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parenting humor

You'll never get "nanna toe" out of your head.

Being a parent means wearing many hats—that of a personal chef, live entertainer, chauffeur, therapist…and it looks like we can even add interpreter to that list.

In an all-too-relatable video posted to her TikTok, a mom named Amberlie Allen shared a series of recent texts she received from her husband, where she was asked to decode the head scratching requests their toddler was making.

Can’t really blame dad for being stumped on some of these. For example, the first request: “nanna toe,” which apparently means “banana toast.”

But it’s not even banana toast really, as Allen texted that it’s actually “Ritz crackers with peanut butter and banana slices on top.” There’s even an additional caveat to this—their kiddo will eat only the banana slices of said Ritz cracker, then need those small crackers to be replenished by more banana slices. Talk about a specific order.

banana slices and peanut butter beside a dish of peanut butterSounds like a complicated snacktimePhoto credit: Canva

But wait, there’s more. This one is even more puzzling. When dad asked what their son would like to watch, he replied “1 2 3 4.” Huh?!

Allen replied that he probably wanted to watch Toy Story, and just couldn't “decide which one.” Honestly that’s some next level translation.

gif of Woody and Buzz from Toy StoryMom is translating with style. media2.giphy.com

Lastly, Allen’s husband wrote, “‘I think he’s where horn go.’ What does that mean?”

Using her sleuthing skills, Allen asked if they were watching "monster trucks." When she got the confirmation, she explained that he must be wanting the monster truck with a special horn, which was located in her bedside table. Moms are truly magical.

Down in the comments, so many shared their own similar experiences, particularly when it comes to movies and other bits of pop culture.

“The other day I had to decipher that ‘Judy and the Cops’ meant Zootopia.”

“My husband called me one morning and screamed ‘She wants zombie Taylor Swift? What does that even mean?’ I told him she meant the ‘Look what You Made Me Do’ music video.”

“I once nannied for a girl that wanted to watch ‘bleh bleh bleh’…it was Hotel Transylvania.”

gif from Hotel TransylvaniaDrac does say, "Bleh bleh bleh."media3.giphy.com

“Mine asks for ‘bud light’ aka Toy Story (Buzz Lightyear)”

Interestingly enough, the science suggests that parents are hardwired to understand what their toddler is communicating, even if it makes no logical sense. This intuition develops through consistent interaction and observation, which is why Allen, and many moms in general, might be a bit more attuned. After all, they’ve been interpreting their child since its first cry.

That’s not to say dads and secondary caregivers can’t become fluent in baby speak—like most things, it just takes practice. And you know that this dad is never, ever going to forget how to make the perfect “nanna toe” after learning what it means. So, let’s hear it both for the parents who decode, and the parents doing their best to figure out what all the gibberish means.

Family

Mom's passionate rant about why she was late to school drop-off has parents rolling

Over 4,800 parents shared their own equally hilarious “reasons” for being late.

@katlyn.whittenburg/TikTok

Mom lists out the ridiculous reason why her kid was late to school

In a perfect world, everything would run smoothly—including getting kids ready for school.

There would be no spontaneous temper tantrums to soothe, no messes to clean up, no fighting to get dressed. Breakfast would go down without a hitch. Kiddos would be in the car on time. Early, even. And off they would be go to a day of learning.

But we don’t live in a perfect world. And for most parents, this idyllic scenario is but a fantasy. Reality looks way more…chaotic. Suddenly, a cereal that was the favorite yesterday is now inedible today, and there’s a last minute final touch that has to be made for a project and there are no matching pairs of shoes to be found anywhere.

With all of these emergencies happening just before having to leave for school (of course), being late is unavoidable. And to add insult to injury, most schools require that parents fill out a form explaining why their kid was tardy. As if there’s ever a sensible reason for it.


Katlyn Whittenburg recently found herself in this all too common situation, after being asked by her kid’s school to give a reason as to why she was “seven minutes late” while dropping her five-year-old daughter off.

This prompted Whittenburg to bust out a no holds barred, flawlessly accurate and all out hilarious rant about how ridiculous the expectation is for parents to give some sort of logical reason for being tardy, since most of the time tardiness is due to nonsensical kid antics that defy logic in the first place. And it’s a speech that every parent can relate to.

“I was seven minutes late dropping my five-year-old off at school today,” Whittenburg begins.

“And when you come in late, you have to tell them why. Like, I don't understand. If it was like 40 minutes late because it's like oh maybe they had a doctor's appointment or maybe some[thing] crazy happened, but seven minutes late? What do you want me to say? What do you want me to say? Because I couldn't? Because I simply cannot?”

Ramping up, she continues with the actual reasons she fell behind that morning.

“Because my daughter painted a mural using toothpaste this morning, and I apparently I support the arts. Because my other daughter had a bloody nose and sneezed and now got to get a crime scene cleanup crew to come in and get all up in my zone.”

Somewhere in there, the mom also reveals that part of her routine that morning was trying to convince her daughter to wear an actual coat, rather than an “unsanctioned bee costume.” Oh boy.

She then jokes that most parents simply put “traffic” as their reason for being late, but if her school really needs an honest answer as to why she was late, she’s gonna need way more paper space.

“Well how am I gonna fit on this one little line that I was born on a hot summer day in Atlanta, and it's been downhill ever since? Because I'll go into detail if you want to know,” she says, getting more existential by the minute.

“I'm just gonna write ‘see attachment’ and just start carrying around a file folder of all the reasons I can't and shan't. My shan't folder. You just open it up ,and it says ‘Started with a big bang,’” she quips.

“Here we are. Oh, you want me here on time? Oh well, then next time you're gonna get a bee who looks like they just committed a violent crime in a dentist's office.” she concludes.

@katlyn.whittenburg 🐝 #momprobs #parentprobs #parentingbelike #havingkidsbelike ♬ W.A.Mozart, Rondo alla Turca from Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major - AllMusicGallery

Proving just how relatable Whittenburg’s situation is, literally thousands of parents chimed in with their own reasons for being late. And they are pure comedy.

Here’s a small sampling:

“Last time I wrote down, ‘life is hard ok, I’m trying,’”

“My mom used to say ‘car problems’ because we weren’t in the car on time and that was a problem.”

“My dad used to always write ‘snow in the driveway’ we lived in Florida. 😂,”

“I’ve written ‘I’m trash’ three times this year.”

“The sleeve was touching his wrist 😂”

“I’ve written ‘family of 4 with ADHD. you’re lucky we’re her this early!’”

“Spilled yogurt drink down pants and purposely sat on 8 blueberries.”

“I’ve decided I’m making a jar of various reasons and keeping it in the car. Then each time I’m late they get a lucky dip reason 😂”

Just goes to show—parenting is about rolling with the chaos. No one is spared.

Humor

Baby has perfect faces while pretending to be a 'tall woman' on her mom's shoulders

She's totally an adult and not just a baby sitting three other children under a trench coat.

This baby has perfect timing while pretending to be 'tall'

Cartoons and TV shows always made it look like stacking three kids on top of each other under a long coat could fool anyone. "Move along folks, nothing to see here. Just an abnormally tall man with the face of a toddler," is the vibe those scenes gave off and somehow the trick almost always worked.

But it's really not something that's ever come up in real life. No rogue kindergarteners attempting to get into a bar by hiding under a long overcoat. It seemed like one of those things you'd encounter more often growing up, you know...like the quicksand problem that plagued the country. Children are simply much more supervised than cartoons would have you believe. But just because there's supervision doesn't mean there can't be shenanigans.

TikTok user, Messi Ross uploaded a video of her toddler pulling the old stack people to pretend you're an adult gag. Except, mom was in on it.


Well, technically since she's clearly a toddler, it's not like she could pull it off on her own. Ross hoisted her toddler daughter up on her shoulders to go shopping and hilarity ensues. As they walk through the store looking like a very tell lady with a tiny head, the baby's facial expressions somehow matched up with her mom's actions.

Tyla uploaded the video on Facebook with captions making the video even more hilarious. Commenters are enjoying the silly shopping experience, too.

"This remind me of a movie The Little Rascals stymie and Spanky dress as gentleman went to take out loan," one person writes.

"I would die of laughing if I saw this in person. So cute and funny," another says.

"This is so adorable!!! Put a big smile on my face!!! Thank you!!!," one person writes.

Watch the video below:

Family

Mom's hilarious 'mom police' skits have mothers everywhere nodding and chuckling

The items she pulls out of her 'Molice' vest are perfection.

The "Molice" steps in when parents could use a little help.

Parenting is a long, tough gig no matter how you slice it. And if we don't approach the process with a healthy amount of humor, it's even harder. Being able to laugh about the pitfalls and woes of parenting is one of the keys to not losing your everlovin' mind as you strive to raise good humans.

Enter Bridgett Mack, mom, author, motivational speaker, pastor's wife … and friendly neighborhood "Molice" officer.

Practically every parent wishes they had someone on speed dial who could help us when we are at our wits' end or when our offspring are doing something we don't know how to handle. Someone with some kind of authority, who had the power and skill to convince our children to cease their tomfoolery. Someone these kids might listen to when they've tuned mom and dad out.


An officer of the peace in the parenting sense, if you will.

That's why Mack's mom police—or Molice, as she calls it—skits have gained a following on TikTok. Decked out in a Molice vest stocked with a two-way radio, a stationery pad, a dozen or so pairs of backup glasses, a spatula, a face roller, a fan and more, Mack plays the role to perfection.

Watch her pull over a speeding teen:

@bmackwrites

The Molice (mom police) pulls over speeding teen.

"The Molice knows everything." Yes. Yes. This is the kind of help we need.

How about calling in help for the teen who won't clean their room?

@bmackwrites

Episode 2: Teen won’t clean room #molice #bmackwrites

Her giggle at the end gets me every time.

The Molice does investigations as well, and hoo boy, is she thorough.

@bmackwrites

The Elders are still traumatized from Keisha’s last boyfriend. They have asked me to her current boyfriend before deciding on whether or not, he can attend the family Christmas party.

(There's a Part 2 and Part 3 as well.)

If only parents really could call in the Molice when we want to get to the bottom of something or need a little help straightening out our kiddos. Can we make this a real thing, please, Mama Mack?