Cutest Parenting Advice Given By Kids
One little-known source of awesome parenting advice is, in fact, little kids. Kids don't lie, they don't have filters, and they are super duper cute. It's always easier to take words of advice from someone who is cute, right? In the following videos, you'll see real life kids giving sage, practical (sometimes unintelligible) advice on parenting. Take note, because the cuteness and the sageness doesn't get any stronger.
Kids give advice on chores
Ilana Wiles, the mom behind Mommyshorts.com, is a busy New York City-based blogger and author who did a series with her daughter Mazzy and her friends, where she asked them advice on common parenting topics. In this delightful clip, she named a bunch of activities and asked the kids what things are "expected to do" and which ones are chores. The kids have all sorts of opinions on chores, compensation for said chores and what they would spend their allowances on. It's cute, for sure.
Kids give advice on how to get your kids to eat dinner
What's cuter than a kid giving parenting advice? A bunch of British kids giving parenting advice, of course! In this clip compiled by Supernanny, Charlie will not eat his dinner. He wants candy instead. How do our learned panelists feel about that? Not good. They think that the mom and dad are "a bit lazy" and that if Charlie continues doing whatever he wants he will end up with "No friends... and no teeth." Let's hope Charlie takes their advice.
Jimmy Kimmel gets parenting advice from a kid
Jimmy Kimmel's wife was pregnant, and he was hoping for some parenting advice, since his other kids are older. He needed a reminder. So, he sat down with Isla, age 6, to get some practical advice about being a good dad. Since Jimmy is, himself, one of our favorite overgrown kids, it is funny to see him sitting in a classroom across from Isla. He says he's hoping she can give her some information — "What, to you, is a good dad? What does a good dad do?" Isla, tells him he should start by changing the diaper. Then he plays dumb, sending Isla into giggles. The whole thing is pretty darn cute, and Jimmy concludes there is no hope and he's going to be a very bad parent. At least Isla proves that there's hope for our future generation!
Kids give advice about picky eaters
Mazzy and her friends are back to talk about picky eating. Ilana gets a lot of good tips from this conversation, but the biggest takeaway is — if you want to convince someone to eat something they don't want to eat, threaten them! From the mouth of Mazzy herself, to get her mom to eat something, she would threaten to put her to bed in her room all alone with the lights out. Yikes! Advice for kids who give advice: Don't give mom new ideas!
Kids tell parents how to deal with tantrums
Our favorite little British kids are back to talk about tantrums. First, the kids almost all own up to the fact that they have, indeed, had their own tantrums. Then we see a clip of Charlie having a tantrum, turning off the TV, turning off the lights, and being a megalomaniacal tiny dictator. His family says that they give all their time to Charlie, because they're scared of him.
Our brilliant little advice-givers say that the parents shouldn't be scared. They're the parents, and they're bigger. "If you don't control them when they're young, when they get older it's going to be that much worse," says a wise child. Another says, "Sometimes you don't always have to be nice to children." There you have it. Advice that only a kid could give.
Big brother gives advice to pregnant mom
The look on this kid's face when mom announces she is pregnant is priceless. He smiles, and then covers his face while exclaiming "What were you thinking?" Then he goes off, saying that the situation is "exasperating." In his defense, he was a little concerned that mom was going to replace one of her existing babies with the new one. And, he's a little worried that another baby might take some of the love. He's clearly not ready to discuss this, but his mom is cool as a cucumber. And, she promises to buy him some earplugs for when the baby cries. He looks out the window in resignation. Let's hope he warmed up to his new little brother or sister when they got there!
Lola tells dad how to talk to your kids
Little Lola, 15 months old, is standing on a table. Her dad (with his charming accent) yells at her to get off. Lola proceeds to "tell" her dad what she thinks about his tone of voice, and it's pretty hilarious. She's got all of the attitude and none of the enunciation. She may have said, "I'll kill you," at some point, and it's almost certain that she called her dad an "ugly giraffe." Either way, Lola wins the argument, because she doesn't leave that table top until her da picks her up. I guess she showed him!
Kids give advice about bedtime routines
Mazzy and the gang wax philosophical on bedtime routines. They admit that it's important to go to bed at night, but threats enter the conversation pretty quickly when the cute little guy in the sports jacket says that you have to "give them a bad fortune." Like, "You'll be destroyed in ten seconds." I'm not sure that Ilana got any real actionable data out of this panel.
Baby tells dad how deal with mom
So it might not be parenting advice, per se, and its certainly not in English, but this cute baby seems to be babbling some very important information to his dad. Dad is picking up the laundry from the dryers on the balcony, and complaining about it. His son seems to tell him, "Hey Dad, stop complaining about doing the laundry and calling Mommy a slavedriver. You're setting a bad example for me! And what's the deal with talking about flying off the balcony? Don't you know I"m a baby? I might actually try that!" Or maybe not. Since the baby is preverbal, you can have fun guessing!
Kids give advice on keeping the rules consistent
Our British darlings are back talking about parental rules. They don't like when mom has one rule and dad has another. They watch a clip where the dad locks a screaming kid in his room, but mom lets screaming kid out and gives him hugs and kisses. The kids are not on board with the dad's form of discipline, but they think the mom shouldn't have coddled the kid. The kids, in their adorable wisdom, advise parents to have a plan about discipline, then they have tons of beautifully worded advice on which discipline is going to the the most effective in helping screaming kid become a decent, non-screaming adult. Too cute.
Mateo explains the importance of cupcakes
Mateo wants a cupcake! Three years old at the time, Mateo was at Gramma's house when he found some cupcakes and was determined to have them. His mom said no, and this hilarious conversation ensued. The internet got a little grumpy about it, but Linda explained why Mateo has such fierce negotiating skills, and why he called her "Linda" instead of Mom.
In an article she wrote for her company's blog, Linda said that at a family outing at a theme park, they met a lost boy who didn't know his parents' names. She made sure her kids knew her's (Linda) and her husband's (Kenneth), and little old-soul Mateo uses the proper names when he's trying to make a point. It's adorable. I'm pretty sure I would have given the little guy a cupcake. Ellen DeGeneres did.