30 Times Parents Thought Outside Of The Box And Discovered Game-Changing Hacks

"I think a certain amount of misbehavior from kids is to be expected from time to time. It's the constant you have to worry about," parenting blogger Samantha told Bored Panda.

"In my experience, when my kids misbehave or lie, there is something deeper at play. They are jealous of their sibling or feeling unappreciated. Or they are going through a time of increased anxiety, she said.

"I try to assume the best from my kids, and to figure out their motivations to misbehave," the founder of Walking Outside in Slippers shared.

"It's not always easy, and I definitely lose my temper sometimes," the blogger pointed out that nobody is a 'perfect' parent.

"Open communication goes a long way in working through the tough spots. And setting boundaries and consequences."

We asked Samantha whether there is any room for using reverse psychology or white lies to get children to behave properly. From her perspective, there isn't.

"I think honesty is the best policy when it comes to parenting. Consequences and rewards should be enough incentive to behave without lying," she told Bored Panda.

It is incredibly likely that you’ve either used reverse psychology on someone in the past or had someone apply it to you—knowingly or not! In a nutshell, it’s a persuasion tactic where you advocate for behavior that’s different from the one you hope someone to embrace. In short, whatever it is that you actually want, you say the opposite, in the hope that the person will end up behaving in the desired way.

But this approach falls into a sort of grey area morally because there’s a lot of space for misuse.

“The idea behind reverse psychology is that by pushing for the opposite of what you want, the other person will choose to engage in the behavior that you desire. While it can be seen as a way of managing another person's behavior, reverse psychology can also be used as a form of manipulation. The person who is the subject of this tactic generally doesn't realize what is happening and may not be fully aware of the other person's true motives,” ‘Verywell Mind’ explains.

Generally, reverse psychology works on people who resist conformity. On the flip side, someone who is more compliant might respond better to a direct request.

A few ways to employ reverse psychology in practice, according to ‘Verywell Mind,’ include:

1. Discourage the desired behavior. ("You shouldn't do that.");
2. Forbid the desired behavior. ("Don’t do that.");
3. Suggest that the person couldn't do the desired behavior. ("I bet you couldn't do that anyways.");
4. Downtalk the desired behavior. ("I would never pick that.");
5. Compare the desired behavior unfavorably to something else. ("You should do this because it's so much better than that.").

According to ‘Parents,’ reverse psychology may work for some kids. For example, some toddlers can be “natural little contrarians” as they learn to embrace their independence.

However, you don’t necessarily have to employ reverse psychology to get your children to encourage good behavior. For instance, you could request them (not) to do something by getting down to their eye level, saying their name, and asking them if they understand what you're saying.

Furthermore, you can be shorter and more specific with your requests instead of going on and on with super long explanations. Moreover, you could always give your kids choices to empower them (e.g., asking which outfit they’d like to wear to school or whether they’d like to tidy their room or brush their teeth first).

Which of these parenting hacks would you ever use at home, dear Pandas? Have you ever tried reverse psychology to motivate your kids to behave a certain way or do you think honesty is the best policy? What's your parenting style and philosophy like? Let us know in the comments!