Parenthood is one of the most exciting yet also testing phases in one's life.
You devote your once-careless lifestyle to a tiny human that you must protect and guide into this big harsh world, and although it's a tremendously rewarding thing – it's easy to get overwhelmed.
Unforeseen circumstances, sleepless nights, temper tantrums and burnout will visit your household frequently – and since most folks tend to suffer from good old "parent guilt," it's crucial to remember that every kid is different and that, in reality, everyone's just winging it.
Nothing will ever make you feel as confident as you would like to, as there are no care instructions for your offspring – however, sticking to the "today was hard, but I got through it" mentality works wonders.
And since it's still summertime, Bored Panda has decided to focus on a more lightweight aspect of parenting and gather a couple of posts that sum up what it's like taking care of a kid during this magical season.
This post may include affiliate links.
Meanwhile my kid is busy infiltrating every camp, birthday party, and theatre performance when we're at the park.
My oldest (7) invites himself everywhere! I could not be more opposite
Load More Replies...Non-native English user here. What does "I don't do busy" mean in this context?
Are you planning on drowning everyone? You'd be a great role model! Psycho! 😅
Load More Replies...Nothing scares me more then a public pool/beach that's overcrowded. Every year kids drown from this.
Why summer is the best season? Most will find this question pretty absurd as it's easy to see why life tends to seem a little more exciting during these hot days.
Trips to the beach, the 7AM sunshine that streams through your window, endless possibilities, and that summery breeze that fills you up with a certain kind of energy you don't get on the gloomy cold days.
Of course, let's not forget the main pleasures of all time – barbecues and picnics. The smell of food cooking on a grill is one of the best summer experiences and lying on that warm grass while having something to snack on is simply divine.
I am glad your wife let you live to tell the story.😂
Keep in mind that she will determine which nursing home you go to! 🤣🤣
Oh Ryan your hilarious. I used to hate Blake lively because she was married to you, but she is hilarious too. Super cute couple. Hope they make it through hollywood...
Summertime also indicates that your beloved children are on their well-deserved break from school and all the homework, meaning that the household finally becomes one again – unless you ship them to a summer camp or something.
However, if the camp is out of the door, it also suggests that you're now responsible for your offspring's entertainment and that you're bound to endure all the possible boredom tantrums.
Without a doubt, it’s easier to manage your kids' leisure activities during school days, as they've had enough chores that a simple cinema trip once a month is enough to satisfy their cravings; yet when that summer break starts, you know that you're going to have to unleash your inner creativity.
you know how shitty the quality of people commenting at BP has become, when people have to add (sarcasm) at the end of even a very normal comment!
Load More Replies...All this chick wants to know is if you brought enough for her too 🤣. Secretly, same, you brought enough for us too, right?
Load More Replies...Sigh. The "SNACKS" are IN the water!! Go. Be free! Fetch. Thrive.
My friends complained of boredom, they ended up washing down walls
We washed walls and woodwork. Also had 4-H projects to complete for the August Fair. Plus there was all of the canning and jelly making. We had a day or 2 per week for ourselves and learned not to complain.
Load More Replies...My parents didn't believe in "bored" either. Always plenty of chores to do.
And of course, we always had chores and jobs. No time for boredom.
Load More Replies...My rule when the kids were growing up was that anytime one said she / he was bored they would have to complete a math print out page. Never bored.
I never understood why parents think chores are the opposite of boredom. That's just boredom × 3!
I learned early in life to never say "I'm bored." Even as an adult, if I'm sitting and staring into space and my parent asks if I'm bored, I go, "Nope, I am very content."
There are many of us that remember a time not just pre-Bored Panda, not just pre-Internet, but pre-computer.
Load More Replies..."I'm bored" –the dreaded words the majority of parents will hear on the first morning of their child's summer break; and since both parents work in most families, it means that you're now going to have to come up with a plan that'll keep your youngster busy and preferably happy.
In reality, a summer full of pool parties and trips to amusement parks won't work because you'll be swamped with your own work-related tasks – however, assigning a couple of house chores and arranging sleepovers at friends' houses might give you some time to come up with an exciting but realistic "bucket list" for the summer that'll also work with your job's schedule.
My sister calls me old and I am 2 and a half years older then her, not old at all
With a straight face, just look her in the eye, and reply; "You feeling old does not mean I resemble that comment."
Load More Replies...You know, if you meet in the middle, your kid is more likely to agree to learning household chores. That way too, you can get delayed gratification AND a household chore learned, plus a new fun skill. Just do the chores first and then the fun new thing.
Now, back to the "parent guilt." Try to remember that social media is full of malarkey.
Everyone wants only the best things for their children – that's a fact – however, don't beat yourself up about not being able to give your kid a summer full of Pinterest-like activities.
Sometimes overscheduling and overcomplicating things is just an unnecessary hustle.
Be there for your little one and set some time aside each day. For the most part, doing something simple like going to the playground or watching their favorite cartoon/movie together is more than enough to make great memories.
Not a parent, but I always have a book on me at the beach. And yes, it is very optimistic of me to do that(siblings)
Load More Replies...I am relating to this so hard right now. I just took my five daycare kids 'swimming' in the backyard. We had wading pools, a slip n slide, and a fishtank filled with water beads. My neighbor asked me if I wanted a chair, I just answered by running away to tend to someone trying to stuff an earthworm in their mouth.
Should've let them eat it, kids don't get enough protein these days anyways
Load More Replies...When my teen started bringing her own book to the beach, I knew I'd actually given birth to her and no switches at the hospital.
No, the most optimistic is bringing a chair, offering to bring another for your partner, then not being able to say anything when they take yours after refusing one of their own
Depends on the chair - if it is built correctly, it will succeed in not sinking into the sand and being permanently lost. ;)
I THINK what is meant - is that with kids you don't get a chance to sit down?
Load More Replies...Yeah that is really crazy. None of the fall middle/high school sports started until mid August when I was growing up.
American football isn't th most popular in the world. Maybe that's the reason they start the earliest.
Load More Replies...High school cross country training starts in July for our kids. They have week of camping as a team over the summer so that's fun, but it's HOT! Luckily the coach cancels practice whenever it's really bad
I signed up for color guard (a fall sport) for senior year in high school, and practice for it started before the current school year was even over. ridiculous? maybe. hot? definitely. fun? 100000000% yes.
for my school it was just one week in July, which i thought was reasonable
Load More Replies...If your in any active extracurricular activities in the schools around here, they are practicing all summer. Texas is a little obsessed with winning.
My daughter, who never got a sunburn, was great in the heat, asked me to get her out of summer bad camp. She was fried. Putting kids through that kind of c**p in August heat is terrible and should never have been allowed.
My sweet summer child, let me disabuse you of that notion right now. In 1975, someone was indeed selling rocks. And Americans happily bought them. PET-ROCK-6...ab0a4b.jpg
well, I mean, who wouldn't buy a genuine pet rock???
Load More Replies...While it might seem that these stress-inducing months will never end, we all know that it’ll be over in the blink of an eye. Kids grow up, and (as cheesy as it might sound) the next thing you know, they've already gone to college. Start making memories, even if it's as simple as taking a stroll to your nearby park.
You forgot the “MUUUUM!! YOU WERE’NT WATCHING! I’ll do it again…” and repeat
"For the sake of everyones ears" (also muttered under breath)
Load More Replies...While your staring at the the whole time......I get this every day lol 😆
In the kid's defense, moms (or at least mine is) are usually so attached to their phones that it takes several different variations of the anthem in order for them to do much as glance at you, and by then the kid's given up because apparently Facebook is much more fascinating them watching your child somersault in the pool.
responded with "i'm watching" then "no you're not! you're listening to music"! "I can do both at the same time honey...."
You need to hear the splash, how else would you know how good the canonball was?
Load More Replies...I heard this recently and looked over at the mom who never looked up from her phone. The child kept yellow for her mom to look but the phone sadly won the battle for her attention. Glad we didn’t have phones when my daughter was little.
I always used to hear "I need a strong pair of boys to help me lift this" at weights camp. And as a girl, I would always go up and help. I got in trouble, but bish I lift more weight than half of those boys. GIRLS ARE NOT THE WEAKER SEX!!!!
This happens every damn year. At school. When we need to give back school books our teacher always says that
Load More Replies...Had a similar issue when my youngest started Auskick last year. Organisers decided they'd do school year level groups *and* a girls group. The girls group had kids aged 4-10. Anyone with eyes can tell you there is waaaay more difference in ability (both mental and physical) between a 4 year old and a 10 year old than there is between males and females of the same age before puberty. It sucked for everyone in the "girl" group. I gave some feedback but wasn't really backed up by any other parents, but thankfully this year it's organised just in year levels. This change is likely because the total number of girls participating this year is a less than a third of what it was last year, so not enough for them to run it as a separate group.
Im not saying this isn't sexist and stereotypical, but surely a smaller ball would require more accuracy so it would be a compliment to their skills? Princesses is definitely a problem though
"Princess" is a huge problem. Also, his kid is 10. Not 20. There's not a huge difference in size & strength in ten year olds.
Load More Replies...Smaller footballs are more difficult to control and are even used by coaches to train new players. You couch is accidentally training the girls to be better than the boys at the game.
Or maybe he does know and that is his plan. He may have a daughter and really wants to make the girls better. My dad was a softball coach and he did anything (with in proper care)to make my sisters team better.the princess part maybe he wants to make them feel more special than they already are.
Load More Replies...People say women are weaker but most of us bleed for 7 days and some even create a whole human in their bodies.
That's such a s**t argument, ignoring the fact that we're talking about prepubescent children for a second, the female body is made to do that stuff, it has a month long menstrual cycle that ends with excretion of dead cells. It's not like you have a gash on yoru arm and you're just letting it bleed for a week, and treating it that way is a gross misunderstanding of the human body. How about we don't mock people for things they cant control?
Load More Replies...Funny how lots of men on here don't see an issue. I'm the person officially coming to tell you that that is sexism in it's systematic form. Women pointing out sexist actions and men trying their best to justify them. That's sexism at it's core. That's how sexism survives in our culture. Stop arguing. You are the problem. Make a change by actually listening. The message here is THIS IS SEXISM.
Bored Panda hopes that you've enjoyed this chucklesome ensemble of relatable parenting tweets! Remember to cherish all the significant and seemingly insignificant memories you make with your kid, and let us know if you've got anything exciting planned for the summer.
I’ve had the longest worst day at work ever, and still have to make food for my family. That doesn’t sound awful.
Load More Replies...My own secret, which worked all year, was to feed them 20 to 30 minutes late.
Shoot, they'll have looked it up on YouTube and be roasting marshmallows in 10 minutes.
Long pause of silence till you realize they have YouTube'd it and realize it's wood they need
I've never understood why some parents hate the school hols. Apart from those having to find extra childcare, I mean...but I love not getting up at the crack of dawn to make sandwiches and hustling the kiddies out of bed when I didn't want to get up myself. Much more civilised to get up at 8 and have a slower morning. Also, I love having my kids around, they're so much fun 💗
Same here. Play clothes to go outside. Get wet. Change into other play clothes. Get wet again. Change again. Get wet and dirty. Come in and change. Shower before bed and into sleep clothes. Repeat every day. Times 2. Plus normal amount of laundry for the rest of the family. 642479532 loads of laundry a week
Load More Replies...And for parents with kids in schools with uniforms: 50% less laundry due to absence of school uniform items to wash...
This is my son AF. Seems like every 3 days I have to remind him to shower and change his dàmn clothes! 😂
Lol, next thing you know they'll come running inside panicking about missing the bus
It's a joke but I will say my kid is absolutely clueless about time. He's 8 and he quite often misses things related to breaks, seasons, weekends etc. If I told him to go wait for his bus the week after school got out he probably would've.
Load More Replies...My Dad once told me (with serious face) that I didn't have to go to school the next day, or the one after, but I should go the one after that. It took a while for me to work out it was just a Friday evening.
I don't believe that! Teachers are much to happy to say ' enjoy your and my holiday"
Maybe they keep asking weird questions that you can't answer, so you feel as if you know nothing.
I feel the same way except I’m the kid who’s bored and “surfing the web” for stuff to do after my usual stuff
Might I suggest exploring the weird side of youtube? Start with a well-known oddity like Saladfingers and then continue clicking on the weirdest recommendation you find until you're sucked into the abyss of "what the hell?".
Load More Replies...I'm ready for summer break to be over but I have a few more weeks. Yes I know that's weird for a teen but I'm usually expected to do the dishes more often than during the school year, also I have nothing to do all day-
3 days ago I had mini panic attack when I realized there is still exactly 4 weeks left of summer break!!!! Lol
I must be the only parent in history who loved having the kids home all summer. We'd go to the lake. Take day trips to an island near me, largest freshwater island in the world, and drive around to different beaches all day. Pack picnic lunches with Kool aid and pop and all the makings for sandwiches and chips and cheesies. Then eat at a drive in for supper. All day We'd have a snack on whatever we felt like out of the hamper and cooler but supper was fries and a burger. They would wind down on the way home and be in bed asleep before I could unload the van. Loved summer with the kids. They grow up so fast and then it's all over.
Curious how one doesn't notice children hammering things into walls faster? I'm in apt and can hear it 4 floors down lol
I keep my grandsons up until 4 am. 3 am, I give them, one melatonin. I stay up until 5, or 6 am, just to get some Peace while watching TV. Downside, I have to get up at least, 2 hours before they do, so this old body, can have some coffee, and time to wake up. Around 7 pm, I get really sleepy... And that's when they do the things, their not supporting to. Like last night, my grandson that is 8, decided at this time to make I've cream rolls... I don't know how I couldn't hear him getting out the glass baking dish. There are a few others with it, in a small drawer. I wake the dead getting them out! I go in to see what they are, and see nepoltitian I e cream, everywhere, and melted ice cream all over the bottom of the pan. I spendy the next 15 minutes trying to clean it up. 4 1/2 year old just agreed it was good, and grinned. It was all over the washer (yes, it's in the kitchen, as part of my counter, with the dryer in-between it, and the stove. It was everywhere!
Watch "Risky Business", and do everything that you wife won't kill you for! lol
Paint. The answer is always paint. Paint the walls they have drawn on. Paint the trim that has grime permeated down to the wood underneath. Paint the baseboards destroyed by slamming chairs and toys into them. When the kids are away, you can paint and not have to worry about a trail of footprints across the wood floor.
And then waste some money on stuff the house needs.
Load More Replies...I love being a parent and now a grandparent, but the empty nest rocks.
An old neighbour did this with her 3 kids. Hubby stayed home. He made it 2.5 days before he knocked on my door holding two beers. Poor guy was so bored. He also said he'd eaten several pounds of BBQ'd meat of every description lol
So use designated cups they always use for water, that is only theirs
And leaving the milk, juice, kool-aid (whatever) container in the fridge with 3 drops in it. "But it wasn't empty"
Designated cups work for kids and adults alike. Just remember to give them a wash every couple of days
Shouldn't dump the water out. You're supposed to leave them around to throw at the aliens.
Try teenagers on a group trip with cases of sodas. Half empty cans everywhere
Ok that cup isn't getting washed until an entire cup of sips comes out of it. When they come back for more water and sips.. It'll be sitting right there, for them. Assuming they're playing outside,.. They probably should be drinking more.. Water
Why are you washing a cup used with water and one sip? Hell no! They get one cup each morning. They re-use and if other liquid THEY WASH to use the same day.
We had color-coded plastic cups for water. They got washed once per week.
that means it was a good vacation, that’s how i feel, and i’m a teen!
When parents go on "vacation" with their kids, they come home needing a vacation from their vacation.
Load More Replies...And you probably have a ton of laundry and need to get groceries. Tomorrow, the kids will be bored and cranky.
My kid doesn't need a mom so much as any object that can field the question "can i have a popsicle" being asked 47 times a day.
i really want to get your comment to 47 upvotes and keep it there
Load More Replies...Best I ever heard was "What would like for desert?" Response "I don't want desert I just want a popsicle!" LOL 😆
Hate to correct you but that's dessert. Nobody wants desert, it's like the beach with no sea.
Load More Replies...Make your own popsicles with sugar-free squash, let them have them whenever they like, without asking, until they're gone, refill the tray every evening.
Squash? Realistically, what kind of sugar addicted kid would eat that? I'd have thought mango or orange or something. Squash???
Load More Replies...Then I did well in the popsicle food group today! I had 4! Kid and Sugar-free
And ice. I swear my kids seem to subsist on ice and popsicles alone. 🤦
I went there once. I can't believe how expensive it is and I went there in the before "end of world" times. Now you probably have to take out a second mortgage for the strawberry cheesecake in a cup. Can't afford cones.
Load More Replies...It's like the opposite of a mime. One surprises you because there's no narration, the other surprises you because the narration never stops.
Truer words were never said. Again and again . And again....😂(by the kids at least)
Load More Replies..."Mommy! I'm smiling at you!" "Mommy, I LOVE keeping you company!" "I love you, Mommy." Adorable when not said at 4 minute intervals while I'm trying to concentrate on work.
Mine NEVER STOP TALKING 🤣 they tell me everything they are doing right in front of me. Added bonus, the oldest tells me I am playing the game wrong... doesn't matter what game... I am for sure not following the rule she made up 1.5 seconds ago
You held onto all those lunches? Hopefully they were safely freezable! lol
Yep I feel this. My food budget has gone up by 120%. That's the actual math, too. Lol
I GOT A FEELING, IM GOING TO BE ALRIGHT, OKAY (OKAY), ALRIGHT ITS ABOUT DAMN TIME
Load More Replies...Lol for us it was Cowboy by Kid Rock. Eventually we knew the entire first verse until the "Cowboy, babyyy", we'd be screaming it out the open windows while my mom regretted every moment buying that CD. Still a bop
It's a good song. Also swearing? C'mon it's just words. If they're used against people, then sure. But in that song cuss words aren't really used against people. And you don't necessarily know how old the kids are. Chill out.
Load More Replies...Cut out the middle man and just brush your teeth with Nutella
Load More Replies...The amount of times I forgot to brush my teeth during breaks as a kid. I think there were times where I went a week without doing it but luckily after that I never went more than two full days without brushing my teeth.
We picked up a couple of pine cones that were cool and tied them off in a bag came back a few hours later the bag was full of spiders!
Load More Replies...I don't have kids. I'm forced to bring the pine cones home myself.
My dad taught us to collect these. They are great to start a fire in the fireplace. So we had to fill loads of boxes for the coming winter...
I walked into my daughter's old room a few months ago to start getting it ready to convert into my office (she's am adult and moved out over a year ago), flipped on the fan, amd a pinecone came flying at my head. She had somehow managed to get it balanced on top of the fan blade. IT'S BEEN THERE FOR 2+ YEARS AND NO ONE NOTICED! I'm still in awe of the fact that her 5' tall self somehow managed to figure out how to get it up there. I haven't processed this enough yet to want to know *why* it was up there, however. I'm just thankful that it wasn't one of the glitter coated ones.
OMG! We lived in San Diego for 10 years and there was a street a few blocks away where these dropped. I collected BAGS of them. Perfect for holiday decorations.
Hahahaha! When we lived in San Diego I went over near my Dad's house & collected a sh*t ton of these. I add them to the Christmas garland, along with red berries & white lights. Totally classic look and practically free.
not everyone has space outside to dry their clothes
Load More Replies...Y'all quit hating on the term "swimming costumes"! It's means the same as swimsuit!
Brit here - Standard practice to call them swimming costumes or for short 'Cozzie' may come from the 'onsie' style clothing or costumes worn by old timers in Victorian days here?
Load More Replies...I'm way too modest to actually do it, but I can't help think how much easier it would be not to have to wear anything swimming. No sand tracked in, no extra laundry, no changing into and then out of the swimsuit and trying to squeeze into something stretchy and clingy with wet skin. No bags of wet nasty fabric waiting around in the back of your car begging to be forgotten and get moldy.
I love summer break with my kid. I'm lucky though there's so many fun inexpensive things to do where we live and I have the privilege of time to go do those with him. We get really long dark winters with not a lot to do so we make up for it in summer. Not that he doesn't drive me bananas frequently. But at least I'm having fun while he's doing it.
Loved summer as a kid. Showed my kids all sorts of fun stuff!
Load More Replies...When I was a kid, the only guidance we were given was "Be home by the time the streetlights come on."
This reminds me of when my little brother broke his foot 90 minutes into summer. I asked him what he was going to do all summer, as all of the camps he signed up for were sports camps, and he said "idk, chores?". I couldn't stop laughing!
I love summer break with my kid. I'm lucky though there's so many fun inexpensive things to do where we live and I have the privilege of time to go do those with him. We get really long dark winters with not a lot to do so we make up for it in summer. Not that he doesn't drive me bananas frequently. But at least I'm having fun while he's doing it.
Loved summer as a kid. Showed my kids all sorts of fun stuff!
Load More Replies...When I was a kid, the only guidance we were given was "Be home by the time the streetlights come on."
This reminds me of when my little brother broke his foot 90 minutes into summer. I asked him what he was going to do all summer, as all of the camps he signed up for were sports camps, and he said "idk, chores?". I couldn't stop laughing!
