People Admit to Times They Feigned Naivety as Children to Gain Cuteness Points From Adults

Mel Dawn

Sep 15, 2023 6:00 PM EDT

Kids can be way cleverer than they look. Some children have a talent for being straight up emotionally manipulative. Case in point: @Howlingmutant0's recent post in which they admitted to (as a child) deliberately acting in a way they knew grownups would think was cute, turned into a viral Twitter thread full of similar confessions about childhood antics. Remember that Family Guy scene where Stewie accidentally shows his intelligence to a group of adults, and then quickly plays dumb, turning their unsettled looks into giddy delight? Same energy.

The only time I remember feigning naivety as a child to make adults happy was when my dad let me sit in on a meeting during "take your kid to work day." Before going in, my dad warned me I'd be pretty bored because they'd probably be saying the same things over and over again. I pretended to take notes, but really I was doodling monsters, not listening to a word anyone was saying. At one point I got distracted by a bird outside and just stared out the window. My dad's manager interrupted the meeting to ask me why I stopped taking notes. I looked around for a second and then said "I don't need to take notes anymore because you guys just say the same things and over again!" The whole room howled with laughter for a good ten minutes, except for my dad, who shot me a knowing grin.

We've collected some of our favorite funny anecdotes from @Howlingmutant0's Twitter thread.