … and the day after they got back, he gave a shit in the living room. When asked, he said, “I don’t need to use the pot because I’ve seen Mickey Mouse before.” They told him very firmly that if he was old enough to use logic, he was too old for diapers and that was it.
Instead of telling his son not to lie, pankvalrus will simply come to a decision. When he ate all the cakes and lied about it with chocolate in his mouth, the pankvalrus simply told him to bake another batch of cakes.
He never really knew how to lie. But he keeps trying, which I did not expect. He is 28 now, and he is so terrible at this because he does not understand how people can understand it so easily.
Gode once got lost at Angel Stadium:
“A crowd gathered to watch the police officer reach out to me at arm’s length, and I shouted over and over, ‘Call the police, this man is not my dad.’ My parents taught me about danger, but they forgot to teach me what the police look like. “
Many editors remembered winning prizes when their parents tried to teach them that gambling, carnival games, or claw machines would just eat up their money. RedditPoster05 shares:
My sister tried to teach her children not to play. She bought several lottery tickets to show them that they would all lose. She won $ 500.
Of course, it’s the same with booze. Drinkmoreshowerbeer says:
My parents did what they gave my 4 year old a sip of Budweiser under the impression that I could say it was disgusting and then turn that into some lesson on how not to drink Mommy and Daddy drinks or whatever … Instead, I took a sip and said, “Mmm! Can I have one? “
The lesson that beer is good lasted well into adulthood.
Papa Monfo ruined his sleep time:
When I was about 12, my dad … told me that I shouldn’t play Game Boy Advance before bed because I needed to rest. It was then that I realized I could play Game Boy Advance before bed, and have suffered from insomnia ever since.
Partofbreakfast operates in a school with a high percentage of students with learning disabilities.
One of the first lessons of the school year: “Everyone needs to learn differently, and if someone gets something different from you, it’s because they need to learn it in school.” placement.
We now generally offer special chairs / seats, extra breaks during the day, and extended test times and tests conducted in a quiet room. However, one child decided to learn the lesson “everyone learns differently” and now speaks with a fake British accent all day (by the way, I live in America). Because “it helps him learn.”
Then all the other children began to speak with a fake accent.
MadMadGirl wanted her son to be true to himself, so she told him that he can hang out with friends that she doesn’t like:
His friends could act in a certain way, but he understood that being a friend did not mean that he needed to follow their behavior.
It sounded good in my head and was accepted … until he hung out with friends with whom he had problems in school because of weed. Whether you love weed or hate it, think it should be legal or not, it’s still illegal on school grounds, and it got kicked out.
I guess he didn’t listen to my lesson, or maybe it was just a bad message. Now I tell him to avoid people who don’t give a damn about his interests. Be friendly, don’t be friendly.
Ok, that was sad, here’s a fun incident from chipdipper99 :
When my daughter was 10, she wanted to try her hand at the theatrical version of Beauty and the Beast. However, she became nervous and almost backed down, because she was so sure that she would not succeed.
My husband, who played a little in high school, stepped in and said he would audition too, even though he knew he would never get it. He wanted to demonstrate to her that it’s okay to audition for something that you think you’re not going to do.
In the end, she not only did it, but also got the role of Chip. My husband got the role of Maurice, Belle’s father. He didn’t even want to be in the damn play
Tsquaredp’s story is really more of a boast, but we love it. When he started giving his daughter an allowance, he explained that it was in exchange for all the help she gave around the house.
Later that evening, before I tucked her into bed after reading to her, she went to her bank of money, pulled out $ 2 and handed it to me, and explained that this was to be a good dad.
The last return fire. It’s long and dirty, but amazing. KicksButtson says:
My dad really screwed up trying to teach me about sex …
I don’t remember exactly how old I was (maybe 7), but he gave my first sex talk. Not one where you explain how to have sex, but one where you explain to a young child the physical differences between boys and girls in order to avoid awkward curiosities later on.
He sat me down and explained that boys “pee in the toilet” and what it is used for. Then he tries to tell me what girls have, but because he is very nervous, he almost says girls have “cunt” but catches himself in mid-sentence. Therefore, in a hurry, he says that the girls “poop” because he stumbled when he said “pussy” and just stuttered twice at the sound “P” . So all of a sudden, I find that female genitalia are known as “poop” because of my father’s nervousness.
Did he correct this misconception? No, he was just glad the conversation was over. Fast forward a few years and I talk about girls with some of my friends and I say something about how great a girl ‘s poop looks and they think I mean I like seeing a girl poop … They laughed at me, and I went home to my father. I walk in the door and see him, and then I scream: “How could you let me believe that this is called poop” … and he just laughs and says: “Oh yes, I forgot about it.”
Ooh boy. Read hundreds more of these stories on Reddit and share yours below.
Reddit parents, what lessons have you tried to teach your kids that backfired? | Ask Reddit