Sure, it's true that kids will do and say crazy things, but let's take a look at all the crazy things parents and teachers say to them. Perhaps craziness begets craziness. After all, and this will annoy all the anti-musical theater folks out there, but it was Stephen Sondheim who said “children will listen.” If you tell an impressionable eight year old that toilets are evil creatures trying to swallow you whole, that eight year old may very well believe you. And what happens when they believe y…

The shenanigans our classmates orchestrated under the supervision of unfortunately unaware substitute teachers are something that we're likely to remember many years afterward. It's one of those things that are such a universal experience that long ago worked its way from real life over into becoming a trope in popular culture. The greatest example I had of this was in 8th grade when my Advanced Geometry teacher had a few weeks off work, and we, of course, were to be taught instead by a substit…

Money is never an easy subject to bring up within a family. No matter how close you are to your parents or siblings, talking about salaries, inheritances, or wills will always be awkward. That is why I think as parents, you have to be sensible and honest if you end up in a spot where you have to bring these subjects up. Do not try to sugarcoat anything, but talk to your kids like the adults they probably are. That is the advice I would personally give this person who turned to Reddit for advice…

This must've been the craziest day on the job for one group of construction workers . At every job, there will come a day that is so outrageous that it turns into a legend. Maybe someone gets in a public screaming match with the boss and tells them off in front of everyone. Or perhaps the serial food thief finally gets caught. Or maybe one employee flips out on a client. Days like these don't happen all the time, and when they do, it certainly breaks up the monotony. One group of construction w…

There's this growing sentiment in modern parenting that we should never lie to our children, that, if we do, they may one day grow up to resent us for giving them an unrealistic view of the world. Maybe, just maybe, that desire for a more realistic and grounded approach stems from the fact that we were raised being told that we could be whatever, whoever, and wherever we wanted to be when the reality is that all of those things cost money and if you don't have enough money to go, be and do ever…

Not everyone is good at giving gifts. Obviously, for some people out there, it's their bread and butter. Their love language, if you will. If that's you, congratulations. However, the rest of us (myself included) were not born with the “good gift-giver” gene. As someone who was once gifted a dictionary and a pencil case holder for my 15th birthday, not to mention a DVD of Inside Out for my 21st birthday, I was not raised to be good at this. That's why when this time of year rolls around, I get…

It's no secret that part of being a parent is messing up. Ideally, like in all things in life, we learn from our mistakes, but there are some parents out there who will never learn and who are practically walking red flags as a result of how they treat their kids. As these folks on Reddit pointed out via this r/AskReddit thread, there are countless signs that you or someone you know may be a trashy parent. Whether it's yelling at your kids in public or refusing to believe your kid could possibl…

Having kids is the greatest joy one could experience, or so any new parent will tell you, despite that they haven't slept since the night before they became parents, and the bags under their eyes tell a different story. In fact, it's more than likely that this entire sentiment is really just a combination of sleep deprivation-fueled delusion and resigned coping with the fact that there's no going back.

Part of being a Dad means falling flat on your face a million times over and getting back up to do it all over again. On the other hand, part of having a Dad means getting embarrassed a million times over, only to have it happen all over again the next day. Yet somehow, Dad Jokes operate in that strange space where fathers have a chance to get away with being annoying, and, on special occasions, they may even make their kids crack a smile. Now, of course, their kids won't actually admit that th…

When you do something wrong, you should feel bad about it and accept there are going to be repercussions. This is called a consequence, and without experiencing that negative stimulus, how on earth are you going to learn not to do it again? Still, the punishment needs to fit the crime, and making a public display when a young child makes a mistake isn't really the way to go about it. Ironically, this teacher hasn't learned her own intended lesson, as evidenced by the fact that she doesn't feel…

Kids don't understand the value of things. It may sound old school, but the only way to really know what something is worth, is to work really hard to acquire it. And just like we learned when watching Antiques Roadshow at 2AM, when it comes to vintage, classic, or collector's valuables, there's more than just the monetary value to something– that lazy-eyed clown doll may seem worthless, but to the clown collecting bag lady, it's priceless.

Just because you don't know how to parent doesn't mean you can just dial 9-1-1 on your five-year-old! Seriously, what was this impatient Karen thinking when she thought the best way to discipline her child for stomping around the room was to call the police five times and have them deal with it? News flash: all five-year-olds have the occasional behavioral fit, and if you really need a second pair of hands, consider working with her teachers or a professional. Otherwise, you're wasting time and…

Kids are so funny , it's no wonder they're keeping their parents in stitches. Kids just do and say lots of wild things. They're new here, they're still learning, and they don't often have a filter. Therefore, they're often hilarious, just saying and doing things that adults wouldn't dare to utter. These people shared their funniest stories from the children around them, from their own kids, to siblings, to grandkids . Other shared stories from their own childhoods. I think stories involving tod…

You would think most of us would know at this point that being the primary “breadwinner” in a family does not mean you are entitled to make a fuss when dinner is not on the table upon your return home from work. It's 2023, people! We should have more realistic expectations of all parties in a family dynamic, and therefore, we should have equal respect for the financial and emotional contributions that all parties make. Unfortunately, these kinds of expectations do not gradually fizzle from one…

We all know someone in our lives who made a questionable choice when naming their child. Some people like to be “original” without realizing that they are potentially scarring their baby for life by trying to be cool and different. Don't get me wrong: every so often, there's a unique baby name that genuinely works. But nine times out of ten, the bold baby names are a full swing and a miss. And guess who's stuck with that name for life? An innocent kid! Below is a compilation of some of the most…

Being a teacher is a very under-appreciated career path. Oftentimes, teachers are dealing with overcrowded classrooms, so while they're trying to teach one student to spell ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’, they're juggling a gaggle of banshees starting a coup in the opposite corner. The last thing most teachers need heaped on their plate are the asinine demands of feral parents.