10 times kids broke 'the rules' and made their parents proud

Rules are not always cool.

Children are truly unique beings. They make people around them go through amazing highs and terrible lows. For their guardians, one of the biggest objectives is to bestow them with good principles that protect them in life. They want them to have a good head on their shoulders, enabling them to understand when they need to cross over the purview of rules. The cost of a rule being followed should never be disrespectful to the subject. The parents in this r/AskWomen thread agree and share instances where their children broke rules because they felt it was not in the best of their interest. This thread was in response to the question posed by u/VisibleCoat995, "What is something your child did that was technically "wrong" but you were proud of them for doing?" Here are 10 responses that show how rules are not always cool.

1. Putting perverts in place

"My daughter (6 at the time of the incident) was at school during swimming class. She was sitting on the side of the pool as instructed by the teacher, who needed to assist a visually impaired student. An older boy (9 at the time) stood over my daughter, making extremely rude comments about her and kept trying to show her his genitals. She couldn't walk away, so she punched him in the d**k. She's always had quite the temper and must have been very angry because the boy was taken to hospital for extreme bruising and swelling and so was my daughter because she broke 2 bones in her hand and needed a cast. We've since signed her up to martial arts. I figured she needed to learn how to punch without injuring herself." -u/imjustheretodisagree. "Broke a boy's finger because he tried to put his hand up her skirt." -u/Pizza_pan_

2. Prioritize self-respect

"At school, my daughter was accused of some minor misdemeanor and was told to apologize. She hadn't done what she was accused of and rather than apologize wrongly, took detention. She was NOT saying sorry for something she didn't do, even if it meant a punishment. She is a top woman." -u/TheNinjaPixie. "Our neighbor had asked my son (who was about 9-10 years old) to help her bring some logs inside her house. No compensation was mentioned. He was back, on his own, about 15 minutes later. Apparently, the neighbor was calling him lazy and telling him he was not working fast enough (for free). So he left her and her wood and came home." -u/CauliflowerBoomerang

3. Stand up to bullies

"14-year-old son changed overhead projector slides (after his teacher approved them) for his ELA group project to screenshots from his classmates and other students in the school. The texts were from the night before calling him names and telling him repeatedly to unalive himself. This particular group has been relentless. His presentation was based on an animal project. After a few slides, he says, 'You guys wanna see what real animals look like' and proceeds to let the whole class read them. He respectfully apologized to the teacher and said I'll see myself down to the principal's office now. I was proud, pissed and sad." -u/LadySith80. "My son got in trouble at school for punching another kid in the face. He had been playing with friends when one of them started tripping him on purpose. He tried to de-escalate and walk away, but they followed him and kept pushing him, so he turned around and punched him. Even the teacher said she was reluctant to punish him when she called me. We went and got ice cream after school." -u/Arsozah

4. Follow their passion

"My kid constantly invents 'problem solvers,' but since he loves paper, they are mostly made of paper and upcycled stuff. Every time I complain or even sigh, he comes up with a solution. This week, I have gotten: a tile cleaner (a box with a sponge that can be attached to the tile and when I pull a string, it wipes), a hot cup hand protector, a coffee machine that brews the coffee cold (yes, he invented the cold brew, just with a milk carton) and today he programmed his lego robot to respond to my egg timer noise and drive up to me to poke me, because I often don't hear it with the headphones in and almost roasted the potatoes too dark yesterday. It's all so useless, but I am so proud." -u/SnookerandWhiskey

5. Teachers are not always the best role models

"My 17-year-old daughter is deaf, has a cochlear implant, and does very well with herself. She took sign language as an elective course to learn what she missed out on growing up learning to speak. The teacher treated my daughter like crap, letting her know that she was a 'disgrace to real deaf people.' My daughter had enough, flipped her off, saying, 'Here is some sign language for you' and left the class. I told her she couldn't talk to her teacher like that, but I was so proud deep down, LOL." -u/Signal-Promise-921. "I had a daughter constantly getting paired up with a kid who was failing while everyone else got to choose their partners. My daughter started just doing all of the work and turning it in. The teacher noticed and got on her for not teaching the kid how to do the work. My daughter told her, 'When you give me part of your paycheck, I'll do part of your job.' While I'm glad she spoke up for herself, I told her that we don’t talk to teachers like that." -u/ZetaWMo4

6. Giving others the important information

"During my daughter's 4th grade parent-teacher conference, her teacher informed me she was teaching the other girls in the class about menstrual cycles. The teacher asked me to put a stop to it. To be clear, my daughter hadn't had the full sex talk yet, but I had taught her and her sister about how their bodies worked in case either of them were early bloomers. When she was in high school, we became the haven for pregnancy tests, plan b, condoms, etc... for her friends." -u/green_mms22

7. Talk their mind

"Kid, who was 9 at the time. We had an insufferable pediatrician who constantly talked down to both me and my kid while also not actually helping us in any way. At our (ended up being) final appointment with him, he asked my son a question about school and then interrupted his response to 'correct/argue' what he thought my son was saying (which wasn't actually at all what he was saying). My son was so done with this guy by this point and gave him a full-on death glare and *lost his s**t* on the doctor. Just absolutely let the doctor have it with an angry, long, detailed list of everything he disliked about him, what he should do instead of assuming he knows everything (primarily listen more and talk less), and then finished up suggesting the doctor find a different line of work since he 'clearly isn't able to pay any attention to anything his patients think.' He suggested being a talk show host or something. It was the most horrifying and yet satisfying experience. The first time the doctor was actually silent. Made our excuses and GTFO." -u/flippantcedar

8. It's the little things

"Probably a common one, but the time he changed our alarm clocks and the clocks on the ovens to 3 hrs early on Christmas Eve. He had us up at about 3:30 am. It was quite proud as I didn’t know he knew how to change either of the clocks. He was 6." -u/Lumpy-Sir-9457. "My son was 5 or 6 and was practicing piano. He kept making the exact same mistake over and over each time he played a song. He had recorded it (it is a digital piano) and was just hitting the replay button each time. Smart and lazy. I was so proud." -u/Shawaii 

9. Absolute mayhem

"My eldest briefly went to daycare one day a week when he was about 1 and figured out their child locks, a type he'd never seen before, within a day of being there. He caused absolute mayhem in the baby room by unlocking one cabinet and opening it up for the other babies to have at. Then, while the staff was trying to get the other babies out of the cabinet, put all the contents back, and relock it, my Incarnation of Pure Chaos was busy unlocking another cabinet. Rinse and repeat until they had an extra staff member come and keep my child at bay while the others rounded up babies and relocked all the cabinets. When I was told what happened at pick-up, I didn't know how to respond. I was a mix of concerned, proud, trying not to laugh and embarrassed. But mostly proud. I spent that walk home from daycare wondering what I inadvertently unleashed upon the world." -u/littlestinky

10. Defying for a bigger purpose

"Not participating in the Pledge of Allegiance at school." -u/sarahjewel. "When my daughter's high school student leadership (of which she was a part - freshman class president) decided to stage a walkout to demand action on school shootings, some of her friends told her they wanted to participate, but their teachers were saying they would not be allowed to leave the classroom. She asked if they meant they would face suspension or other discipline. Her friends answered, 'No, our teacher said we wouldn't be allowed to leave no matter what.' My daughter said, 'That's not okay, you aren't a prisoner. If you want to leave and are willing to accept the consequences, the teacher can't lock you in.' Then she said that anyone who wanted to participate but needed moral support should message her and she would personally come to their classroom and get them. She collected several kids who were too afraid to defy the teacher and walk out but who wanted to join the protest. We had had many a long discussion about civil disobedience in our home on various occasions and she was fully informed and prepared to take responsibility. I was so proud of her that I was fit to burst." -u/aimeed72