Hilarious Parenting Fails that Will Make You Look Like a Good Parent

Trista - July 7, 2022

Photo: Imgur

Parenting has been deemed the most difficult job in the world. Not only are you working 24/7 on very little sleep and food, but you barely even get a thank you at the end of the day. To make matters worse, every other parent around you is offering unsolicited advice on how to do your job better. So no parent is perfect. But some parents get it so wrong that it makes you feel like you’re at least doing something right. Here are 50 parenting fails to put a smile on your face and hopefully boost your confidence as a parent.

50. Pulling A Royal Face

Everyone thinks that people like the royal family have no problems when it comes to raising their kids. After all, they have to behave perfectly in public, right? Wrong. Kids don’t understand the positions they live in and just want to be kids. Behaving well! Ha! They’re brutally honest with doing whatever they want, even if it means sticking out your tongue at your royal mum in front of the entire British population. It just goes to show that you’re not the only parent with problems. Perhaps he’ll look back on this when he’s older and laugh.

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49. Someone Forgot the Instruction Manual

One of the most important things about having a newborn is keeping them close to you. This helps to develop the bond between you. Though you’ll mostly see mothers carrying their babies, fathers are starting the practice too so they can have a more emotional bond with their children. One of the best ways to do that is with a body sling, which lets you carry your baby while being hands-free to take care of other chores. Well, someone forgot to give this dad the instructions on how to use a body sling, with hilarious results properly. At least his baby looks like they’re enjoying themselves.

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48. Putting A Plunger To Good Use

Kids can be pretty unruly when you take them to the grocery store. They want to pick up everything, run everywhere and start screaming because they’re not at home. Everyone around you likely thinks you don’t know how to discipline your kids, but every parent goes through this. This parent found the perfect way to keep their child in check with just a simple tool. It’s not like the child can get free either, and maybe they’ll even enjoy the ride and the humor of the situation.

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47. Thick And Bushy Brows On A Baby

Parenting should be about taking care of your child during the early stages of their life, but it doesn’t mean you can’t have some harmless fun along the way. While some people might complain that drawing eyebrows on your child can be a little cruel, the results are definitely hilarious. No doubt it can come right off with a little soap and water, too, so no harm is really done. What started out as a normal baby stare turned into a shocked intense look that would bring a smile to any exhausted parent’s face.

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46. Killing Two Birds With One Stone

It can be really challenging to watch an infant and still have time for yourself. Multitasking is an essential part of parenting, and if you don’t find time for yourself, you can feel like you’re going to lose your mind. With a little ingenuity, however, this parent found out how to make it work during the baby’s feeding session. Who knew that the top of an Xbox controller was the perfect shape for holding a bottle? More likely than not, a few other people stole this “hack” for themselves after seeing this.

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45. It Was Supposed To Be A Nice Picture

Wanting to get photos with your kids can be a troubling task; they either want to ham it up or don’t want to be seen with you. Grown children seem to be more eager to take pictures with their parents, so they have good memories to keep with them later on in life. So when these kids decided that they would agree to take a picture with their mom, she was probably pretty ecstatic. But like all kids, they decided to pull a prank on her at the last minute while the photo was being taken. We don’t know if their mom laughed or was upset, but it’s unlikely they got this one framed for the living room.

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44. As Attentive As He Needs To Be

Mothers are usually the ones who take care of and watch their children. So when the dads get involved, they have no idea what to do. You’d think it would be easy: just play with the baby and keep their attention for a few minutes to get some interaction for the day. But this dad found better things to do on his little handheld device, leaving his daughter all the way on the other side of the room by herself. Not even on the play mat! Next time, the mom should ensure that all of his devices are removed from his person before he’s given baby duty again.

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43. Talk About Being A Butterfingers!

Parents are always looking for ways to create memories with their children, and one of the easiest ways is to take photos. Most people plan for photos at a studio, while others prefer to take pictures outside in a more natural setting so that they don’t look staged. Everything should go as planned, right? What could go wrong? Well, from this photo, pretty much everything! We’re sure this mother probably feels pretty about losing her grip on her child, but as she stated in the caption, her child ended up fine and probably didn’t remember anything about this event. But at least you can tell yourself that you’ve never fumbled your child like a football.

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42. Boy, You Were Really Thirsty

It’s one thing to have to sit next to a kid all day. However, it’s something else to have to sit next to a kid while stuck on an airplane. That goes double when that kid is your own child. They can act out, but you can’t exactly deal with a tantrum by removing the child from the situation. But this isn’t the case of a temper. This is trying to let the kid have a little more responsibility… only to have a disaster on your hands. We don’t know what this kid was thinking, but the man’s expression is definitely a reflection of what we’re all thinking: “Why?!”

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41. They Were Both Exhausted

Parenting alone can be pretty exhausting. Having to feed a child every four hours means staying up into the long hours of the early morning to keep them happy. So when it was this dad’s turn to bottle-feed, it should be just as easy as just holding it. Unfortunately, both father and child passed out in the middle of the feeding process, and it was right of this person to go and check in on them. At least no harm was done, but it probably wasn’t enjoyable having to clean formula out of the baby’s ear once she woke up.

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40. Another Case Of Multitasking With The Baby

Getting your baby mentally engaged doesn’t take much. All it takes is a little exposure to something they’ve never seen before, and it can keep a baby entertained longer than you think. When it’s “dad time,” he finds the perfect way to do what he wants while also keeping the baby engaged. We’re not sure what he’s playing exactly, but his child seems to be enjoying it. And the baby’s restrained so that they can’t ruin dad’s K/D ratio. Or whatever he’s doing. At least there’s voice chat going on.

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39. Before Boss Baby Was A Thing

Sometimes, dads just like to have fun with their babies that mothers never even dream up. Sure, it can seem silly and out of the box, and it probably wasn’t the best way to spend your time to help your child develop. But if you’re missing out on creating the Boss Baby idea before the movie even came out, then are you really living? The idea itself is absolutely adorable and is even worthy of being framed if you’ve got a sense of humor. Who could honestly get mad at this kind of picture anyway?

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38. Babysitting And Enjoying Your Beer At The Same Time

Being outside with children can be a tough time. It gets hot, and they have more energy than you can bargain for. And if you can’t keep up with them, they risk getting into danger of some kind. So why not improvise? This dad found the perfect way to keep calm and take care of his kid at the same time while still keeping them entertained. You have to admit one thing, he’s definitely exercising some ingenuity here, but he’s a little too far away if something wrong happens.

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37. Receiving The Respect He Believes He Deserves

You give your children everything, and all they give you in return is lip, disobedience, and a lack of gratitude. But when it comes to Mothers’ Day or Fathers’ Day, kids will usually spend a little more effort than normal to at least do something nice. This dad decided to make demands instead about what he wanted for Fathers’ Day and wasn’t going to give his children the opportunity to say no. It may seem like a little much, waiting on him like little helpers, but it’s one day out of the entire year. Is it really that bad?

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36. How Is That Comfortable?

If there’s one thing new parents complain about the most, it’s trying to get their newborn baby to fall asleep. They’ve tried everything: playing music, singing to them, walking them around the house… What may work one time might not work another time, and that leaves you scrambling to find something else that will help. Who would’ve thought that this sleeping position would end up being the most comfortable? And who can really blame this dad for getting hungry while trying to get his baby to sleep for two hours? This was a well-deserved break for him, to be honest… but maybe he shouldn’t use his own child as a table next time.

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35. Fun With A Little Soap

Bath time can be a great moment for some face-to-face interactions with your child… as well as getting them clean from all that mess they made in their diapers. One dad decided to have a little fun with the soap and gave his son some unique hairstyles and even a beard to commemorate the moment. Was it a waste of time? Can you answer that question honestly after looking at the smile on that baby’s face? They may not remember it when they get older, but at least they can look back on these funny images.

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34. Someone Wasn’t Paying Attention

Getting pictures of your children can be tough but rewarding. When they don’t sit still, it takes every amount of patience you have to wait for that perfect moment. So when this happy couple thought that they were taking a picture to commemorate their child standing on the counter, they didn’t believe that anything could go wrong. But they failed to notice the rather large… “surprise” creeping up his back. Maybe this is one they should have kept to themselves and not shared on the Internet for everyone to see.

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33. The New Toy No One Wants To Buy

Children are small. Some toy boxes can be quite large. There’s a reason that some of these boxes warn you not to let children inside them. Although it’s likely that these parents read the warning, they wanted and plopped their kids inside anyway just for this photo op. They don’t look happy at all, being in that box. However, you can’t help but laugh at the tiny word bubbles containing animal sounds. We hope they didn’t keep them in there too long before they started crying.

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32. The Honesty Of Children

You think that you can get away with things in your own home, but you forget that there’s always someone watching: your children and they have no qualms about sharing that info with the rest of the world. This drawing is evidence enough of what this child thinks their mother really does all day, not taking into account that this mother likely does all the cooking and cleaning too, and her rest time involves being on her phone. Let’s see what this kid gets up to in the future when they have their own child and want to take a break for themselves.

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31. A Distinct Lack of Table Manners

Children don’t care about the atmosphere of the restaurant you take them to. A fast-food joint is no different from a fancy restaurant in their eyes. With this belief, they are convinced that they can act out any way they want, regardless of how many people are watching. You would think that at least one of the parents would have said something at this point and told them to sit upright, but they were probably too tired and hungry at this point and just wanted to get it done and over with. Good job, kid. You can’t even let your parents relax with a nice meal.

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30. The Things You Notice In The Background

It’s difficult to decipher exactly what this chaos is going on in the background, but this woman was lucky enough to catch it all in these photos. It looked like one parent wanted to go one way while the other wanted to go in another, and the two children had to end up paying the price. What makes this series of photos even more hilarious is that the guy in the foreground is utterly oblivious to what’s going on behind him. We really hope that those two children were okay in the end, though.

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29. An Outfit For The Ages

Clothes shopping isn’t always the easiest chore because your kid is constantly growing, and it can be challenging to maintain their wardrobe while they do. It gets even more complicated when you factor in your kid’s opinions on what they want to wear. So when this mother sent off her child and her husband to go shopping for clothes, she had no idea what she was going to be met with. This outfit, to say the least, is definitely flashy, but the daughter doesn’t seem to have any qualms about it.

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28. A Different Kind Of Planking

Exhaustion can take any of us at a moment’s notice. And when you’re taking care of children, it becomes more often than you know. This dad was just supposed to be putting his kid to bed and decided to plop down for a nap himself. Maybe it had taken him almost an hour to get the job done, but either way, this looks like a well-deserved nap for all of the work he probably did throughout the day. Maybe he should keep an extra pillow in there next time so he can be a little more comfortable.

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27. That’s Not A Table

This is another example of a baby being used as a table for something else. This mom just needed to sit down and have a break as her baby tried to fall asleep. So what’s wrong with laying your tablet down on your baby so that you can see a little easier? There were probably a few parents who could’ve been upset by this, preaching that babies are precious commodities, but until you’ve gotten less than 3 hours of sleep every day taking care of a young baby, who are you to judge?

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26. The Wrong Kind of Snowshoes

Traveling to school in bad weather isn’t fun for you, and it’s even worse for kids. Who would want to go through all that slush and snow just to sit in a classroom for the next six to seven hours? Preparing your kids for that awful walk isn’t easy either, but whoever dressed this kid had either had enough or wasn’t paying attention. It must have been hard for that kid to cross the street wearing those skis, as well as put them away when they got to school.

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25. That Doesn’t Look Like A Good Time

Who thought it was a great idea to build this slide right next to this pit? Perhaps the slide was there first, and the pit came second, but there’s no way that any kids should be allowed in there until that gets filled in. At least someone was responsible enough to cordon things off with some tape, but not even that’s enough to want to keep kids away from satisfying their curiosity. Hopefully, this got filled in soon after so that the children could get back to having fun.

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24. Educational Reading Material Gone Wrong

Someone definitely wasn’t watching this kid closely enough to get this magazine out of his hands. … actually, the person taking this picture should have grabbed it instead of snapping a photo! That’s definitely adult material that this child shouldn’t be indulging in yet, and from the look on his face, he’s enjoying it a little too much. He probably had plenty of questions afterward. You can probably rest assured that you’ve never let your child get their hands on this kind of reading material and likely never will until they’re old enough.

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23. Oopsie Daisy!

Some kids want to act like they’re old enough to do things on their own. It’s a parent’s job to keep an eye on them to ensure they don’t get hurt, but that can really get on a kid’s nerves. They just have to do it by themselves. This kid probably told their parent to leave them alone while they swung in the hammock, and the parent decided to snap a picture of the moment. Nothing could go wrong, right? Well, as this picture demonstrated, things went entirely wrong. Thankfully, they’re just falling onto some sand, which should cushion the blow enough to keep back any tears.

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22. Not Supposed To Be The Target

When a kid takes up a new sport, it’s a parent’s job to stay involved so that they have the motivation to get better. Archery can be a little dangerous, but with a bit of guidance, a child’s child can be pretty good at the sport. Unfortunately, either this father was standing where he wasn’t supposed to be, or his kid’s aim was way off. Either way, the dad doesn’t seem too shook up by having an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. Maybe he’s already hopped up on some pain meds to deal with the pain, but you can tell from the kid’s face that he’s quite concerned.

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21. That Look of Disgust

Trying to get your children to eat healthy in this day and age is like pulling teeth. They want chicken nuggets and french fries, not broccoli and baked chicken. Apple juice? No, soda is better! This parent formulated an expert plan to get their child to drink more juice instead of soda. Of course, she instantly noticed the difference, but there was no helping it now with the soda dumped down the sink. She likely has no choice but to drink the rest of it, but at least the parent got the best of her. There’s definitely revenge brewing behind that disgusting expression.

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20. No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service

As we mentioned, children think they can get away with anything when they’re out in public. They don’t understand the social cues of being around other people, to the point that they bend almost every single rule that they’re given. As a parent, you can either stand firm and endure their tantrum or cave into their demands and allow them to control the situation. This dad obviously lost that fight because his child is now running around the restaurant in just their diapers for some reason. We would ask, but at the same time, we don’t really want to know.

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19. Two Children Of Different Species

Some pet owners are known to treat their animals like their children. Others would disagree with this stance, but this is one guy who doesn’t care what you think. He has both a dog and a child, and he has no qualms about taking both for a walk. Some people may have a problem with the fact that he’s carrying the dog on his shoulder while his kid is led by the hand. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Oh well, it’s no one’s business which one he actually likes the company of more.

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18. A Different Kind of Jenga Game

What’s the point of having children if you can’t have a little fun with them? Many people wouldn’t want to do so at their child’s expense, but if they’re not being embarrassed or injured as a result, then is there really any harm? Apparently, this parent is challenging themselves as to how many slices of bread they can stack on their daughter’s face while she sleeps. They seem to have gotten it pretty high, too. It makes you wonder how many sandwiches she had after that from the stack of bread she had on her face.

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17. Too High!

When they’re in the pool, every kid always asks someone to throw them as high as possible. There should be no problems as long as they’re in the deep end. This kid got more than he bargained for when he realized how high he was. We can almost hear the scream now that must have come out of him before he splashed into the water. Next time, maybe he won’t ask to go so high and will stick to the shallower end of the pool.

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16. If A Child Falls In The Woods…

A nature hike with a child should be a rewarding experience. They’re learning a lot about nature, working off some energy so that they’re tired later, and doing something relatively peaceful that the parents can also enjoy. This photo opportunity should have been great for everyone involved, but one or both parents seemed to have ended up with a case of the butterfingers because they sent their kid flying. No one looks close enough to have grabbed them either before they hit the ground, so we should all cross their fingers that there weren’t too many tears afterward.

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15. A Replacement Mousepad That Works

This dad was left with the task of watching his newborn; you can’t argue that he isn’t while still gaining the benefit of using his baby’s booty as a mousepad. He gets to stay in bed, browse the web, and still care for his baby. After all, who really wants to get out of bed anyway? Sure, he could be more active and play with his child, but you can’t judge him for being a little creative with his browsing techniques.

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14. Let Them Do Whatever They Want

Finding the time to relax for yourself can be difficult with more than one child in the home. You just need a few minutes to yourself to regain your sanity, but sometimes, your kids still demand your attention. Kill two birds with one stone by letting them try out their nail polish skills on your feet while you get your game on. Although this dad seems pretty inattentive, at least he’s keeping an eye on his daughter and allowing her to be creative at the same time while still keeping her in his sights.

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13. Leaving Your Baby Unprotected

One of the things you want to keep away from your baby is mosquitoes. That’s because they can leave horrible itchy bumps all over your baby, making them miserable. That’s why things like this mosquito netting can really get the job done. But that pretty much leaves you unprotected, doesn’t it? Not for this, dad. He decided to curl up and keep the protection for himself and left his child out to be a feeding ground for any mosquitoes. They don’t seem to mind now, but if they do get bitten, this dad better be willing to stay up and deal with his child’s cries throughout the rest of the day/night.

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12. That’s Not What They Meant

You have to be very careful about what you say around children; the wrong thing, and they can get a bad idea. In fact, it could end up being downright hurtful if you don’t manage to explain yourself in time. Unfortunately for this person, they didn’t manage to catch themselves in time and ended up hurting their child’s feelings. No explanation would be enough to make their child stop crying, but hopefully, this moment doesn’t stick with them for the rest of their lives. Or this parent made the smart step of drowning this kid’s sorrows in some ice cream.

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11. Hiding Secrets

Children like to believe that they’re being clever by hiding things from their parents. They obviously think they’re going to get away with it, but they always find out eventually. One kid thought he could get away with this forever and never have to change his clothes if his mother never saw the holes in his pants. A little clever, but not the brightest, considering the holes would probably get bigger and bigger over time. At least he got away with it for a while before his mom noticed.

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10. When The Silence Becomes A Disaster

The one thing parents hope for the most is some peace and quiet with children in the house. Fingers crossed that they find something to entertain themselves with that doesn’t make a lot of noise. But as parents soon learn, there’s trouble afoot when everything gets quiet in the house. This parent fell into that trap and had to pay the price of cleaning up a bathroom covered in water, as well as a soggy carpet. And that smell isn’t going to come out anytime soon if mold starts to grow.

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9. Part Two of Quiet Time

As we just mentioned, parents have learned that when their children are being absolutely quiet, something is definitely going wrong. This parent did the right thing by checking on his child before things went terribly wrong, and although nothing bad really happened, it’s a moment of pressing your face into your hands and silently screaming. What made this kid think playing in the toilet was the best idea? No doubt, this kid got a scrub down from all the germs inside that toilet not covering his entire body.

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8. Don’t Waste The Ketchup

It can feel like an absolute reward when you find yourself with a delicious lunch after dealing with your kid all day. However, when your kid’s in your chest harness, a few things can go wrong, as demonstrated in this picture. The sensible thing to do would be to use a napkin and get the ketchup off the baby’s face. This dad had different ideas. Why waste it when he can just lick it off the baby’s face? They’re already clean, right? And it’s not like they’re ready to start tasting the condiment themselves either.

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7. Arguing For No Reason

Siblings always try to get the best of each other, even if it’s at something that doesn’t exist. This mother’s story of her two children upsetting each other over some… air? You’d think it would be laugh-worthy at first, but when she’s trying to get some sleep? The most precious commodity of any parent? It would make anyone want to pull their hair out. What’s really confusing is that she continued to let this go on for so long instead of asking them to stop. Maybe that would have given her a few more minutes of sleep?

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6. Comforting Your Child In The Wrong Moment

Every parent is concerned for their child when they walk into the room crying. You want to be able to tell them that everything is okay and that they can come to you at any time. However, we get the feeling that this little girl isn’t going to be confiding in her mother any time soon after she experienced this. Cutting hot peppers and then offering to wipe your child’s tears isn’t going to get this mom any brownie points. In fact, she probably burned her child’s eyes for the next few hours before the capsaicin finally faded.

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5. Why Would They Do This?

Bringing home anything that you will use to remodel your home in some way is dangerous, especially if you have children. Their curiosity gets the better of them, and they want to poke their fingers where they don’t belong. This incident involves more than just fingers, as this child decided to jump right into an entire bucket of paint, from her toes all the way up to her shoulders. So now, not only does this parent have to scrub their child for the next few hours to get it all off, they’ve got a wasted bucket of paint on their hands and will have to fork out money to buy a new one.

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4. Frozen Sugary Goodness

There’s something to be said about getting a Slurpee: it’s sweet, cold, and the perfect treat for any hot summer. You’d think, though, as a parent, that you’d consider your children the most precious thing in the world. Not for this mom. She had no qualms about placing her newborn on the ground so that she could pour herself a tall Slurpee to enjoy. Forgetting the fact that the earth is coated in germs, that rug right under the Slurpee machine is always sticky, and now all of that is covering their baby.

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3. He Had The Right Idea

Children aren’t usually a fan of spicy things because they can be too intense for them. One solution would be not to eat that spicy food ever again, but this kid had a better idea that would absolutely not work. He opens up a fan onto his bag of spicy chips, believing that the cool air will somehow make them less spicy. Of course, “hot” and “spicy” are used interchangeably, but they don’t mean the same thing. He’s definitely going to learn this the hard way when he takes more Cheetos and tries to eat them.

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2. “It’s Mine Now!”

Taking a baby to the zoo can be one of the most rewarding experiences of a lifetime. You get to introduce your child to new things without having to fork out a lot of money, and the animals alone can entertain your child for hours until they eventually fall asleep. What could go wrong? Apparently, this. Unbeknownst to this mom, her baby stroller ended up with a stowaway who probably just wanted to get out of the heat. Thankfully, the baby’s asleep, so they’re missing out on all the “fun,”… which probably would have involved a lot of screaming if they’d been awake.

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1. A Pizza Face Of A Different Kind

Here’s the perfect example of having fun with your baby at their expense without causing any harm. Is it a hilarious picture? Absolutely. Should this dad have done this? Probably not. But can anyone really call him a “bad parent” when not even the baby seems upset by having an entire tortilla as a face mask? Who knows, maybe it’s doing wonders for their skin? Perhaps we’ve all missed out on the new skincare craze. They’ll definitely look back on this picture many years from now and have a good laugh.

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