Reading through these entertaining posts, it’s easy to say that kids can get creative with making their parents’ lives both challenging and exciting. So it’s perfectly normal that these little balls of sunshine add plenty of hilarious situations into their daily routine.
“Parenting is such a vast and complicated experience with so many highs and lows, many of which are just farcical when you view them objectively, so there is a lot of scope for humor if you can see the funny side,” Jo Middleton, creator of the parenting and lifestyle blog Slummy Single Mummy and author of Playgroups and Prosecco, told Bored Panda.
“Of course, that’s not always easy at the time — imagine you’ve just made dinner and your baby throws up all over it — that might be something that you can only laugh about the next day!”
Needless to say, each child is unique, and they often show it by coming up with equally brilliant and humorous ideas all the time. “Children are so wonderfully unselfconscious, they’re happy to just get crazy, use their imaginations and enjoy themselves without fear of judgment. We lose a lot of this as we get older, but kids have that ability to just see the fun in things and let loose,” Jo said.
“My daughter is 19 now and she still absolutely loves playing tricks on me, often quite physical pranks. A few weeks ago, I was getting ready for bed for example, and didn’t realize she had hidden under my bed until she reached out and grabbed my ankle! I absolutely shrieked but she thought it was hilarious. I love that she’s still this playful even though she’s older now.”
While moms and dads are constantly trying to do their best with parenting, sometimes their absurd shenanigans catch them off guard. According to Jo, it’s important for your children not to think you’re laughing at them. “Although they’re normally far less self-conscious than adults, children can be hugely sensitive, and if they think you think they’re being stupid or that they’ve done something wrong, you could very easily cause them to withdraw and become more cautious about having fun.”
So when kids do take you by surprise, you just have to go with it, as with most aspects of parenting. “Always encourage fun and playfulness and enjoy the moments when they come. Don’t get caught up trying to take photos or videos, just enjoy it,” Jo suggested.
Jen Walshaw, founder of the blog Mum In The Madhouse, told Bored Panda parenting is the hardest but most rewarding thing she has ever done. “There is no manual and every child is different, and things that work for one doesn’t for another.”
“Parenting is pretty ridiculous, you are trying so hard to raise responsible and happy kids without inflicting them with all your bad habits and your own childhood trauma,” Jen said. “I was a child of the '70s, we played out until the street lights came on and that signaled it was time to go home. Nowadays, we have so many ways of tracking our children and that has added to the pressure rather than reduced it, so we laugh and find things to laugh about.”
Jen told us she believes children are brilliant and think outside of the box because they don’t even know what the box is. “They are not constrained by adult responsibility and often see new innovative ways of doing things. I think that we are so constrained by the idea of conformity and fitting in and for children that is a learned feeling that comes more with age and experience.”
Moms and dads often find humor in their children’s actions, as well as their words. “When they were younger, some of the things they did were hilarious. I have found as they got older and developed their own personalities that humor can be a shield that protects them (and me) from sticky situations.”
Still, she revealed there have been loads of times when her kids have said or done something inappropriate “that I need to tell them off about when all I have wanted to do was laugh at them.” You see, sometimes it’s hard to know whether to laugh or get serious.
“I think it really depends on the situation and your needs at the time. I have always tried to be honest and explain that actions have consequences. And yes, that might have been funny at the moment but then gone on to explain why it was wrong.”
Having kids is a huge responsibility, but like with everything in life, you have to find delight in the funny things they say or do. “If you didn’t laugh, you would cry,” Jen added jokingly. Right now, she’s a mom to two teenage boys: “It is the unexpected things that have me smiling, the odd cup of tea and their company.”
When it comes to parenting, the woman feels that “social media has made the extraordinary feel very ordinary and something everyone can aspire to, and that is very dangerous”. Jen believes it pays for parents to set their expectations low. “That way, your kids will pretty much often put a smile on your face.”