42 Parents Reveal Weird Life Hacks They Rely On To Keep Their Kids Happy And Behaving

Distraction works. I was at an aquarium and a little kid runs up to a shark display and nails her head on the display plaque thing. She’s about to cry and he mom says “whoopsy! Oh look at that shark! Oh my gosh it’s so close!” The girl goes from almost crying to “huh, where?” Mom is like “right there! Isn’t that amazing that’s a real shark” the kid is mesmerized. I just looked at the lady and said “That was amazing”.

I tried it at home with my own kids later but my wife wouldn’t let me buy a shark.

Give them false choices, where you are happy with either choice and they both meet your actual goal. It gives them a sense of agency.

"Would you rather brush your teeth first, or change into your jammies first?"

"We have to head home in a few minutes, would you rather start getting your shoes on, or do you want to find them now, and you can carry them while I carry you to the car?"

Etc.

Thought it was ridiculous when I first heard this in a parenting class. With my two kiddos, it worked exceptionally well.

When my kid was little and we were trying to expand their palate I bought a fun looking notebook, numbered the pages and every 10th one had a star. Then I bought star stickers and this became my kid's "culinary critic" notebook. Everytime they tried a new food they would either write the name or draw the food and give it between one and four stars. When they filled out a page with a star symbol they got to choose from a menu of special treats (a trip to the bowling alley, baking cookies with Mom and Dad, etc). They almost never refused to try anything once we started the book. 


It worked because 1) if they rated something low they knew we wouldn't ask them to try something too similar 2) it gave them a semblance of control, after all they never had to try anything it just meant they didn't get to fill out a page in the book 3)I had read a study that kids like fast, tangible rewards shortterm + working towards bigger rewards long term. Getting stickers and to draw/write at that age was a big, fun thing AND being able to physically see how far away from the big reward they were was a huge motivator. .

For babies and toddlers, double-wrap their beds.

Mattress protector -> Sheet -> Mattress protector -> Sheet

So, when they have a Diaper Blowout or Potty Accident or Crummy Tummy Vomit overnight? Instead of having to spend a bunch of time dealing with stripping and remaking the bed at 2am, you just yank off the top layers and… **presto**! It’s all ready for them again.

Means that they’re kept awake for a couple minutes to get their diaper changed (or whatnot) and then back in bed before their brains even register they were awake.

Plus you aren’t trying to get the stupid sheets on while **you** are still half asleep. Just yoink the soaked ones off, toss them in the bathtub or washing machine or wherever, and you and your kid are back to sleep in no time.

Read to your child every day at a minimum, preferably multiple times a day until they’re old enough to read and then read to each other out loud. Amazing stuff, highly recommended.

When your toddler falls down (and they aren’t truly hurt) they will often look at you to determine how to feel. If you look concerned and rush to them they will cry. If you smile they will 90% of the time smile, giggle, and start to play again.

Only try this if they look to you to see what to do. If they are bleeding, crying, or for sure injured rush over and take care of them right away. This is only for small falls.

If they’re being obstinate, lean into it and make it silly so their mood shifts.

Example: “I don’t want to brush my hair!”

“What do you think would happen if you never brushed your hair? It would get soooo tangled, and then a bird would move in! How many eggs would it lay in your hair?”

“Five million!” And then hopefully giggles.

“Five million eggs?! That’s too many! We’d better brush away that birds nest before you end up covered in bird poop!”

There’s a book, “How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen” that’s full of these little hacks.

If they start to get emotional because I’m saying no to something, I remind them I’m their mom.

I say: if I’m the mom, is it my job to… give you all the candy you want?! They laugh because they know where this is going. No, it’s not my job.

Is it my job to…. Let you get cavities and tummy aches?! No!

Is it my job to… help you grow up big and strong? YES.

They might still be disappointed but they are SO much more reasonable if I just… remind them I’m a mom and it’s my job to tell them no a lot. Sounds ridiculous but it works.

I pretend my 8 year old is a dog doing tricks and give him treats. I sort of trick him into cleaning up. I’ll say, “sit… stay… paw… good boy!” Then give him a Cheez-it or something then I’ll say, “roll over… go clean your toys!” Then he acts like a dog while he cleans up and I give him another treat after. This sounds insane while I’m typing it but it works really well with him.

When my kids were little little and wouldn't eat the food me and my wife cooked, my wife and I would act like we were going to eat it and then ask them to hold it while we did something.

9/10 they'd eat it. They'd love it more if we were like, "hey you ate my food!" and they'd laugh and run away.

Jokes on you. You fell into my trap.

I've noticed that most of the answers seem to be for *small* children, so I'll add one that's more valuable for older kids and teens:

*Explain* your rules, and allow them to be challenged.

A *lot* of kids and teens are better at following rules if they understand why they exist, and that goes double for neurodivergent kids. Allowing them to be challenged means opening a conversation; if they disagree with the rule, give them the chance to change your mind or find a fairer compromise.

That approach doesn't work for every kid, and not for every rule, but there's a good number of kids that rebel mainly against rules that feel unfair or arbitrary to them. The fairer and more thought-out they see your rules as being, the more likely they are to accept rules they *don't* understand as well, because if you're generally fair and reasonable there's probably a good reason even if they don't get it.

Ease transitions with a five minute “wrap up” AND frame the transition as a new beginning instead of an end.

“Hey kids, in five minutes we are leaving the playground so that we can have pizza for lunch,” is way more appealing than “We have to go now! Blah!” because you’re easing into something new and exciting.

When my daughter started getting more picky about food, I'd change how I served meals. For an entire month she ate lunch from a floating plastic tray in the bathtub. A little while later, it was cut up cheese and fruit mixed in a bowl full of ice cubes that she had to pick through to get the food. Another time she ate all her meals out of a muffin pan. I bought a giant one at a thrift store with like 24 muffin holes and I'd put one or two bites of food in each. It was like it poked at her primal brain to get a snack out of each muffin hole, even if it was something she would have refused off a plate. .

Instead of saying "inside voice", "you're too loud", or "be quiet", use numeric levels.

"You're currently at a level 6, but you really need to be at a 3 or 4 here".

Then practice asking them what level they are on and what the different levels sound like, where 1 is a whisper, 5 is normal conversation, and 10 is full on yelling.

A child psychologist taught us this and it was a game-changer.

Here's a couple that worked for us when our now-11 year old was 18mos-3 years or so, toddler to preschool aged.

The toys live at the store. We go visit them. We can hold them/hug them and wave and say hi and blow kisses.... But they live at the store. When our kiddo got toys, they were gifts she got at home, and that meant the toy chose to come live with us. If we went to the THRIFT store, we could adopt a toy. We have never, in 11 years, had a tantrum about toys at the store.

Pick a letter and a color every week. For that week point out that letter and that color when you see it out in the wild. Your preschool kid will pick it up after a day if not sooner. Bonus points if the letter is also in the color of the week.

At the grocery store, out for a walk, wherever you are, point out words. Signposts, brand names, car makes, the garage sale signs. Even if they're long words ("poultry, bakery, garden) show them the first letter, or ask them to identify any letter they recognize in a word. Sound the whole word out and make sure you emphasize the letters they recognized.

Let them experience textures. If their hands aren't filthy haha, let them hold the football at Walmart. Let them hold the lettuce you're buying. Let them hug poles and grab bushes and put their faces in coats and grass and the dog's neck when they hug it.

Keep healthy choices for food easily reachable. We bought a 3-tier cart and put fruit and age-appropriate healthy snacks and drinks on it. There were toddler plates, spoons, forks, knives and cups on it. Kiddo never had to ask to have a healthy snack when she wanted to. The pantry with the closed door was for "sometimes" snacks. Cookies, tortilla chips, red vines, etc. Those she had to ask for, and we didn't restrict them too much so we could reward her asking first. To this day she'll still ask first if she can have treats.

To clarify so no one thinks I'm bragging, she still has preteen meltdowns. But not over snacks, and she's a good reader, so the above advice did work 😂.

I bought my daughter Strawberry Shortcake underwear before she was completely potty trained and told her it was too bad she couldn’t wear them but they were only for big kids who used the potty. Within a few days she was wearing them with no accidents.

Let kids struggle with puzzles or tasks, productive struggle can build resilience.

Crime makes food taste better. I sure hope no one is going to STEAL MY VEGETABLES AND EAT THEM ALL!!!! Ten seconds later my kids have "stolen" all my vegetables and gleefully eaten their ill gotten gains. They think they're being so sneaky eating tomatoes and carrots lol.

Respecting them, trying to understand them and listening to them with full attention when they talk about something with passion. It means so much to them. Whenever I am at family/friends gatherings, their kids will always end up flocking around me and will share things and I genuinely give them my attention and just quietly listen. Many times I learn a lot. Their parents are often shocked that their child never shares anything with them but sat and spoke to me for an hour.

My child often shares everything that happened at school, albeit at random times with either me or his dad. Sometimes he will ask me to turn my “friend mode” on where I don’t get to judge or have a mom reaction. Other parents have told me that they have no clue because their child never shares. Parents sitting down at a child’s level and playing or just listening to them is all that a child wants. It is also a lot of fun.

When they make a good grade, don't tell them they're smart.
Instead say "You're such a hard worker, you studied well for this test".