How five diabolical parents called their kids' bluff in hilarious ways

Editor's note: This article was originally published on April 5, 2022. It has since been updated.

Children are always thinking up scenarios in their heads and trying to live them out in real life. Some might be absurd, some larger than life and some completely impractical. Most children throw tantrums for the smallest of things, but a Facebook post highlighted how some parents maliciously comply with their children to beat them at their own game. Blogger Jen Hatmaker shared a tidbit about parenting, and while the post has since been taken down, responses detailing unorthodox parenting methods had us rolling on the floor. "My girlfriend told me the greatest story. Apparently, her 11-year-old also wanted to be a grown-up this week, and, in fact, not only did he treat his siblings like despised underlings, but when asked what he wanted, he said: 'I want the authority to be in charge of them and tell them what to do because they deserve it!'" wrote Hatmaker.

The kid's parents decided to call his bluff and treat him as an adult. "Well. My girlfriend and her husband are NOT AT ALL MESSING AROUND with parenting. Calmly, evenly, they granted his request to be a grown-up for a week by pulling him out of camp (the underlings still got to go) and sending him to work ALL DAY EVERY DAY with his dad. He has to get up early and shower and make breakfast for everyone. He has to kiss the underlings before he goes to work and tell them to have a great day and that he loves them. He has to work on a typing project during his office hours. He only gets to eat what his dad eats, because eating like a grown-up is not nearly as fun as eating like a kid. Want to be an adult? Fine."

The post was liked by many and parents shared their own stories of maliciously complying with their children's wishes. The responses were hilarious and let's just say, some kids found their match and watched their diabolical plans be undone by diabolical parents.

Here are five of the top replies we came across: 

 1. Jill Duff's mom wore her daughter's outfit to teach her a lesson

"My sister was snotty to my Mom. She called her and pretty much demanded, 'Bring my band uniform to the high school!' She's the one who forgot her uniform in the first place. Then she told my Mom 'Do not come in the school, that would be so EMBARRASSING. Just wait for me by my car,'" she wrote. "So my Mom did just that. She stood by my sister's car, in the Texas heat, WEARING my sister's band uniform. All the kids walking out for the day saw it. Parenting GOLD."  

 
2. Jessica Klick got her sons new shoes ... but not the ones they begged for.

"Our 11 and 12-year-olds at the time were complaining and whining and being ungrateful, saying how 'hard their life was.' For boys, the big thing is wearing those cool Steph Curry shoes and our boys LOVE their Currys!" wrote Klick. Her husband decided to flip it on them. "So after hearing the last complaint, my husband went to Walmart to buy white maypop leather shoes (the kind you see in geriatric centers) and high white socks."

"He brought those bad boys home, set them on the boys' dresser, and made them wear those things everywhere we went. Those devastated boys told us we were 'ruining their lives.'" wrote Klick, before admitting that she got a real kick out of it. "I may or may not have laughed like a little girl when I dropped them off at school and watched them do the walk of shame."

3. Marisa Rodriguez Byers wished her mother was dead and then regretted it.

"I was a wretched, hormonal teenager. At the age of 13, I told my mom, 'I wish you were dead!' And at that moment, she 'died,' but to me only. (I had younger sisters). She completely ignored me, didn't speak to me, didn't look at me, wouldn't cook for me, set my place at the table, wash my clothes, take me to school, NOTHING," she wrote. 

Marisa couldn't take it. "After 8 days, I broke down in the middle of the night, went to her room, clutched her tightly while sobbing how sorry I was and how much I loved her and that I would NEVER say those words again. I'm 41 years old now, I have NEVER uttered those words or anything remotely like them after that incident," she wrote. Nothing quite like tough love.

4. Jessica Hill gave her daughter a good scare—and, in turn, a new appreciation.

"I was grocery shopping with my three-year-old when she decided to start screaming for ice cream. There was no reasoning with her in this Hulk-type rage. I swear she had superhuman strength as I struggled to get her out of the cart full of groceries. I was completely unaware of the two police officers who were witnessing this wrestling match. She was still hitting, kicking, and screaming when I was stopped by the police officers in the parking lot. They thought I had abducted her. This happened long before we had smartphones full of our children's photos. They tried questioning her but she was still too busy throwing a fit, so I handed her over. I told them she could ride with them because I really needed a break and they could follow me home to see her birth certificate, baby book, etc. They started chuckling as one officer said, 'Spoken like a true mom!' I think they were more relieved than I was when she finally cried out, 'Mommy?'"

"The officer handed her back to me while the other went back inside the store to ensure there wasn't a distraught mother looking for her missing toddler. That evening my daughter told her dad she almost went to jail because she threw a fit, and I let her believe it. She didn't throw a fit in public again," Jessica Hill played along with this, especially if it meant no more tantrums. 

"I didn't mean to scare her, so after this experience, I wanted to ensure my daughter had a healthy respect and appreciation for first responders. Today, I'm happy to say she is highly aware and appreciative of the police, firemen, paramedics, and military personnel who serve to protect her," added Hill.

5. Erica Goodnight taught her son an incredible lesson that he carries to this day.

"My kid was whining over not having anything to play with. So, without a word, I went to the garage and got a black 50-gallon trash bag and started putting in all the toys that he obviously didn't even realize were in our home to play with. I loaded them AND him into the car and we drove to our local homeless shelter and gave every. single. toy. in the bag away. To a child who TRULY had nothing. And you know what? He didn't even cry. His eyes were opened to the ones who have nothing. He actually enlarged his heart that day. And, we still do it. We still take toys to kids with nothing at least once a year." 

"Parent win. Life lesson score" wrote Goodnight. A win if I ever saw one. 

There are a lot of ways to teach your children a lesson but humiliating them and punishing them almost always backfires. Getting your child to wear a sign reading, "I sneak boys in at 3 a.m. and disrespect my parents and grandparents" is not going to help anybody and possibly cement a deep-rooted loathing for your caregivers. The replies to Jen Hatmaker's post were a great example of parenting done right.