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You can read all the books, listen to all the advice, join all the FB groups, and still, you won’t be fully prepared for every parenting curve ball that comes your way. During these times of, let’s face it, desperation, parents might get a little creative. Perhaps a little white lie here, and gamification of something there, whatever does the trick.

Recently a mom named Michaela Estrada, who had two boys under the age of four and hoped to have more kids in the future, asked fellow moms to share their “most unhinged” hacks.

She further clarified her request, writing, “I’m not talking about letting them run around naked and unashamed in the backyard. I need the craziest hacks of the 21st century.”

parenting, parenting hacks, motherhood, mom hacks, mommy fb group, mommy blogger, kids, parenting humorTikTok · Michaela Estradawww.tiktok.com

Millions of views later, folks delivered. Big time. And boy are they a fun read, whether you’re a parent or not. As one viewer said, “do I have a kid? No. did I read all of these comments? Yes.”

Here are some of our faves:

"We did Cinderella Sundays. We cleaned all morning, then they wore their princess dresses to our fancy candle-lit dinner, followed by a dance party 'ball.'"

"I use a kabuki brush to put sunscreen on my son while saying 'tickle tickle' over and over again. It's the only way he'll stay still for a minute for me to make sure he's covered."

"Whenever it's bed time and they are still stuck to Netflix or similar, I change the language to Greek or polish and tell them they don't understand cause they are too tired and it's bed time!"

"My mom hid all my dolls and stuffed animals and said they ran away 'cause my room was dirty. They sent a 'postcard' from another kid's clean room. When I cleaned [my room] they returned."

parenting, parenting hacks, motherhood, mom hacks, mommy fb group, mommy blogger, kids, parenting humorStuffed animalsPhoto credit: Canva

"My mom used to tell us she was allergic to loud noises, so when she was overstimulated, she would say she was having an allergic reaction. [It] worked until a doctor asked me if any allergies ran in the family."

"Our parents told us that whining was illegal in Cape Cod (where we vacationed in the early 2000s), and when we'd hear sirens [it meant] 'someone must have been whining.' We believed them for YEARSSS!"

"Potty room for potty words! My 3-year-old will excuse himself to the bathroom to 'curse' and we’ll hear him going 'dang it,' 'what the heck,' 'Imma beat up all the strangers,' and it has us DYING!"


"Told the kids that Santa/Easter Bunny/Tooth Fairy had to follow OSHA standards for workplace safety. They wouldn’t come if their room was a mess with tripping hazards."

"Gave my daughter a bag and told her to 'go shopping' for toys at our house. Five minutes later, she had picked up everything off the floor and put it in her bag."

"My mom told me and my brothers if we hid from her in the clothing racks at stores the employees would take us and turn us into mannequins."

parenting, parenting hacks, motherhood, mom hacks, mommy fb group, mommy blogger, kids, parenting humorA child mannequinPhoto credit: Canva

"We have pet fish, and I told my kids they are Santa’s secret spies all year long to make sure they are behaving. When they get crazy, I whisper, 'The fish are watching.' They love and fear the spy fish."

"Who wants to guess what mommy is going to get you for your birthday?! Then I go buy that. Same with Santa."

"My daughter fights sleep like a Roman gladiator because she has chronic FOMO (fear of missing out), so we brainstorm something fun to do in our dreams together so she ends up in a hurry to meet dinosaurs together or something."

"When my daughter was little, she wanted to say swear words. We told her swear words are for adults but she could make up her own for kids. She chose 'Stewart.' 'This traffic is a real Stewart.'"

"I told my kids that the ice cream man plays music to let everyone know he's sorry, but he’s out of ice cream and hopes we enjoy the music and to try again tomorrow."

"When my mom folded laundry she dumped all the socks on the floor and sat us down around them. Whoever got the most pairs won. We had so much fun and she didn't have to sort them."

parenting, parenting hacks, motherhood, mom hacks, mommy fb group, mommy blogger, kids, parenting humorcolorful socksPhoto credit: Canva

"I tell them their tongue is constantly growing new taste buds so they should keep trying new food even if they didn’t like them last time. Is this true? Idk, my dad told me the same thing."

"Make your child a Gmail account with their name before it gets taken. Then send them photos, videos, messages, etc. throughout their life so they have a digital journal of their childhood."

"We told my son broccoli, zucchini and Brussels sprouts grows muscles, and we do an arm muscle check after he eats. He gets so excited that he eats it all. We 'oooh and ahhh,' and he just giggles."

"My kid HATES teethbrushing but likes blowing out candles, so we brush teeth by candlelight then let her blow them out."

"When my friend's teens acted up, instead of grounding them, she would ground herself. For example, 'I'm sorry, I would love to drive you to the mall, but unfortunately I'm grounded.'"

"Ever since my daughter was little I’d give her an imaginary chill pill to eat when she was acting crazy. She’s eight and still 'takes them' to calm down."

parenting, parenting hacks, motherhood, mom hacks, mommy fb group, mommy blogger, kids, parenting humorA fiction bottle of "chill pills"Photo credit: Canva

"My kid's preferred method of washing the soap from his hair is if we pretend to waterboard him while screaming, 'Where's the muffin man?' He used to freak before my husband started doing this."

"If they want to tattle I tell them I can’t hear another tattle and that our dog Archie will listen to the tattle and report it back to me. So they go lay it all out to the dog."

"When my daughter gets her burst of energy late at night, I turn on kids' exercise videos on YouTube, and since she does them, it tires her out enough that she knocks out right after."


"Speed bumps and oil spots in parking lots are kids that got ran over, because they didn't hold their parents' hand."

"Not unhinged, but literally the best thing I ever did was make myself understand that it's their first time here. They are still learning how to do the things I find easy."

"My mom pulled us out of school individually on different days without telling us when and would surprise us with lunch at Olive Garden. She'd then ask us really personal questions to gauge how we were doing."

parenting, parenting hacks, motherhood, mom hacks, mommy fb group, mommy blogger, kids, parenting humorA family at an Italian restaurantPhoto credit: Canva

"Making a 'kids charcuterie board' by putting mostly healthy options on it — you’d be surprised how much they eat and test out new and healthy foods."

"I used to buy scary masks and put them in the cupboards that I didn’t want them to get into when they inevitably broke the child lock. They don’t even open them now, lol."

"Let them help cook! My twins are autistic and were such picky eaters because of the textures. Once I started letting them cook with me, they started eating a lot more and wanting to try new foods!"

"Every time my kids cried, I told them to drink water because their tears would run out. They drink the water, and then they stop crying, also, when they don't listen to you, they start to whisper."

"My kids don’t get in trouble if they’re honest. No punishment if you fess up to doing the wrong thing. We’ll talk about it, but no punishment. They make the right choices 99% of the time. When they make mistakes, they call me when they’re uncomfortable with situations their friends are trying to get them in, etc. It’s been life-changing. No sneaky kids."

"I taught my kids that the TV needs to charge so when they’re done screen time. I just say, 'Okay guys, the TV needs to charge now,' and it goes off. They fully believe the TV charges."

parenting, parenting hacks, motherhood, mom hacks, mommy fb group, mommy blogger, kids, parenting humorKids watching televisionPhoto credit: Canva

"As toddlers, when you put them to bed, give them three tickets. They can use the tickets for water, the bathroom, or a question. After the tickets are gone, that's it."

"Every Oct/Nov/Dec I change their dad's name in my phone to Santa Clause that way, they see it on my screen or in the car (they read the screen in the car a lot) they think it’s Santa checking in."

And lastly:

"Bedtime hack: ask your kids what they want to have as a bedtime story about, and have ChatGPT make it. Bonus, add their names to include them in the story!"

It's nearly impossible to keep a clean house for more than an hour when you have kids, and the more you've got, the worse it gets. Unless you have perfectly trained children, you're always having to nag them to clean up after themselves.

Jessica McGinty, who posts as Mishmash Moments on her Facebook blog, found a solution to picking up after her kids and it stirred up some passionate debate. McGinty has a blended family and is raising five kids all under the age of nine. So you can imagine how impossible it must be to keep everything tidy.

McGinty came up with the ingenious idea of the "fucket bucket." She has a bucket for each child in the living room and when she sees something lying around, she drops it in the bucket. If the kids haven't put the contents of their buckets away by the time they go to bed, it gets thrown away.

"If they leave it laying around, it goes in their bucket. If it's still there at bedtime it goes in the bin because fucket if I'm cleaning it up," McGinty wrote on Facebook.



Like anything parenting-related, the post stirred up a bit of controversy. Michelle thought the idea was solid but that McGinty should probably have a name for the bucket that is a bit more kid-friendly.

"The idea is great but perhaps the name isn't appropriate … what about renaming them 'chuck-it' buckets instead," Michelle wrote.

McGinty cleared things up by telling her that she doesn't use the F-word around her kids.

Amy thought it was a good idea to use for her husband, too.

"I have given my husband one of those boxes, minus the part about throwing it out," she wrote. "He is always accusing me of moving his stuff. If it's laying around, it goes in the box."

Another commenter thought it was a bad idea.

"Makes zero sense, if you've made the effort to move it into the bucket, surely it could have been moved into a toy box," Belinda wrote. "Just throwing your own money away."

The idea made another mother irate.

"I couldn't care less how messy my children were, I'd never disrespect them like this," Claire wrote. "Shocked people seem to think throwing away other people's belongings without their consent is a good thing. Great job setting an example of how to treat other people!"

Regardless of what other people think, McGinty says the buckets have been a game-changer in her home. "We're a blended family of five, nine and under–nine, seven, seven, six, and two. It's working well so far. I can wander around and pick up any missed things and drop them in the buckets and the kids love them, knowing exactly where things they've missed are," she told Scary Mommy.

People can disagree all they want about the tactics parents use to raise their kids. But in the end, it's all about the results. McGinty may have gone to extremes to get her kids to be responsible and clean up, but her home and her sanity will be all the better for it.

via Benjamin Dissinger / Flickr

Two years ago, when I was a new father, I went to a party and had to change my son's diaper.

No big deal.

As I was changing the diaper, a young mother came into the room with her baby daughter for a change as well.

"Oh wow, you change diapers," she remarked. "My husband doesn't."


I was taken aback by the comment because the idea that some men aren't changing diapers in 2017 seemed completely crazy. My head was swimming with questions:

How does this guy sleep at night knowing that he's not pulling his fair share?

Why does this woman put up with it?

What the hell is the rest of this couple's marriage like?

Why the hell am I changing this diaper if some men don't have to? (Just kidding.)

Blogger Zawn Villines is going viral for a Facebook post where she takes on lazy dads for not pulling their fair share. She also chastises the women who put up with it saying they should kick their men to the curb.

The controversial post may be seen by some as victim-blaming, while others may see it as a much needed wake up call to women who put up with lazy men.

The post has over 24,000 shares over the past two months.

RELATED: The story behind this viral photo shows why mom-shaming needs to stop

The post was inspired by the countless posts Villines has read by exhausted women whose husbands don't pull their own weight.

"The problems are all some variation of 'I just gave birth/am up half the night breastfeeding. Why do I have to also make dinner and clean while my spouse watches TV?' Villines wrote.

"The advice is always the same: Be gentle with yourself. You can't do it all. Parenthood is hard. Blah blah blah," she continued. "I don't know which of you needs to hear this, but I'll give you some better advice: Divorce his ass."

Here's the rest of the original post:

This cultural norm where a man buys his free time with his partner's labor, suffering, and sometimes with the literal destruction of her body is misogyny on steroids.

Men are not innately incompetent or lazy or incapable of doing their fair share. Tell that jackass to get off the golf course, get his ass home, get up in the middle of the night with the baby, and start earning the right to stay married.

And remind him that not all men are this way, and that a dude who doesn't do his fair share is not exactly a prize. He is replaceable. Lazy men who think you should have to work 168 hours a week while they work 40 are easy to find.

If my spouse can pull his weight while litigating police and prison death cases and dealing with the unending horror of our current legal system, then your Johnny Do Nothing husband can manage to get up with the damn baby and stop blaming your postpartum depression on your woman hormones.

If he gets free time and you don't, if he gets to sleep and you don't, if you have to do the grunt work and he doesn't, guess what. It's not an accident. He knows exactly what he is doing. Division of labor imbalances in marriage are a form of spousal abuse.

Stop making excuses for shitty men.

The post received some enthusiastic feedback in the comment section:

via Facebook


via Facebook


via Facebook

The post was especially resonant with a commentator named Kayla.

It's the crux of ideological dominance (in contrast to physical dominance) to have the oppressed group regulate their own oppression, and this is seen so clearly regarding this topic—straight women will defend male laziness and entitlement to the point of desperation and delusion, and in my experience I've found it difficult to be tangibly supportive of such abused and taken-advantage-of straight women because sometimes they will agree with the above sentiments but later resent you for it when they continue to stay.

Regardless of one's opinion on this post, we can all agree that lazy men who waste their time playing video games, sleeping or watching TV while their partners work themselves into exhaustion s need to grow up or get out.