How did you break the rules as a kid? Parents’ share naughty little secrets
Breaking the rules: we all did it. But the scary part is that our kids, no doubt, will too!
Breaking your parents’ rules as a kid comes with a sense of pride, in a way. That triumphant feeling of ‘we got ‘em’!
How did you break the rules as a kid? Of course, we had to put this question to our guests on The Parent Panel.
Listen to The Parent Panel:
Self-confessed perennial rule-breaker and TV host, Tom Williams confesses that in the days he wasn’t allowed to go to the beach solo, he’d try to break the rules by saying he was riding his bike, when in fact he was on the way to the beach … He was only caught once, and the look of disappointment from his mum was sufficient punishment.
Mindfulness coach, author and founder of Happy Mama, Amy Taylor-Kabbaz, found a regular way in which to somewhat break the rules. Her parents worked full time, so she spent school holidays at home with her sister.
“Mum and Dad would go to work, they’d be back at five o’clock and they just trusted us. Stupidly sometimes. The big rule was that when they came home at 5pm, the house had to be cleaned. And of course, we trashed that joint between 9:30am and 4:30pm. We would play these games, pretending the house was a hotel. Each bedroom had a guest in it, we’d be in the kitchen, pretending it was a restaurant. And then the only way we could get away with it, was at 4:30pm on the dot, we pretended we were robots and we would clean for half an hour like these crazy robots and we’d run around the house.”
“We were terrified of [mum] walking in and having that look of disappointment.”
A common childhood memory
This thought train all began from a Twitter Moment, when user @Nicole_Cliffe revealed her own little secret as a kid (with a warning to today’s parents that the equivalent will still happen!).
Your kids will drink soda, is what I’m saying.
— Nicole Cliffe (@Nicole_Cliffe) September 14, 2018
And in came the flood of confessions from the Twitter world.
https://twitter.com/lizbizfizz/status/1040751367244017664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
I wasn't supposed to watch TV and would turn it off right when I heard the garage door. My mom told me years later they could see the TV was on every time they drove up the street.
— Becky (@BeckPittor) September 14, 2018
once in the fifth grade i found a tube of red lipstick in the church bathroom and wore it all day and when my mom caught me i said god told me i should wear it for his glory
— Kristen Arnett (@Kristen_Arnett) September 14, 2018
When I was 4 my friend cut off all my hair. My tiny brain figured if I swept all the cut hair behind the couch my parents wouldn’t notice. Needless to say…not so much. But I did end up with this fly style as a result pic.twitter.com/biYwC7iaME
— Stangle’s Kid (@lisasaurstomp) September 15, 2018
I used to freeze Hostess Ding Dongs and eat them while I was practicing my piano. No crumbs on keys that way…Practiced scales with my left hand, Ding Dong in my right.
— Heather T (@HRrob) September 14, 2018
Your kids will break the rules too
Inevitably, the conversation moved on to what our kids end up testing the boundaries with.
Shevonne Hunt shared that her son tells quite an obvious little lie, saying “Daddy said I could have a lolly after breakfast.”
Though Tom says he’s not totally against his kids testing the limits:
“I encourage that sort of challenge in their personalities,” Tom says. “I definitely don’t discourage the fact that they can question things.”
Tom says it’s about being a step ahead of them all the time so they don’t pull off anything too crazy, but still encourages it in some ways. “I really like to see them stretch their boundaries at this age.”
This sentiment was reflected on Twitter, with some parents letting their kids get away with little things.
I'm a believer in letting my kids get away with a few safe things to give them a feeling of control. Like I'll pretend I don't notice my son is reading in bed for a while and then "discover" him.
— Cranky McCrankymom (@MaraGreengrass) September 14, 2018
I started coming upstairs loudly saying "I wonder what the kids are doing" when they were toddlers. Gives them a chance to save face.
— Ailbhe Leamy (Donate to your local foodbank) (@artbyailbhe) September 14, 2018
I'm all about the heavy footsteps and coughs in the hallway. If the kid can turn off the light and make it back to bed in time, he gets off scot free.
— Cranky McCrankymom (@MaraGreengrass) September 14, 2018
Hmmm … maybe we weren’t as clever as we all thought we were as kids?!
This post was originally published on Kinderling Kids Radio. Download the Kinderling app for more great stories.
