20 Hacks That Prove Parents Are Next-Level Cunning Masters

If there is a complex task in life that deserves all our effort, dedication, and love, it is precisely that of being a parent. Children can be so witty, which is why parents are led to use all their creativity to get out of some of the weirdest situations.

Bright Side put together a list of 20 parents who have shown that, although it is not an easy task, the mission of bringing up a child also has its kind and fun side.

1. “Here’s a thing I Invented today”

2. “Best piece of parenting advice I ever received”

• Even when it’s no, it’s yes. We use “no” for safety things, like hard no and probably never. Instead, when I’m tempted to say “no” to other things, I expand my thinking and ask myself, “when/how can this be yes?” So when my toddler wants something, let’s say a cupcake at 10 am, instead of “no,” I reply, “Mmmm, a cupcake sounds good! We can have one after dinner tonight,” or don’t have cupcakes? No problem. “Yum, cupcakes sound so good. I wish we had some, but we’re all out. Maybe when we go grocery shopping this weekend, we can share one in the car!” This has saved my sanity so far in parenthood. I’m sure this won’t work forever, but so far, I’m very impressed with the conversation it promotes between me and my little, as well as the 50% reduction in tantrums. © blkmrsfrizzle / Reddit

3. “Painting with water”

4. “Dad Pro Tip: If you have more than one kid of the same gender and fairly close in age/size, and need a way not to mix up their clothes:”

• I have three boys—lots of hand-me-down clothes. The first two are about 2.5 years apart, but almost (but not quite) the same size. It’s easy to mix up their shirts and pants, and it really annoys them when they’ve been given the wrong ones. I began marking their clothes with a permanent marker on the tag or inside the back collar. The oldest gets a single short line “|” drawn on the tag. The next gets two lines “||,” and the third gets...yep, you guessed it...three lines “|||.” Whenever an item gets passed down to the next brother, I simply add another line to the existing ones. “|” becomes “||” and so on—super simple, fast way to keep track. You can also do dots or whatever tick mark you want. Just not names or initials. If they’re in good enough condition to give or donate later, you aren’t giving someone a shirt with the name “Jimmy” in it or whatever. © flash17k / Reddit

5. “I’m a dad of 2 girls. As they’ve gotten older, there are times they get too embarrassed to tell me things. Got this idea a few years back from.”

“They have been awesome for helping my girls feel comfortable talking to me about anything!”

6. “Film your kids if they’re sick!”

• Earlier this week, my child was incredibly sick. Although it wasn’t my first instinct, I made sure to take a quick video on my phone in case it could be useful. When seen by a doctor, the symptoms had largely disappeared. Having the video ended up being really important as the doctor could confirm from the video his diagnosis, and we now have medication to address it properly. If your kids are sick, taking a video could be useful to show the health professionals who are treating your child. We can’t guarantee that our children will show the symptoms that have worried us when they are seen in person, or that we can explain to them the way we need to. © bozzlebee / Reddit

7. “Daughter wants to work in the garage with dad. Needs hair pulled back. Dad hack 101.”

8. “My daughter (26) will tell people all the time that the 2 best things I taught her were that if she was staying out (at friends) and wanted to come home, I would get her no matter what time.”

• We also had a code where if she was asked by a friend if she wanted to stay the night, she put in a text “can I stay at Beth’s House, please?” and it meant she wanted to, but if she did not want to she would leave the please off the end, and I would text her back saying “no” because we had something to do in the morning. Always give them a safe out/exit. They need to feel safe even when they are not with you. The second one was from very small, I used to let her pay for things. I always insisted she get a receipt, and her money went back in her purse with the receipt before she walked away from the checkout (lots of eye-rolling from people waiting). It is very easy for children to be stopped going out a shop door and accused of stealing, and it’s also very easy to lose money if you feel rushed at the checkout. © jeezealready / Reddit

9. “Daughter wanted kitty cakes for her 4th birthday. Dad to the rescue! I am not a professional.”

10. “I didn’t like it as a kid, but I thank my dad constantly for it now, as an adult. I would get a birthday card with a twenty or something in it.”

• My dad would take out his wallet, put the twenty in and take out two fives and a ten. He would then give me one of the fives, to spend however I wanted. Then he opened a savings account (that I could watch grow over the years) and he’d put the remaining $15 in it. He taught me to put away whatever you could whenever possible. I’ve been living a relatively comfortable adult life for over a decade now based off that simple lesson. I plan on teaching my son the same once he gets old enough to understand. © McRandomRooster / Reddit

11. “Bed tent and a flashlight kept my 2-year-old son busy for 90 min while I relaxed.”

12. “Parenting hack... a must try”

• I’m a single parent working during school hours, just about holding life together and winging the whole parent to a little boy thing. I’ve used the naughty step for 3 years now, not only on my son, who is now 6, but on myself! And it’s a game-changer! Whenever I get overwhelmed with everything and the smallest thing gets me snappy with my son, who technically hasn’t done anything wrong, I go and sit on the stairs for some time out, and it works! My little boy has asked a few times, and I’ve told him mummy needs some time to think because her head is messy, and he just leaves me till I leave. He doesn’t say mum constantly, doesn’t even look my way. © FrankieB8692 / Reddit

13. "Instead of spending 3 minutes trying to explain which compartment stuff’s in, I will now be able to say, “It’s on the orange pocket.”

“Traveling with twins leaves your hands full, and that diaper backpack is a packed maze.”

14. “Teach breathing and grounding techniques while the kids are calm, so they have the tools to calm down when they’re not.”

• Also, a recent one: I put giant googly eyes on the garbage can. Now instead of leaving crumbs and random trash on the table, they rush to feed “Trashy.” © PageStunning6265 / Reddit

15. “Put your legs on your kid’s arms, so they don’t grab their dirty diapers.”

16. “Having a few balloons in my bag I can blow up was always a good distraction if the kid got too bored/restless while out and about, or to diffuse a fight between kids.”

• Also, I always took my kid’s favorite dinky car with us when we went to visit other kids. When the inevitable question/tantrum came that he wanted to take a toy from their house with him, I’d tell him we could absolutely do that, but then we’d leave his toy car there in exchange. Luckily, worked every single time. © greebiegrub / Reddit

17. “How to keep hand towels from falling on the floor from your kids...”

18. “Start putting finely chopped greens in everything when they’re super little, making sure the green is visible.”

• Kiddo is so used to seeing it in his food that he doesn’t think twice about it. Although he’s otherwise rather a pain about food, he’ll happily eat beans and greens for dinner, soups with greens, or a regular salad. © Fiotes / Reddit

19. “How to keep your babies feet warm while walking.”

20. “I make competitions out of chores that need to be done.”

• I told my 8-year-old that I could pick up more legos than he could. He started picking them up twice as fast, and he won. Worked like a charm. © fireflybabe / Reddit

What other fun tips do you know of that parents use when raising their children?