Parents reveal their most ‘unhinged’ parenting tactics, and the creativity is next level

Raising kids is hard, as every parent knows. Even “easy” kids require a lot of energy, time, and patience, and few parents end up with all easy kids. That’s why thinking outside the box (or outside the parenting books) is essential. Psychology and theory are all well and good, but the best parenting tips often come from lived experience. So when someone asked parents to share their “most unhinged parenting hacks,” the result was a deluge of creative brilliance. Parents of youngsters, take notes: What counts as an ‘unhinged’ parenting tactic The ask from @larisssasump was quite specific: “Tell me your most unhinged parenting hacks. I’m not talking ‘I let my kid watch my phone so they poop on the potty.’ I’m talking ‘it works so well, but I’m a little embarrassed to share it’ hack.” “Like…’this should NOT work, but somehow it does’ level,” she added in the caption. “The weird. The chaotic. The slightly concerning. I want ALL of them.” Here’s a personal example: when our kids were little, my fellow mom friend and I used a whole system of SAT-level vocabulary to talk about things we didn’t want them to know. The system included referring to our three kids as our “primary, secondary, and tertiary tax deductions” so we could talk about them openly. For instance, if I wanted to ask my friend whether she was planning to bring all three of her kids to my oldest daughter’s surprise birthday party on Saturday, I’d say, “Are you bringing all your tax deductions to the surreptitious commemoration of my primary deduction’s revolution around the sun this coming Sabbath day?” Kids had zero idea what we were talking about. (It worked well for years, and I’m convinced it kept our brains sharp.) The most brilliant ideas are the most creative I so wish I had read some of these hacks when my kids were little: “Give my kids each a wet wipe and let them play whoever comes back with the dirtiest wipe wins. They find the most hidden spots that I never would have gotten clean and keeps them busy forever. Saw this in a reel but my god does it ever work.” Photo credit: Canva – Some parenting tips are wonderfully creative. “Light a candle when they start eating. Whoever finishes the new item on the plate first gets to blow out the candle. My 5 year old and nearly 2 year old LOVE this challenge. They’ve eaten so many more veggies.” “I made potato soup with broccoli in it and we ate it by candle light so they couldn’t see the broccoli. I told them we were having a fancy dinner. They raved about the soup and asked for seconds. I had made it before and they wouldn’t touch it because of the green.” “My daughters are about 18 months apart, I told the older one that every time baby sister goes potty on the big girl toilet they both get a candy. My oldest fully potty trained the baby for me and was so excited to do it.” “I tell my (9, 12, and 14) year old I’m going to take a quick rest but to make sure to get me up in about 30 minutes so I can tell them the chores they need to do. Funny how they forget to come get me and I get a nice rest/watch a show in total peace and quiet.” “When my son wants a toy at the store I take a picture of him holding the toy to ‘send to Santa’ instead of buying it. Works like a charm & then when Christmas comes around I already have a list.” “The tooth fairy pays more for clean teeth. He brushes so well for those extra quarters.” A little rebranding can go a long way Who knew that simply calling something by a different name could completely change how kids feel about it? “My son swears he hates salmon, he loves beach chicken though.” Parenting is simply marketing.​My child doesn't like fish, but likes chicken.​So last night for dinner, I told her salmon was "beach chicken." She cheered: "Yay! Beach chicken!" and ate it all.​It's not a lie, it's rebranding. Know your customer! 😜— No filter Skin (@NoFilterSkin) July 31, 2026 “Same with one of mine, hated salmon, loved pink flamingo fish.” “My kids think peas are ‘hulk bites.’” “My son is anti-dinner lately. But he’ll eat more lunch at 5pm.” “7 year old swore up and down he despised chicken, but he sure did love ‘pollo.’” “My son wouldn’t eat pork chops but he loved hyena (lion king).” “Yesss… my daughter refuses to eat tuna but she lovessss sea steak!” “I did this with my stepson with broccoli. He hated broccoli. Loved ‘trees.’” “My son hates couscous but likes ‘circle rice.’” “My child hates mayo. But LOVEEEES white mustard.” “My kids refuse to take any kind of liquid medicine, but they love eating a spoonful of ‘melted popsicle.’” Questionable in truth, but effective in practice Many of the responses involved blatantly lying to children, which doesn’t sit well with me personally. But some stretches of truth strike just the right balance of harmless and helpful to be worth sharing: “Told them that when they lie their ears turn red. They cover their ears when they aren’t being truthful.” A kid covering his ears. Photo credit: Canva “We told our 2 year old his pacifier has to be put on the charger during the day so it can be used at bedtime.” “I told my daughter she couldn’t turn 4 until she started wiping her own butt.” “My daughter was scared of pooping in the toilet (sensory issue) and I told her that if she keeps holding it in her poo will be sad because he can’t go down the toilet to his friends in pooland and that’s why it makes her tummy sore…Less than 10 minutes later we had one successful shite in the toilet.” “I told my son that monsters only show up if you pay the subscription for them and mommy and daddy don’t pay the subscription so we don’t have monsters anywhere around us.” “I would pause my kids favorite show and say they took a break to go to the potty, and they can’t come back on until my kid tries, too. Not embarrassed to share that but it worked on all 6 kids and thought I would share.” “I tell my son that if he doesn’t get in the shower, I’m going to fart in his lunch. It never fails.” Fellow parents, here’s to doing whatever it takes to raise our kids without losing our minds.