If you have kids, December was probably one of the hardest times of the year. Between keeping your little ones entertained during the winter break, searching for the perfect Christmas gifts, and dealing with the chaos of crowded grocery stores and shopping centers, it was pure survival mode.
But you made it through—congratulations! Now it’s time to relax, take a breather and treat yourself to some well-deserved alone time. And while you’re at it, check out these hilarious tweets from parents who perfectly captured the struggles of the past month. Enjoy!
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Tell y'what man, talkin bout ol sly fox man, dang ol meanin' of is is, y'know man, 'n oh, i miss ol', dang ol 90s, man.
Load More Replies...As a teenager of the 80's I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that it was over 40 years ago!
I said to someone just last month: "1990 was only 10 years ago!" They responded with: "No, it was 14 years ago" -- and that's when I knew they were my people!
I was born in 1965 lmao almost 60 and I feel your pain 😂like where has time gone I only feel like I’m 30 still despite not having had my kids till I was 35 n 39 my math stopped mathing erm hmm what am I sing my math never mathed even in school my n math don’t mix but if all feels like a whole life time ago now eek
Some 2006 babies are adults if i did the maths right but i just woke up so
As a child of the 1950s I'm still trying to wrap what's left of my mind that then was when? Noooo!
Yeah, I was a teenager in the 70's. I've been married for over 30 years but sometimes I could swear it's only been a few years.
Nearly all parents (96%) say the holidays are a happy time for their family, according to a poll by the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. However, that happiness often requires countless hours spent preparing meals, wrapping gifts, and creating cherished traditions. It’s no surprise, then, that nearly 1 in 5 parents admit to feeling highly stressed in the process. Notably, mothers report feeling overwhelmed almost twice as often as fathers, with 23% compared to 12%.
Elvis holds the record for Most Shipped Christmas Album of all time. Wouldn't surprise me if there was something like Japan's KFC thing.
Load More Replies...Surprised the kid knew who Elvis was. I'm stunned on a daily basis at youth today not knowing many of the famous bands and artists I grew up with.
Everyone knows about him surely- the youth of today
Load More Replies...Maybe you could’ve asked him to spell the word he most likely read incorrectly
I feel like this should be a Military parent joke, this is just amazing
I use another kind of handwriting for that purpose. That one is also easier to read for kids
The year we got our first trampoline santa wrote clues to find it on 'the same type of typewriter as grandad'. I didn't think anything of it beyond that.
For 25+ years, once a year for Christmas, I have been using a very particular and very different penmanship than what I normally do. My kids still have no idea who writes their "From Santa" gift tags. They've guessed everyone from aunts & uncles, to neighbours and even a paid service. The only other person who knows it's me, is my husband. I'll never tell!
Ditto though only a few years. I learned dip pen calligraphy mostly so I could write letters back from Santa to my niblings. Complete with wax seal. Did 'em for a few friends & family too.
Load More Replies...I once asked a strange woman in a shop if she'd received her dress from Father Christmas, because it was the same fabric as my new doll's quilt. She was very kind about it.
I'm surprised that a kid that can tell it's the same handwriting hadn't already figured it out for other reasons.
Mum told me she use to write my santa letters upside down to avoid me guessing it was her xD
They had the same wrapping paper too, but mom told me he came in at night and borrowed our paper to wrap them when he got here.
Several common holiday concerns contribute to these feelings, including extra shopping and holiday tasks (31%), keeping family members healthy (30%), managing household finances (29%), organizing family gatherings (23%), making special meals (22%), and even criticism about holiday plans (14%). Across the board, mothers are more likely than fathers to feel the weight of these responsibilities.
They’re an old people! How’re they gonna remember grammar and shoot?
Load More Replies...Yeah, I mean why go with Elf when you can get Snoop on a Stoop? (it's a real thing)
Load More Replies...In my neighborhood he is known as the Snitch in the Ditch. No one knows how he ended up there.
Day one it’s an amusing challenge to work out what he’s going to do, day seven ideas are less interesting, day fifteen whose idea was it to do this? day eighteen I’m tired oh dammit where’s the elf? Day twenty I swear that once Christmas is over I’m burning that bloody elf, day twenty four we are not doing this again, EVER. Christmas Day, takes cover off barbecue, locates lighter fluid and Zippo……. I’ll show you now, it’s all over for you elf no longer on the shelf…..
A "favourite" aunt gave one to us. We put it up in the girls' room. The second night it was there it was pushed off its shelf by a cat and ripped to shreds by one of the puppies we had at the time. This was attested to by one of the girls. Extra treats and pets for all involved.
I feel this on my bones. Sometimes I wish I had a shirt that has 'She dressed herself today " printed out really big across the front and back 😂
Elder daughter went through a phase of insisting on wearing her clothes inside out AND backwards. When people looked at me funny, I would just shrug and say "she dresses herself, isn't it wonderful!".
Load More Replies...having a daycare, sometimes parents would struggle to get kids out of pajamas and into play clothes. We just allowed any wear in the am and had extra clothes for when they were ready to get playing. One battle removed from the home.
I don’t have kids but I’ve heard/seen kids scream and throw temper tantrums at work and I can’t blame the parents for giving in
This stress is something Bridget, a UK-based content creator and new mom, knows all too well. Having welcomed her baby girl in June of last year, she experienced December as a parent for the first time—and it came with its own set of challenges. “There’s always so much to think about and lists of things to do, and the dreaded ‘mom guilt,’” she told Bored Panda. “Have I done enough? Is it a special enough first Christmas? Could I have taken her to more places or experiences? Who do I need to buy for? Does she need a new Christmas outfit, Christmas PJs, Christmas hat? The list goes on…”
My brain originally read it as "emotional support gorillas" and now I have a new life goal.
Try telling her that and she might just hit you with "STAND BACK OR I CALL GODZILLA!" *IYKYK*
Reminds me, my fnaf au Michael took in Millie from the books, Millie died on Christmas eve, and yet she has two alive siblings one of which is a toddler, imagine how infuriating Christmas is for her, she already hated the holiday from being goth but now she has to deal with kid aunts and uncles and a baby sister who still belive in Santa
Just watched Home Alone again. And about 20 Hallmark Christmas movies :)
Still, the season was a reminder of just how much her life had changed since becoming a mom. “Sounds cliché, but it really is something you just can’t prepare for, nor can anyone else prepare you for it,” Bridget shared. “For me personally, the biggest adjustment was the emotions. There are SO many different emotions in one day or moment—it’s truly overwhelming and takes time to get to grips with (if you ever really do).”
When my amazing gernam rottie was alive we lost him three yrs go almost he was hooves stood 6ft on hind legs I’d had him from a pup and clearly I never learned lmao one day I’d treated my two kids then around 16-19 they 23-20 now to a steak tea as they had been so much help while I had been in hospital with a badly broken leg in two places 9 hour op rods n pins put in and in the weeks after etc so I being housebound ordered online as normal some nice steaks for them I dished all up left mine to rest for a min while I went in sitting room for something they had theirs I came back to well yup my dog had eaten it he didn’t even really need to jump up lol never did I leave food on the edge again 🙈
Haha, we had a greyhound, so we moved the packet of pork scratchings away from the edge, right up against the wall. He still snaffled them.
Load More Replies...This is a big part of my job as a daughter and sister- my mum and sister are notorious for knocking drinks over!
More milk and cookies needed, stat! Gotta calcium Santa up for deliveries XP
This is why I loved it when she got gift cards. But most of the time she got something that she generally liked longer than a couple months. Can't go wrong with their long lasting interests.
And that's why I love gift cards - especially the ones where you can choose the shop. In germany we have "Wunschgutschein"(wish gift card) where the receiver may choose their favourite store/online delivery/[...] (out of >100 possibilities). That thing looks cheap and tacky but the actual present is going to be perfect, since it's chosen by oneself. Just what you need. Nothing that goes to waste after beeing kept along out of politeness.
I was setting out wrapped gifts on Christmas Eve, and my 8yo tells me the gift that he's most excited for. It turns out, that's the gift that his mom told me was backordered and won't arrive until April. I talked to his mom, and we decided that we didn't want him to go through the disappointment on Christmas morning, so we told him that night. There were many tears, but we talked him through it. Thankfully, he was able to enjoy Christmas Day.
Yes, this! My nephew just turned 13, I cannot keep track of what he's into these days and my brother is no help!
Nevertheless, Bridget considers motherhood the best thing that’s ever happened to her. “I feel like it’s what I was meant to do, even though at many points in my life I never thought I wanted to be a mum,” she said. “You can have the hardest day of your life, and if your baby looks at you and smiles, it honestly all just goes away.”
I recall a similar story of a child that was being rewarded with M&Ms for successful potty usage, so started going a little bit then holding it and then going again...
I used the small hershey candy bars for my nephew. Nothing like having a youngster pull Auntie in the BM to show the loot bag
Load More Replies...I'm not even sure if the OPs or any of the commentors on BP are even real anymore.
It was a very long time ago so I don't remember when I got potty trained, but I do have a few vague memories of nursery school. Besides the logic of remembering the latter because I was older I'm thinking the nursery school probably didn't accept kids that needed help to take a s**t. Or that my parent could have afforded a place whose employees were willing to help.
That did used to be a requirement but now with many children being in long day care full time and the recognition of neurodivergence or disabilities that could cause difficulty toilet training they don't do it anymore, at least where I live.
Load More Replies...This tracks. The kid isn't interested in the actual end goal (yet); you said he had to fill the chart to get the toy, he was going to do the chart, even if by adult logic, he'd already achieved the goal.
I didn’t downvote, but apparently he already achieved the end goal.
Load More Replies...Ha, I actually thought that phrase the other day!
Load More Replies...Did he continue on with "baby, I know it...youve lost that lovin' feeling"?
Two of my kids had a hard time learning to talk—the third, a boy, more than the second —so we used ASL—American Sign Language. I was so proud when my 2.5-year-old daughter walked up to my FIL, touched his foot, and said, “Shoe.” Obviously, we didn't worry about grammar since the point was to help them get their message across. My eldest never shuts up and has always demanded attention.
At its heart, Christmas was a lovely time for Bridget, spent with family and filled with special moments. Reflecting on the holidays, she encourages parents to embrace simpler traditions to make things easier. “Speak to family and friends, plan meet-ups, go somewhere, or have a games night together instead of buying gifts,” she suggested. “This year, my family and I only did gifts for the children, and with the money we saved on other presents, we booked a cabin for New Year’s Eve together.”
She will learn one day never to ask questions she really doesn’t want the answer to however that wasn’t it 😂
or she'll be the girlfriend asking her boyfriend 'does this dress make me look fat?'
Load More Replies...I recorded two of my niblings (about 5 & 6) having an insult battle while giggling uncontrollably. Just re-watched & gems include (verbatim) "Your shoes are so orange-ish and you don't care about anyone else!" "Yes I do & you're a Bigmouth!" "I don't have a big mouth but your head is so big it's like a watermelon on a toothpick!" "Well your arms are so strong that I can wear them like an elbow!" "Your necklace is so stupid that nobody likes it." All while elder nibling is by me & saying things like "I don't think they know what trash talk is."
When my elder daughter was telling her sister she was adopted, The younger replied, "Well you have Dutch elm disease", and there were floods of tears!
Cats and toddlers have much more in common than you think! You have to housetrain both, neither has any common sense, both chew on things they shouldn't, and both just try to look adorable when they know they're about to be in big trouble.
Load More Replies...At that age, I'm pretty sure my sister and I were happily distracted sorting the different branch sizes by color, fluffing them up (badly) and chasing the cat away from chewing on them. We were probably the opposite of helpful, but we were also not playing with my mother's breakables or with the strings of lights, which at that time were quite possibly lead-contaminated, so it was a win.
I found myself telling my friend's son om Christmas Eve as we were dancing around the tree and singing, that he should not twerk to the tree. When those words left my mouth my brain thought "you did NOT wake up today to inform ANYBODY about their twerking!" And I felt embarrassed... but it seems that this kid twerks all the time? I guess they twerk a lot at his school. He's 7yo. Lol
There are many similarities between the behavior of toddlers and cats.
I recall boredom actually feeling physically nauseating and dizzying. I don't get as bored as an adult. But I get it when it comes to kids because there's not much responsibilities to fill up the space between play and chores. Sometimes you just want to do something but don't know what, and don't want to do anything you have at home that you're allowed to do at that time. Can't watch TV, play on the computer, go outside, do anything messy, make too much noise. Aaaah.
I hated it too! But it really important to learn how to overcome boredom by yourself. That being said, parents have the job to enable you to overcome the boredom. Wanna go outside? As long as there isn't some tornado heading towards the house, go out! Absolutely! Make a mess? Ok, depends on the kind of mess, but as long as it's cleaned up by the end of the day, fine!
Load More Replies...Just do as my dad, he would tell us that intelligent people are never bored, and we really did not want to seem stupid.
yup. and see how fast the boredom disappears
Load More Replies...My mom loves to tell the story of the daycare she didn't pick for us. She was returning to work after having my little sister and was checking out in-home daycares. She said she went to a house that was in a very nice neighborhood and was so clean and orderly it was weird. All the kids were just sitting, maybe playing with one toy...maybe just sitting. It was basically quiet. No kids playing together and basically no one even interacting with each other.she said she was so creeped out she left pretty quick and obviously didn't pick them. She said it was just eerie how the kids weren't being kids...even a little.
I already did. Kids job and I'll try and hoover up the mess the youngest made with his dinner from Monday today lol 😂😂
Load More Replies...I knew a headmistress of an infants school who sacked a teacher who wore a white suit to work which was still white at the end of the day. Obviously there were other indicators that the job wasn't being done properly, but that was the last straw.
Some people are like this. I usually round it off to the nearest hour if it's close to that time. Someone I know will correct me with the exact time. Yet, there's no reason to do this when there is no appointment or work.
My kids do this and it took me forever but I finally figured it out!! Those of us that grew up with analog clocks tend to round to the nearest five or even 15 minute block while people who grew up with digital clocks go for the exact time every single time.
Literally my youngest. I always say “ok Mr.Literal, it’s called rounding lol
After many attempts, I did succeed in getting my kids to understand "Same difference". It was a battle but was a minor victory again pedantry.
I do this, the correcting. It really bothers me when someone says we're leaving at (this) time but then we leave 5-10 minutes. As for my work schedule, I clock in at exact time and I get off at exact time; it really irritates me otherwise.
This is my daughter, super literal. She is on the spectrum so that's one of her aspects. Sometimes she'll wait a minute if it really is the time so she can correct me that it's now 7:01.
My kid. He'll even check the nearest phone to make sure we're not lying
don't take the devices, take the chargers and watch the horror on their faces as the batteries lose power
Load More Replies...Yeah... I would be letting them sleep in my bed and leaving a voice recorder in their room to pick up on anything.
I would be the one who placed a baby monitor in the closet and was doing the whispering.
Load More Replies...Not a nice thing ghosts re real don’t always mean adhd 🙄🙄
Load More Replies...Kids can and do see ghosts they do exist I’m 60 n a white witch with what from the outside looks to be a normal house lol it’s not ! It’s hunted as f**k only bar the one I don’t mind em they are lovely no problem unless they get bored n hide stuff lmao my kids used to be kept amused in our house I owned back then when they where babies n toddlers by a wonderful ghost called Annie so I could go wash up n the like around house n know they were safe n she would cruelly even fold the laundry to don’t half miss her she moved to the house before this with us but then I crossed the border from glostershire to Oxfordshire and it seems she could leave their really miss her so if your little one say they hear voices etc ITS NOT ADHAD 🙄it will be a spirit go ask em what they want if they are ok and if you really don’t want them round so them to please leave they will me I’d keep em ;) long as they not harming anyone and or you can smudge the house with a sage stick I do this to keep the bad
Spirt away but I make sure the lovely ones stay it’s their house after all n no I’m not mad lol ! Just a Wiccan so I tune with all this blessed be
Load More Replies...If a kid takes your charger and "looses" it, take their phone/pad. "You don't need that now."
I have 2 teenage boys. They don't care if the charger is pink and sparkly. They will steal it.
As a teen I'd say it's the opposite for me, me and my parents just share chargers because we honestly don't care at this point
Half past a monkey’s a$$, a quarter to its tail. Don’t know where that came from but that’s what we said growing up.
Load More Replies...My MIL gave her great granddaughter a check for Christmas, so we had to explain what a check is and how it works.
We definitely know the joy. Nobody has their phone 24/7
I have three pairs of fleece PJs that get rotated out when I work from home (which is every day except every other Monday). I get highly offended on my days in at the office. My kids have just learned to accept that I don't have to use a camera for work calls, so I just sit all day in my PJs. It's awesome!
I used to tell people I talked to myself because I was a mother, and no one else listened.
Tell them you need somebody intelligent to talk to!!
Load More Replies...I must be too sleepy cause I don’t understand what’s being said here lol
Spotify music streaming has an end-of-year summary by the minute of your listening life called "Wrapped". His Parenting analogy: 525600 minutes/60 = 8,760 hours. 8,760hours/24hours = 365 days of Big, Bad Caffeinated Dad not being listened to by his children. I think.
Load More Replies...If you don't have kids, then you don't have any crushing responsibilities of adulthood
None lol I’m 60 n don’t have music on my phone it’s all on my iPod n hasn’t changed one bit in the last erm hmm ever dance trance Bon jovi rock abba erm pink Floyd Bowie queen lol and 4000 other tracks inc country n western ie I like pretty much every bar one d n Justin beiber
44 here and I still have my 128gb ipod. I don't want to bog down my phone with music and I don't do streaming services. btw: I like your taste in music. ABBA is the greatest. I have ALL their songs
Load More Replies...At that point, let him experience the consequences. It won't ruin his entire education. I promise.
I agree. I'm a teacher and it's not a parent's responsibility to 'help' with homework. It's a parent's responsibility to provide a time and place for homework to be done, and to promote rounded learning at home, but not to 'help' with homework which often means sitting with the child urging them on at every question and correcting mistakes. I don't need to know if mum or dad can do the homework.
Load More Replies...Panda, baby, it's just a joke. Maybe not the funniest but still doll.
Load More Replies...I recall feeling a sense of loss and freedom in an overwhelming emotional conflict that would end in tears I'm not sure were out of guilt, sadness, relief or joy.
This is a researching and learning opportunity. Kids are just discovering things and gaining empathy, and awareness of what they eat. Patience and understanding go a lot further.
are you okay mate? lots of negativity coming from you today! it's just a light-hearted site remember...
Load More Replies...Well its closer to ur goal to eat chicken sometimes than all the time, this is your sign that if you are considering vegetarianism but think it'll be different to just cut down how much meat you eat.. just a bit if you want. An important job is worth partly doing
Flexitarian here. I'm not a vegetarian but I do reduce the meat I eat and I prefer meat from animals that had a good life (a better life than the mass produced meat...). As I don't know where the meat is bought in restaurants, I go vegetarian there. Also because the portions of meat are often quite big. I'd prefer meat as a side dish, not a main course.
Load More Replies..."I don't know when. But we'll get together by then. You'll know we'll have a good time then."
lol Kids today are craving to experience parachute gym day. What can go wrong? Invite all the kids in the neigbourhood.
I just had to visit Amazon to see what "parachute" turned up because I wouldn't have been wildly surprised to find out that it's possible to order a high end skydiving rig. Imagine the surprise when you open that package and then try to convince Amazon to let you return a non-returnable $10,000 item.
Amen to that!!! Empty nesting is not for the faint of heart. My daughter is 31 and my son is 25. UGGGGG!!! We facetime regularly as they both live out of state now, but you will miss those little things. For example: My daughter, when she was 2-3 years old, LOVED to but her Daddy's underwear on her head and wear it as a hat!!!
Load More Replies...I guess everyone feels their offspring are the most amazing. (Ok, to a point)I don’t have kids but we did have a void that had to have a heart ultrasound and the specialist looked at him and exclaimed how handsome he was. Never heard someone call an animal handsome but it made me so happy! Another vet tech later said the same thing. So yes, our black cat was handsome and I made sure to tell him and everyone that fact. Proud former void mom.
I was told by the vet hospital that my void was the sweetest kitty they ever had. this was when I had her spayed. they said they'd never had a kitty with a sweeter disposition.
Load More Replies...My daughter's go to when she doesn't like what we are asking her to do is to say, "stop talking to me", she is 4. Oh boy here we go.
One thing about this gentle parenting tactic that I've observed is there is no allowance or tolerance for any emotional expression other than contentment and happiness. It's not feasible in the long run, and doesn't allow kids to learn how to cope well around other's expressiveness. It's oppressively teaching kids to suppress any other emotional reaction, including crying when upset or hurt, and lying about feeling "happy" immediately after so the parent gets lets them go off to play. I was raised this way. Ever since I was 11 or 12 I've been gritting and clenching my teeth whenever I feel "negative" emotions building up. Yet, my folks are allowed to be expressive.
Gentle Parenting is typical black-or-white thinking that says "if excessively strict parenting is wrong then excessively permissive parenting must be the solution!"
Load More Replies...Playdates? In the 80s? We, kids, just met our friends, asked our parents to come meet their parents for a moment and if we can play at each others houses. We just went over to each other's house, knocked on the door and asked if our friend was able to play with us. It wasn't a big deal because they would live close enough, across the street, next door, down the block.
Back in my day the late 1960s all thru teens to I’m 60 I grew up in the sticks on a farm n we never rang anyone we went to the farm half a mile away n knocked on the door its the kids now I feel sorry for they will never know that safety they joy of being out all day like we where out at sun up back at sun down happy healthy safe my kids now 23-20 didn’t hve phones till they where 13 I hate seeing tots with em now so wrong but this is where we are at isn’t my era as missed out it’s yours !
I was one of the kids in the 70’s and 80’s riding bikes all over, drinking out of the hose because you can only go inside for lunch and dinner. We were in a suburb so walked to the convenience store but one set of grandparents were rural so farmland and the other was on a lake so crazy canoe adventures. No adults for hours. And we were not rich. We also were put to work outside, girls and boys. I’ve got a green thumb and am a pretty good swimmer. Now kids have to worry about shooters. We worried about poison ivy.
Load More Replies...Erm I’ve been picking up the phone since I was three yrs old in in 1968 your point is 😂😂
The point is that the original poster thinks that their good old days are the only good old days. As we all do...
Load More Replies...Our deal was the washer and dryer were in the basement, and if our clothes were in the basket there by the machine they got washed and folded, and put on our shelf for pickup. If the stuff wasn't there, we had to wash the stuff ourselves, fill the machine with anything else that would fit, and fold it ourselves. Some weeks my mom didn't have to run a wash at all,
From a few (many) years ago my son wanted to hear "Forever in Blue Jeans" since Will Farrell sang it in a GAP commercial. I only had it on vinyl so I fired up the turntable. He was looking at the album cover and asked how to listen to a different song. "Well first, we have to turn the record over," I explained. "Turn. The. Record. Over?" Not sure if he ever heard that song or not. He still cannot believe I actually still buy CD's.
I know what cds, and vinal, and vhs is I just get them all mixed up sometimes, I had dvds when I was little ok
5. Devin Townsend 4. Southern River Band 3. Frank Turner 2. Lottery Winners 1. Stray Kids why on earth did I allow my teenage daughter any sort of control / access to my account? Stray Kids? K-pop band who have nothing in common with the rest of my top 5.
