Sharp-witted parents flood the comment section of a mother asking for “unhinged” parenting hacks, and helpful hilarity ensues: ‘The weird. The chaotic. The slightly concerning…’

Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor

Oct 14, 2026 5:00 PM EDT

Do the parenting books bore you? You're not alone. Parenting doesn't need to be so serious all the time! You are allowed to have fun while you teach and morph your children into functioning human beings.

Recently, a fun mother on TikTok posed a simple request: For other like-minded parents to share their most "unhinged" parenting hacks. "I'm not talking 'I let my kid watch my phone so they use the potty,'" she writes in her video. "I'm talking 'it works so well, but I'm a little embarrassed to share it' hack." Parenting doesn't have to be boring. It can be fun for everyone involved!… And sometimes it can be fun for just the parent and someone alarming for the kids, but that's what balance is all about.

There is no "correct" way to parent. The only goal you should aim for is to keep your kid alive, healthy, and feeling loved. Everything else we can try our darnedest to instill in our kids, but there is no guarantee. How can you teach your kid to be confident when you struggle with self-confidence yourself? You don't just magically heal all of your inner demons the second you become a parent. You are still you, but now you have someone who looks up to you to figure out how to grow and survive. It's scary and a lot, but also profound and satisfying. You don't need to concentrate on doing everything "right" as a parent; just do the best you can. Sometimes that means telling a funny white lie to get your kids to be safe.

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Be careful which unhinged hack you decide to play out on your kids. I am a dramatic person and have always been a dramatic little lady. I even thought I wanted to be an actor for a while because everyone called me dramatic all of the time. (I most definitely did not want to be an actor… lol) So, as a parent, how do you handle a kid with exceptionally big emotions? Sure, now they are teaching us to acknowledge and respect these big feelings so we can learn not to ignore them and become a messy human. Funny thing, though, they were not teaching that to parents in the '90s when I was growing up. So do you know what my mom did?

My mom went out and bought a plastic Oscar award. So whenever I was having big emotions about something, she would fetch the Oscar and say, “And the winner for best actress in a dramatic role goes to…” Yep. Hilarious, right? I always looked back on that little unhinged parenting hack and would chuckle. However, when I told my therapist that funny thing about my past, she did not find it as funny… In fact, she said I was taught as a child that my feelings were invalid, and that's probably why I isolate when I'm having a tough time…

Soooo… yeah, anyways, definitely have fun with parenting, but be smart about it!

Emily I told my sons that the reason I don't have a wiener is bc I didn't potty train so mine fell off. They potty trained so mf fast.

SkogsWife I told my kids that the rainbow oil stains in parking lots are from kids who got hit by cars for not holding an adults hand.

tttrina3 During potty training we realized that he would pee during showers so instead of running him to the toilet where he'd refuse, we ran him to the shower instead. We were eventually able to bribe him to do the same exact thing with the toilet.

ElizabethC | IVF Mama | SAHM My daughter wouldn't take her antibiotics for her ear inf_tion. Told her if she didn't she'd lose her hearing. I muted the tv and just started mouthing stuff to her. She took it and I unmuted the tv ++ magic++

Though some of these parenting tips and tricks could definitely be considered unhinged, some are actually very smart. Like, yes, mute that TV and start moving your mouth like you're talking when that kid refuses to take their ear medicine! That's hilarious, clever, and can actually happen if you don't take your ear problems seriously! So it's teaching them a valuable lesson. In a bit of an unhinged way, but it works!