Kids are always home, everyone needs something, anxiety is running high, and there’s just no escape.
But parents are the real heroes. Whether they’re finding a way to make it work for their kids or just finding funny ways to stay sane in a less-than-ideal situation, they’re the ultimate problem solvers.
Take a look at these 50 parents, for example. They’ve made an art of this whole parenting thing.
You might not always appreciate their style, but whether it’s sweet or sassy, it’s bound to bring a knowing smile to your face if you’ve ever raised a kid.
1. Always listen to mom
She doesn’t want to explain a weird bacterial infection to your dentist, but she’s not above making you feel REAL paranoid about your toothbrush if you make her clean up after you in the bathroom of all places.
The good news is all you have to do is practice basic hygiene.
2. Doing it all
Single parents have to be both mom AND dad, but they don’t often have to dress as both.
No doubt this meant a lot to her son.
3. Superdad
But it takes a good man and an even better father to dress up in a superhero costume for school pickup.
We’re sure the joy it brings his daughter makes it that much better.
I thought I embarrassed my daughter but now she wants me to dress like a superhero all the time when I pick her up 😂 pic.twitter.com/C8hK5huHtg
— Kal-El (@Markatron_) August 19, 2016
4. Driving lesson
What kids don’t realize is that picturing your offspring behind the wheel of a 2-ton vehicle really is terrifying. And while you fear most for their safety, sometimes it manifests as this kind of reminder.
We just really hope dad doesn’t need the life jacket.
Dad being dad. from r/funny
5. Pwned by phone
Theoretically, you raise them to have a sense of humor. Just don’t expect that to come out until they get their phone back and are able to post this online.
So my friend got her phone taken away and her dad slid this under her door pic.twitter.com/d91I89T8hi
— bailee (@bailee_xox) July 2, 2017
6. Kid hack
Bet they never warned you about THAT scenario in the baby books!
But seriously, we bet this mom or dad got the 3-minute bathroom break they needed.
Avoiding functional fixedness pic.twitter.com/HjbsPR7rSI
— AP Psychology Review (@Psych_Review) May 11, 2017
7. Gone to the dogs
But sometimes it’s better when they give you the less subtle hints so you can feel bad about it all at once instead of constantly wondering in the back of your mind if it’s really true.
8. Model parent
We get that parents are in a hurry and have too much on their schedules. But taking a minute out to make everyone laugh is the good stuff – and the stuff that kids remember.
9. Never forget
It’s like parents live to embarrass their children when they’ve been an inconvenience.
And can you blame them? They probably asked 100 times if Ryan had whatever is in that bag with him before he left for school.
10. Mirror image
We’ve all been flummoxed by those teen selfies and their seemingly ridiculous poses. But now the kids can see how silly it looks on someone else.
11. Strategy
If you can get your kid to believe anything bunny-shaped is chocolate and that cauliflower is a substitute, do it as many times as you can until they discover it’s not true!
How else are you going to get a vegetable in there?
We finally got the kids to eat the cauliflower Easter Bunny!
(Cauliflower > Chocolate)#ParentingWin pic.twitter.com/67d6zucv6q— Cornelius Minor (@MisterMinor) April 17, 2017
12. Dad joke, mom handwriting
We love parents with a good sense of humor who realize they can share it with their kids.
It’s not as if parents become these completely alien creatures with a lesser appreciation of dirty jokes once they have children.
13. Everybody thinks their kid is special
Everybody smiles, you get a good photo out of it, AND you’ve now got a ridiculous onesie – where’s the downside?
me as a parent pic.twitter.com/hi4oFORPmx
— IG: whytez88 (@iadorewomen_) February 18, 2016
14. Mom justice
We hear a lot of “back in my day, my parents would make me…” and insert some absurd punishment. So this kid is living old-school.
And since he’s actually out there with a mop, you know mom wasn’t kidding.
He’ll probably make an effort to do some room-cleaning in the future. Because you just know that’s not the height of her creativity.
My momma made me mop the rain cause I didn’t clean my room 😂 pic.twitter.com/Eihjkb10Q0
— Makaveli Da Don (@LilBountha1) November 23, 2014
15. Dad-bombing
Dads are the real masters of this art. We don’t know why it gives them such pleasure, but sometimes you just have to let them have that one thing.
16. Social media mayhem
We’ve seen people upload humiliating messages to their kid’s social media and that can be traumatic. It’s really important not to go too far when it comes to embarrassing your kid publicly. School is hard enough.
But when it’s just some innocent photos of parents being kind of silly. We have to let it slide and smile.
They can always delete those later.
My parents took away my sisters phone for the week. They’ve uploaded about 10 of these to her facebook. Doing it right! from r/funny
17. Keep ’em entertained
So if the laser pointer works for cheap entertainment for both species, what’s the harm in making it dual-purpose?
Who has the energy to get up every time a kiddo wants to play? Momma needs a break sometimes!
18. Payback
Well, you can always try to get a refund.
We’re not sure this GoFundMe is actually real, but it’s the thought that counts.
19. Substitute homeschool teacher
It’s impossible.
But the dog’s not busy. Might as well make him earn his keep.
20. Princess for a day
Just look at the big smile on her face.
My princess party was cancelled today but my dad and uncles made sure I still had my party!! from r/MadeMeSmile
21. Dress-up
They’re full of good ideas and you’ll basically be their hero for indulging them in something fun and ridiculous.
And when was the last time you felt like a princess at WORK?
Social distancing Day 12: Today my kids wanted me to wear my wedding dress at lunch & I couldn’t think of a reason not to pic.twitter.com/2snMmwxuGq
— Curtis Sittenfeld (@csittenfeld) March 24, 2020
22. Arm day
How many extra calories do you burn for wearing the Minnie Mouse ears? That’s the real question.
23. Support system
We just wonder why it’s not more crowded.
Maybe it seems too good to be true.
24. PSA
We think this might count as a teacher win though. So many educators are pressured by parents to say the nicest possible things about kids – and it can’t always be true.
25. Gettin’ it done
The only problem is that the kids could start using all your cellular data when they can’t get on Wifi.
Like most tricks, you have to make sure this one doesn’t backfire.
Parenting tip from r/funny
26. Just roll with it
This might be one of the funniest birthday party themes we’ve ever seen.
Mom and dad even called the law office to see if they could get him to show up in person!
This toddler loves the ads for a local personal injury lawyer so much, his mom made it his birthday party theme. from r/funny
27. Brown bag gourmet
Even if their little one can’t quite read the cursive yet (and we think that may be the case considering the cracker and dairy-friendly menu) the lunch ladies will get a good laugh.
28. Honesty is the best policy
We totally understand the motivation behind a teachers wanting some insight into a kid, but knowing what you’re dealing with when it comes to parents is just as important.
29. You might get old, but dad jokes never do
And it’s also worth appreciating that dad isn’t automatically prepared to hate whoever you bring home – that’s a toxic dad behavior that needs to go.
Roommate got this Christmas gift from her father… All subtlety has gone out the window.
byu/pantsrants infunny
30. Going the extra mile
They’ll paint right over that, but the picture and the laughs will last forever.
31. Little helper
We’ve seen some mighty disasters when it comes to paint and kids, so this feels like a really elegant solution (as long as your kid is convinced they’re helping).
View this post on InstagramMaybe he’ll learn karate while he’s at it 💁🏻♀️ // Found on @podfathersshow
A post shared by Ilana Wiles (@averageparentproblems) on
32. Dad approved
It’s a little weird when dads police their daughters’ clothing so carefully (especially with the possibility of humiliation so close at hand), but it looks like everyone in this photo is fine with the joke.
We just hope dad knows she’s still going to get some weird looks with that shirt on.
33. A cage to keep them out
Normally the playpen keeps them in, but the more people start to work from home, the more they realize kids can cause some really expensive damage to important stuff.
If you can’t cage them in, cage them out.
34. Feat of engineering
It might feel a little claustrophobic, but we bet it eliminated the fighting and the whining – and what else could you really want from two pieces of cardboard?
35. Bait and switch
But instead of a spoonful of sugar, this parent is just mimicking a sugary treat.
36. Babysitting hack
As long as you’re spending some time playing with your kid, there’s no harm in finding a creative solution for a few minutes.
Although she does look a little bored out there.
37. Responsible driving
You’re going to get a lot of crank calls (and you’ll totally deserve them), but it’s not a bad threat to level against your kid.
Just get the sticker made up and don’t bother to put it on the car.
38. Father’s Day
We hope he’s enjoying that moment though because we’d say he’s got about 2 years – tops – before the kids won’t agree to it anymore.
39. Lunch lessons
However, a few fails at eating out of a plastic bag, puncturing it with a fork, and watching your lunch drip all over you might be just the right way to get us ALL to remember to bring home our Tupperware.
40. Bath time for bunny
But this dad has the right idea. And as a bonus, a dirty toy is now getting a bath.
The cord seems a bit close to the water though – we hope bunny is being careful!
Single dad, daughter asked me to give her stuffed bunny a bath. She’s at her mom’s so I sent her this. from r/funny
41. Twinning
Sometimes life is so absurd that you just have to run with it. And if you’re looking for ideas to turn the day on its head you can always count on a toddler for ideas.
We bet shoppers got a good laugh out of this pair.
42. Make ’em work for it
These parents went amazingly far out of their way to ensure their kid had to work for every dollar of his gift.
We can’t even imagine how long it took to roll them all up like that.
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43. Learning to share
We’re not sure what this kid did to be taught a lesson, but it does look like he’ll remember this moment.
44. Better than toys
It’s all the things kids love to destroy or mess with in one place. And suddenly Home Depot is the best toy store on Earth!
45. Never lose your sense of humor
This one just happens to have a tradition of punking her son every year.
We would have loved to have seen her order this cake and say to the baker “yes, I’d like it to say ‘Dave Sucks!’- and be sure to underline ‘Sucks’ twice.”
Bravo, mom.
46. Masterpiece
Who has the time to paint over all of it or scrub it off the walls – especially if you have an extra frame lying around?
At least this looks like something and isn’t just a bunch of scribbles.
Your kids are going to do things they shouldn’t. It helps if you married someone with a sense of humour. pic.twitter.com/VVTstejBJO
— Eric Massicotte (@DrMassicotte) November 14, 2017
47. Making it work
But mamas know how to make do.
After all, parents have to eat too!
48. Parenthood unplugged
Just unplug their controllers and let them at it!
Nice one, dad.
49. It’s all fun and games
It’s even better if you can make it a competition because then they’ll really do a good job.
You might suddenly find yourself with a lot less tedious yard work to do.
50. Heroes
Enjoy it while you can.
They won’t worship you forever.
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