There is one space where parents have always managed to reign supreme over their children, and that space is text messaging. This digital format takes everything that children suspect about their parents’ social ineptitude and turns it into a reality. Let’s take a look at how things can quickly go wrong when your parents try to communicate via text.
Something Weird In the Background
We all love to occasionally share a picture with our loved ones. Sometimes we meet a special someone and want to let our family know; other times, we encounter a beautiful vista that we just have to take a picture of. Mothers and fathers are still getting the hang of the whole “camera on a phone” thing.
Especially since many of our parents grew up in a time when phones and cameras were separate objects. This mother didn’t realize that her finger was on the camera and blocking the view. So whenever she sent a photo, there was nothing to see but a close-up of her finger.
Early Signs of Possession
We’re not sure what exactly is going on in this text message, but it seems to be a mixture of some really nasty software virus and a ghost haunting the phone. When you hold a key on your phone’s keyboard, you’ll likely see a list of variant letters you can use.
For example, instead of writing the letter ‘e’, you can hold the letter and choose something else such as 'è,' 'é,' 'ë,' or 'ę.' We assume that this is what happened to this mother’s phone, although based on her daughter’s response, it might be something much worse and her phone might be broken.
Don’t Type Without Seeing
One of the worst things about having glasses is the moments when you lose them. The problems that come with partial blindness include occasionally stubbing your toe or walking with your arms outstretched like a zombie across your house so as not to bump into anything or break a vase.
If you’ve ever tried typing on a smartphone with your eyes closed, it’s quite a similar experience to doing it without your glasses. This mother shows us exactly why you shouldn’t try to type without glasses, cause your texting skills aren't as good as you think they are without your eyesight.
Autocorrect Strikes Again
It’s a good thing that this kid has a healthy sense of humor because it might have been highly offensive, if not incredibly awkward. Why, you may ask? Well, because children don't want to find out about their parents' predilections and just thinking about it now makes our skin crawl.
If you didn't know this before, it's official now - autocorrect is one of the best ways to ruin a relationship. It’s just really easy to say nasty things and blame it on the feature, which we guess is why Apple and Android never quite got around to fixing its issues.
When Life Is Too Short
The “YOLO” trend is an interesting one, having popularized a few words to mean one thing that could easily be interpreted to mean something else. “You only live once,” they say, and so you should live life to the fullest. Basically, it's used to express how we should make the most of the present moment without worrying about the future.
Often the phrase is used as a rationale for impulsive or reckless behavior. But…if you only have one life, wouldn't you also want to protect it? Maybe don’t take life-threatening risks? This mom why this mom here used "YOLO", albeit incorrectly, to ensure her kid doesn’t “Yolo” his one life away.
The World’s Best Paid Room Cleaner
Money is a great incentive to make your kids do their chores and clean up after themselves. Many children learn to value money even before they’re ten years old, although they don’t exactly understand its significance. Kids instinctively like to gather resources, so when you offer them money to do something, they will.
Whether or not this mother actually hid $100 in her daughter’s room, her proposition is quite smart. Although this won’t necessarily make her daughter disciplined all of a sudden, it will get the room cleaned in no time. At least there's a reward waiting for her for it once she's done!
Burn This Text Exchange
Sometimes parents try to learn how to be “hip” and adopt their children’s lingo and mannerisms. These attempts are usually met with a scolding look from the kids and are quite often unsuccessful. This exchange between a mother and her daughter shows why parents should never attempt to do this.
We're all well aware of the fact that anything that a parent touches stops being cool, as they are invading the counterculture space of their younger generation. This conversation is one of the most cringeworthy things you’ll read this year. We can only hope that nobody ever found out who was behind this text exchange.
An Encouraging Father
The relationship between most citizens and the police force is one we would describe as… tense. People think police officers are probably the most strict and uptight mothers and fathers there are. While this may be true in some cases, there are exceptions.
As we see in this text between a dad and his child. Police workers are usually so jaded after a few years in their careers that it gets very hard for someone to phase them. This, plus a slightly liberal attitude, must have been the factor that led to this hilarious but incriminating text exchange.
Dad’s Proud Achievement
Do you have parents? Chances are you do, and you'll also know that your sense of humor doesn't always mesh well with your parent's sense of humor. We’ve already mentioned that some fathers can have a cold and sarcastic sense of humor that even translates quite well in text form.
The result is this text exchange between this dad and his daughter. While we might think it's hilarious, we doubt that his daughter thinks so. It’s hard to imagine the horrible thoughts that went through this young girl’s mind upon reading her dad's text message, but at least her mother got a prego.
That Is Definitely Not Chocolate
Poop emojis have some of the cutest faces of all the icons in the emoji library and for that reason, people really, really, love using these emojis. It's like the Julia Roberts of emojis. But you know what Poop Face is, really? A giant, soggy slap in the face, and people still use it, albeit incorrectly!
This mother was so convinced by the beautiful poop that she thought for a moment she was looking at a beautiful chocolate cone with a smiling, positive attitude. She may not realize the connotations behind this emoji, as using the poop emoji could suggest literally anything. Is she confused? Is she angry? Who knows?
Please Use the Space Button
We can only express our utmost gratitude that our parents are slightly more sophisticated than this naive mom right here. While it may be excused that some fathers and mothers can’t find certain emojis on a mobile keyboard, there’s really no reason to not know where a spacebar key is.
It hasn’t been an easy couple of years for parents out there. Was it ever though? Along with all the regular parental difficulties, they've also had to adapt to modern devices and smartphones. Frankly, if we didn’t know where the spacebar key was, we would be way too embarrassed to ask about it in a text exchange.
Is This Twitter?
Our parents can sometimes surprise us with just how technologically inept they are, although it’s quite understandable why they would be this way. Imagine growing up in a time when changes took decades, only to suddenly be swept up by more change than you’ve seen in your entire lifetime all at once.
Luckily, we've had plenty of experience when it comes to the internet, but some parents still don’t exactly know what certain tech words mean, which causes them to confuse a social network like Twitter for a texting app. Hey, at least their Mom didn’t think that Twitter was actually a bird!
Taking an Example From Bow-tie Man
Let’s be frank; some parents have the cutest sayings and comebacks. While most adults choose to discipline their kids with the obligatory “I’m the adult” lecture, some take a more creative approach to this tough feat. Every kid can appreciate when a parent takes the extra effort to make their moral lessons funny.
Which is why this Mom is pretty awesome. She has apparently created a character called Bow-tie Man, who has a supreme level of intelligence and an outfit to match. This guy doesn’t make mistakes and always wears a bowtie. They should probably make a superhero movie about him.
Worst Prank of All Time
Some parents are absolutely strict toward their kids. Good or bad, parents are supposed to be different, that's why they're parents. But some parents take it a little too far and end up being cruel. Many of our parents enjoyed pranking each other when they were younger.
But some parents never grow out of it, even when they should. When Mom or Dad tries to scare us in creative ways, it can be quite terrifying, especially for a young child or someone who gets scared easily. Hopefully, the kid didn’t need too much therapy after this incident.
Way Too Many Emojis
Most people can manage by using only one or two emojis to emphasize their point. Usually, it’s either a smiley, a heart, or a thumbs-up emoji at the end of a sentence that really helps to drive the emotional tone of the message home. Other people feel the need to use emojis in every single sentence.
They sometimes even use them to replace the actual words they’re supposed to write. When you take this to its logical extreme, you get whatever it is that’s going on in this text exchange. This kind of convoluted message could have been a mystery in the "Da Vinci Code", for all intents and purposes.
Let’s Change the Topic
Kids know a lot more these days than we give them credit for. Their constant connectivity with the internet makes them exposed to various things that we didn’t know until a much later age. This example of an autocorrect and a child with a dirty mind leads to quite a funny exchange.
Hopefully, Dad can improve his anniversary game next year, otherwise, there are going to be some consequences! If this couple's marriage is to last, he'll need something to keep the love burning. Clearly, some serious thinking needs to take place when it comes to getting a gift if this dad wants to keep his wife.
Cool Beans Mom
Parents should strictly avoid phrases that they think are popular, as the case is usually the opposite. There’s nothing less cool than a parent who’s desperately trying to resurrect a classic phrase that used to be cool in the ‘80s. But honestly, why was the phrase "cool beans" even that cool?
"Cool beans" is up there with "YOLO" on the list of things that future generations will relentlessly mock us for saying, which we absolutely deserve. It’s likely that even back then, people didn't use phrases to seem cool but instead used these to identify and isolate the nerdiest of the bunch.
Supportive Parents
Currently, there aren't a lot of things worse than your mother pretending to be your imaginary boyfriend just to make you feel better about being single. Still, it seems like this mom thought it might be a nice gesture, and who knows, maybe her daughter might even find a boyfriend sooner!
Getting a great morning message like that is quite a sad experience. Hopefully, this daughter took her Mom’s text in her stride. Being single isn't that bad, I mean, you get to do what you want, when you want, and not worry about wherever your boyfriend is having a good time, or not.
No. Just... No.
We’re sure that this father genuinely wanted to tell his kid that he left his cell phone at home. Unfortunately, sometimes we get so attached to our mobiles that we forget that they are not us. The average person spends almost 100% of their day (including their sleep) next to their phone.
This is why when someone loses their phone, our first instinct is to let them know, but how do we do that? Hopefully, the dad realized his error and attempted to contact his kid in another way. The alternative, where the father didn’t realize his mistake, is just too scary to imagine.
Finding the Spacebar
The texts in this picture start with a loving message from a child to their parent. It quickly turns into a weird dramatic sensation before the mother replies. While many parents can get on board with the idea of having a touch-based keyboard, not all of them get how it works.
This Mom didn’t know where the spacebar key is. Which ended up causing quite a funny situation. Surprisingly, she's not the only one who struggled with this as we already have another page about a parent not knowing where the spacebar key is. Once she finds it, it'll all be downhill from here.
Tough Parenting
People often have the dilemma of either complimenting their child or children for something that they don’t agree with or just telling them the truth at the risk of being offensive. This mother clearly doesn’t care one bit about offending her daughter as if she’s texting her about tomorrow’s weather forecast.
As a parent, you've got an idea about what it means to be a loving and supportive human being to your children, and the kind of behaviors that are acceptable or not for you to display. Sadly, this mom didn't get the memo and saw nothing wrong with pointing out her daughter's lack of friends.
Lack of Knowledge in the Art of Emojis
Back in the day, millennials had to use various letters and signs to create their own emojis. This was a creative and brave exploration of combining language with artful communication. Many of us remember a time in the not-so-recent past when ‘:-p’ meant sticking your tongue out and ‘:-o' meant you were surprised.
Parents have sort of skipped that phase of figuring out how to use the punctuation marks to make an emoji and gone straight to today’s graphic, done-for-you emojis. Many of them don’t know how to find them, never mind use them, which is what sets the stage for this funny exchange.
An Important Question
It’s always a scary situation when something that looks like a distress signal is communicated. Your entire life can change when your parent evokes something that smells like danger in their text, which is why Mom should probably be more careful next time in the way she articulates her texts.
It didn't take a soothsayer to see that messaging is going to be a big part of our future, but messaging never became so advanced that we could send a text to the police. Hopefully, her daughter updated her that texting the police doesn’t work. But remember, there are no stupid questions…
Basic Logic 101
While some parents feel that they can’t really talk to their children, there are many kids who feel the same way toward their parents. Usually, the dynamics between parents and children result in one of the two being more logical, while the other, well, just see the text below to understand.
When a parent isn’t fluent in their child’s language, it’s often the children who are in the frustrating position of trying to communicate basic facts. Luckily, these exchanges can still give someone a good laugh, but that depends on their ability to turn an ironic situation into something funny rather than sad.
That’s Not a Winking Face...
We've all had awkward text exchanges with our parents about emojis, especially since parents seem to struggle to adapt to the new digital icons. At best, the most tech-savvy mothers and fathers usually get as far as learning how to occasionally use the smiley emoji with only a few errors.
Even if you have a good relationship with your parents, you're still probably still going to be embarrassed by them. It just feels wrong when they try really hard to get with whatever current there is, like trying to use emojis. They are clearly the least cool people on Earth.
When Dissing Your Parents Backfires
Some children feel so confident that they don't care to berate and criticize their parents. These kids have usually been raised as disrespectful teens and tend to show their frustrations quite vocally. What most teenagers forget, though, is that their parents have been around for much, much longer than they have.
This cumulative experience sometimes manifests itself as jokes and comebacks so good that they leave you speechless. While some parents are absolutely clueless, there are those that are sharper than a thumbtack and will respond to a challenge with a counter and then proceed to drop the mic, leaving you out to dry.
Auto Text Has Gone Haywire
One cool feature that came along with mobile phones is the ability to turn on a 'Do Not Disturb' mode. This feature allows you to block all incoming calls and then send an automatic notification to their respective contacts with a customised message, expressing why you’re not available to answer.
This Dad probably set his automatic response message to “In a meeting”, which could explain this weird sequence of identical messages. We fail to understand how someone can send the exact same message so many times in any other way. Perhaps the kid’s father just really didn’t want to talk.
That’s Good to Know
Text messages are a somewhat limited format and often cause many unintended problems due to misspellings or accidentally sending a message before finishing it. This kid told his parents he was "coming out", but it was only an accident. Luckily he found out that his parents are tolerant and loving.
Unfortunately, he also found out that they were sure he was gay all along, which might do a number on his ego and self-image. The mother responded in the best possible way when confronted by her son because everyone knows that “LOL” is the best way to help your child avoid years of psychological therapy.
When Parents Go Nuts
Parents are not exactly the most talented people when it comes to using emojis. With today’s graphic emojis, even fewer people know how to use classic text signs to get their point across. This mother apparently thought that ‘<3’ means ice cream, which is not hard to figure out why.
The resulting exchange is just an example of miscommunication between parents and children. Perhaps instead of going to get an ice cream cone, it would be a good time to set your kids up with some love, clearly this child is craving some parental affection. Or maybe even psychological counselling.
That’s Good to Know
Parenting involves a lot of situations you're not going to foresee, things no parenting book or nature documentary about baby penguins will prepare you for. For example, we all hear how much children become their parents whole world and obsess over them. In this case, it's not like that at all.
While parents usually let their kids know how much they love and miss them, this father went the exact opposite route and made sure to let his daughter know that he doesn’t miss her, not at all. It could have been a sarcastic message or it could be that he's just trying to be funny, either way, we hope they're on good terms.
Adopting the Lingo
While the the phrase "YOLO" is a bit outdated, the wisdom of this expression lives on. Even adults have adopted this phrase recent years and use it to connect with the younger generation. Here we see how it inspired this mom to buy a new car, even though she can't afford it!
While this phrase often results in extremely embarrassing exchanges between parents and kids, considering how most of the time people use it incorrectly, in this case, this mom used it quite accurately. Much to her child's dismay, this mother and her spending habits might be getting a little out of hand.
Matchmaker in the Dog Park
There are few things more annoying in this world than to have your mother try and find you a boyfriend. We've all been asked; "When are you going to meet someone?” So we can totally relate to this Jewish mother who went to the dog park and sent a photo of a prospective partner is just too hilarious.
Apparently, this mom has been going to the dog park for a while now, and up until this message, her child didn't know why. Our question is, how did this mom manage to take this photo so sneakily that the guy didn't notice? Or perhaps he did and didn't mind.
When Mom's Jokes Are Worse Than Dad's
Depending on how you grow up, that first joke with your parents might be completely normal or it might be exceedingly awkward. While dads are famous for bad jokes, sometimes moms also know how to be funny, and, judging by her response to this text, this is definitely one of those times.
And to be honest, this mom clearly seems to get it, as not only has she heard of the word "crackalaking", but she's also using "lol"! As funny as she is, her child does not seem to agree, which we can all relate to, when our parents make a joke, it's just not that funny.
Burn!
We have to say that we love this mom's honesty. And to be fair, those dots are the only thing the kid could have replied because that was a successful burn if we ever read one. This mom isn't taking any sass from her teenage son, and we applaud it.
If these are the kind of jokes that his mom makes, then hopefully, he grows up and realizes the world doesn't work the way he thinks it should. Otherwise, he'll end up bitter and angry at the world and how it doesn't cater to his every need. Pick up after yourself and respect your parents!
Technology Meltdown
Come on, Andy, everybody knows that you should answer your mom after the third time she texts you your name in under 3 seconds. Why? Because she might be worried about you and she won't stop until you answer. Then again, answering this, Mom doesn't seem to be getting Andy anywhere.
First, he comes off as a 'grumpus'. Then, he gets a lecture on how phones work. And finally, as he tries to explain to his mom that texts work as a mini-email, everything seems to backfire after his mom asks for his email address. Never mind, Andy. Just answer the first time she texts.
Anything to Get Her to Call
This mom is determined to get her daughter to call, no matter what. If telling her that she has a missed call, that her sisters had a rough day, or that she and her husband are having a pot roast for dinner isn't enough, certainly the last text will do the trick.
Admittedly, it’s really tough to compete with your mom when she texts you about your father and how he has a hernia. Your mother is, arguably, the most esteemed authority in your life. So when she tells you to call, no matter the reason, you better pick up the phone and start dialing!
Semantics
For the first time in probably ever, this mom's knack for calling out her son's typo will not be deemed loveably annoying, but annoying. Here this kid was trying to find out what time he was born, but he forget to mention one important thing in his message. The TIME!
So this mom just decided to answer his original question with a cheeky message about being "pretty sure". Another point for mother's everywhere. But while she did answer the question correctly, her kid couldn't help but get annoyed with her response. Next time, reread your messages before pushing 'send', kid!
Johnny Depp's Butt
We totally get this, Johnny Depp was smoking back in the day and he still is. So aside from the fact that it is hysterically funny to get a message phrased like this from your mother, it is actually a completely legitimate question to ask. Not to mention considerate with Dad.
When you get married you realize just how hard it is, to keep anything from your spouse. Whether it's about what your doing with your free time or what you like to search on the interwebs, they will find out! And moms work hard; they deserve to see a picture of Johnny Depp's butt without being judged.
The Nosey Cat
There’s only so long one can hide their personal details from their parents while living at home. But with that said, this is definitely one of our favorite texts from this list. Just look at how this brilliant mom manages to be nosey (in a subtle way) while also being very cute.
Without probing too much or seeming like she snoops around her children's belongings, this mom figured she'd use the adorable and oh-so-judgmental face of the cat to ask why she found condoms in the laundry. It's clever and cute, so her kids can't get mad at her for asking, right?
The Different Butts
We totally get it, Elizabeth. When our parents struggle with messages it can be funny, especially when they can't figure out why they can't send what they really want. It's hard to resist the temptation of laughing at your mom when she can't stop typing the word "Butt" and somehow thinks you had something to do with it.
Because, of course, moms always seem to think their kids have a universal remote control with which they control their devices from afar. We hate to break it to you, but we don't. We wonder how long it took Elizabeth to tell her that all she had to do was disable the autocomplete feature.
The Easter Bunny
There are many kinds of parents—just as there are many kinds of people—and while some can be loving and supportive, others can laugh at our misfortune. It's bad enough that woman's child hit a poor bunny by accident, only to then have her mother tell her that she killed Easter!
On the other hand, you have to appreciate this mom's dark sense of humor. Maybe a little too dark. There really is nothing like a mother's response to really make things worse; even though she's just trying to make light of a bad situation. Don't worry, Courtney; we know it wasn't on purpose.
LOL
Somebody should really just make a cheat sheet for parents when it comes to using slang in text messages. It seems that this mom chose the worst possible moment to use "LOL". Fortunately, David set his mom straight before she kept sending that message and offended other people in the family.
You can't really blame her, though. For people who are a little out of the loop, or possibly just a little older and didn't grow up with these phrases, it makes a lot of sense to think it means "lots of love." Maybe we should all give our parents a crash course in slang...
When Autocorrect Is Not Your Friend
All it takes is one typing mistake, or one autocorrected word to totally change the tone of a message. As we can see here, this is one very funny example of when autocorrect turns into an embarrassing conversation between a mother and her child, that could cause some serious concern.
It's quite worrying to think that your mom peed in her pants, but the shock passes quickly once you realize what she actually meant to write. Apparently, Mom learned how to sew her own clothes but not how to master the phone's autocorrect feature. One step at a time, Mom.
Emoji Fail
Smartphones love to flaunt all the flashy emojis with each new update, but each rollout also comes with a whole set of opportunities to make a mistake. At some point, we've also sent the wrong emoji, and can definitely understand why this mom would think the poop emoji is a little chocolate kiss with eyes.
With so many people being fans of the classic chocolate brand, we bet many people have thought the exact same thing. After all, it does look incredibly similar to Hershey's delicious chocolate kisses. Still, we're happy her kid set her straight. We can't imagine it being a good thing to have Mumma Bear send poop emojis to everybody she knows.
Mom vs. Technology
It's incredibly frustrating when you buy a new phone just to figure it out and still somehow change the default language to something unintelligible. But when your mom's default text language gets stuck in Chinese, it's just downright hilarious. This mom seems to be losing her patience and resorting to exclamation marks to communicate.
I'll be first to admit that I've done this once and it was not only embarrassing but also incredibly complicated to try change the default language back to English. But, judging by this kid's response, they seem to be enjoying this way too much to help her out anytime soon.
Parenting Done Right
Let's face it, not all parents would have reacted like this to their kid getting detention, but we think when this mom came around, she had the best response ever. To be fair, it is absolutely ridiculous to have a teacher request this of their students, what could they possibly learn from this?
Kids, after all, want to push the boundaries when it comes to acceptable behaviour and as a result, this class clown reacted accordingly. Fortunately, their mom knew it too. Besides, how can you ground your kid after they made you and your entire office laugh with such audacity? This kid needs an award!
Throwing Punchlines
Let's face it, conflict is an inevitable part of life so while we are the last people to encourage violence, we totally understand this dad's point of view. Don't get me wrong, one of my favorite story tropes is when the underdog explodes into a righteous rage, but we certainly can't condone violence of any kind.
Giving good advice is the next best thing when it comes to standing up for your child, so while he can't fight his battles for him, he can advise him. So while we appreciate his dad's vigor here, it seems like his dad could use a session or two of anger management.
Chef Dad
Pretty much everyone has suffered through a night of tossing and turning, but when most people are having a hard time falling asleep, they often try to read, meditate, or do another low-effort, calming activity. Not this dad, though. He decided to a different route and went straight to the kitchen.
He figured he might as well be productive and do something useful with his time so why not make dinner at one in the morning? The only thing we can't understand is why this kid right here keeps asking questions instead of going downstairs to munch on these lightly fried fish fillets.
Spicemom
Very few questions about dinner will turn into a Spice Girls song, which upon reading these lyrics, makes us very nostalgic. Who needs friends when your mom likes the same music as you do? Seriously, I've been trying to get my mom to listen to our music since we were sixteen!
Not everything your mother does you is cool, but your playing along when you sing a Spice Girl song is pretty high up there. Plus, having pizza for dinner is also pretty sweet! Seriously, if you ever want to know how you can bond with your kids, it's through music and food!
Doug a Hole
Ah, autocorrect strikes again and this time it almost ruined Christmas and gave Melissa's mom a mini-heart attack. All Melissa was trying to tell her mom was that she was bringing her friend Doug to Christmas dinner and for some inexplicable reason, autocorrect couldn't handle that and instead sent a completely different text.
We'd like to think that Melissa's mom knew her daughter well enough to realize it was an autocorrect mistake, but it seems she isn't too familiar with the feature and its profound ability to ruin messages! Hopefully, Melissa explained it all to her mother and cleared any confusion before their Christmas dinner.
Google It!
We've all had awkward discussions with our parents about technology, so while parents think about the world of their children, it sometimes leads to erroneous conclusions. Like this mom, who clearly took it to the next level. She had so much faith in her son that she thought he was in control of Google!
Now that's a swing and a miss! We definitely think this kid could've used this misunderstanding to their advantage for a little longer! With luck, this momma-bear has come to accept the changing Google logo because her kid sadly has no control over Google or the logo on their homepage.
Call Rejected
You wouldn't buy a phone without some serious consideration, yet asking for advice from one of your children can backfire. This conversation took an unexpected turn and sadly the phone was intended for his sister. Ouch, that's got to hurt! If you have siblings, you'll probably be familiar with feelings of jealousy.
This dad's way of messaging definitely made it seem that his son was about to get a new phone. The only thing worse for this kid is knowing that his sister is getting the gift instead. If there's a lesson we can learn from this, it's "don't count your eggs before they hatch"!
WTF?
Look, we’ve all done it. We've all misused slang and sent a message that meant something other than what we meant. Just as easy as it is for us to use slang and acronyms wrong, our parents also make similar mistakes. This mom and her messaging is just another example of that.
Sure WTF could stand for the last few days of the week, but according to the internet, it doesn't. It stands for a phrase that's far less polite! At least we know that this mom wasn't cussing out her kid. Instead, she was just wondering when she'd see him next.
Joint Confusion
Becoming a parent for the first time is a supreme shock to the system. Life as you knew it is permanently altered. Sure, you’ve got an adorable child who is bursting with love, but you’re also exhausted and have to give up the life that you once had so you can take care of a new human being.
Here we see how it plays out after a couple of years. It seems like this kid caught her dad out instead of the other way around. This father's failure to pick up on a typo aired out his smoking secret. Parents may not be as squeaky clean as we think they are!
It's a Sure Thing
When things get complicated at the store, messaging apps are here to save you from making the wrong decision. This dedicated dad was just trying to get his kid the right deodorant. Now we aren't entirely... sure... if this is a dad joke or a genuine text misunderstanding. Either way, it's hilarious!
Deodorant does a great job smelling pretty damn heavenly, but most guys don't exactly want to smell like roses and lavender. The only thing worse than smelling sweaty when you're bulking up at the gym is smelling like a bowl of flowers. Let's hope that his kid got the deodorant he was after and that his body odor woes were sorted!
Gaslighting 101
Within days of becoming a father, a new activity begins inside the head of a new dad. No, it isn't love, nor is it empathy. It was actually the sudden development of a special and unique part of the brain responsible for the formation of Dad Jokes. So why not appreciate this phenomenon while we can?
Here we see how this dad somehow managed to squeeze not one but two dad jokes into this very short text conversation with his kid. The second joke understandably would make any kid want to move out of the house STAT. Hit the gas, kid, and get out of there!
Freudian Slip
Oh man, text messages are soooooo helpful in helping us figure out what people really think about us, but it's not always sunshine and roses and might even hurt your feelings. While parents have unconditional love for their children, it doesn't mean they can't get annoyed by their offspring from time to time.
And the worst part is, you can't get rid of them! This dad made a pretty common texting error when he sent this incriminating message to one of his children instead of his wife! What's not so common is hearing the terrible name your parents call you behind your back.
Guilt Trip
Oof, what started out as an average message about the animated movie "Frozen" turned into a fatherly lecture about the importance of valuing your family relationships. Not to mention that this dad casually tried to guilt-trip his daughter. That's certainly not the best tactic to get your kids to reunite.
Talk about guilt-tripping! If you have siblings, then you'll know they are more likely to kick you in the shins and take your stuff than they are to apologize and make up. While his intentions are good, maybe he ought to take inspiration from the movie and "Let it Go!"
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
The family-friendly environment of our youth seemed to be set in a universe where most adults are wise parental figures, and any tainted content was swiftly dealt with before you even realized what was going on. But once you grow up, you begin to find out a little too much for your own liking.
While we're all about being comfortable around your family, there are just some things that your kids never want to see! Sultry photos sent between parents are one of them. There's no doubt that this dad will get a stern talking-to from his wife. The topic? How to delete images before giving your kid your old phone.
Dad's Dating Advice
Even in a world where one can find information and guidance from a myriad of websites, sage advice from a person you trust still reigns supreme. this is why so many kids rely on their parents, they already know what it's like and can help their kids navigate through the weird and wonderful world of love.
So here we see this kid who was just reaching out for some fatherly advice, sadly, he didn't exactly get what he was looking for and instead, got his dad's sarcastic suggestion. Not very helpful! We can only hope that this kid eventually figured out a way to talk to girls...
Translator Needed
Around like 60 percent of all our interaction now takes place online. And since we're mostly trying to communicate being in the same room together, misunderstandings and mixups are inevitable. We wonder if this miscommunication between father and child was all due to typos, autocorrect, or a dad trying to be funny.
Either way, his messages make little sense and we can't help but wonder what on earth he was trying to say? But despite that, we could all take a class in confidence from this father. The way he stuck to his guns about his mysterious messages is certainly one way to back yourself!
Mixed Messages
Ever since the dawn of text messaging, we've been constantly bombarded by unnecessary and confusing messages. When it comes to this strange sequence of texts, we don't even know where to begin. If you ever find messages like this from your mom, then maybe you should give her a call.
What we find particularly funny is how the texts appear to escalate in the craziness and then come right back down to earth with a hearty Christmas question. What a roller coaster ride! From the lack of replies, we assume that isn't her kid's first rodeo when it comes to this mother's eclectic messaging style.
The Glue of the Family
Sound the alarm! We have another dad joke for you. Just as this unfortunate recipient learned, dad jokes are everywhere. You'll hear them in your house, on your way to school, and now even on your phone! Try as you might to avoid them, they'll always find a way to worm themselves into your conversations.
But it's not too bad, besides for the tinge of second-hand embarrassment, they're sometimes a little funny. But I think we speak for everyone when we say that this dad should have stopped at "You can tuna piano, but you can't piano a tuna." The glue part of the joke just didn't stick the landing!
What's in a Name?
Band names are notorious for being random and not having anything to do with music. As a result, it can cause a lot of confusion for those not familiar with the band, and confusing two similar things can lead to embarrassing predicaments. But we're not here to judge, it happens to us all!
And this mom is no exception, so we can't really fault this mom for not being completely clued up on TwentyOne Pilots, the band. Sure, a live concert is great and all, but it's not every day you see twenty-one real pilots. Now that's a show we'd like to see!
Emoji Explanation Needed
It's not easy being a parent, you spend years of your life raising them, only to have them disrespect you as soon as they reach puberty. And with the rapid increase in technological advancement, it only gets worse. Now they're the ones who have to teach you what an emoji means.
But they're not going to do a good job, are they? They'll make snide comments about how out of touch you are and then they'll give up as soon as they lose patience. Both mother and daughter will need a lot of time, patience, and heart emojis to get through this.
Great!
Under the best of circumstances, the older generation of parents will be more progressive when it comes to modern communication and know how to use it. But how exactly is modern tech shaping how they interact with their children? They send them GIFs as messages, which are basically animated images.
So while it might not seem like a big deal, it really is no small feat. Not only are we impressed that this mom knows how to send a GIPHY! We're impressed by just how "gr8" her choice of GIPHY is. Say what you want, but at least she's trying to connect with her kid.
Look Both Ways
No matter how careful we are, we can always be more careful, according to our mothers at least. Even if it means worrying about what can happen to us during a quick walk down the street. And, based on all of the headlines we read on the news, we know we're not alone.
There's so much that can go wrong so if you can be extra careful, do it. Keep your first aid kit stocked at all times, buy a second one if you have to! But don't let it get the better of you, at some point moms have to learn to let their kids fly. Even if it's just 10ft!
Polite Dinner Conversation
We can only imagine what dinner conversation prompted Megan's Mom to ask this cringy question about twerking. The fact that her mom included "LMAO" makes this unusual message even more hilarious! Do you think she was trying to learn a new skill or could she just be trying to dance like the people in all those TikTok videos?
Unless you're a skilled dancer and know what you are doing, like Shakira (in which case, hi there, we're big fans!), you should probably not be trying complicated new dances like twerking. Seriously, it's not as easy as it looks, we know cause we've tried it and almost threw out a hip.
March Madness
In this world of Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, connecting with your loved ones seems like a digital maze. There's so much pressure to be edgy and funny. Simple things that used to work, like a plain text message, seem to be a dying trend. But it doesn't have to be!
Take this simple text message between a father and daughter for example. We didn't know that March was a month worth celebrating, but it seems like this dad did! Or it could just be that he's just trying to reach out and keep in touch with his daughter, how sweet!
Shared Genes
Honestly, guys, we don't blame this dad for reading into things. We can vouch for the fact that many of our own cryptic messages can be just a little confusing. Nicole didn't give too many details about the jacket she was ordering so why wouldn't her dad assume it was being shipped as a gift for him?
Too bad he'll only be disappointed when he learns that instead of getting a gift from his daughter, it's meant for his daughter that she's sending home. An easy fix for this mess would be for Nicole to order another coat, maybe a few sizes bigger for her dad. Awkwardness averted!
Emotional Emojis
Have you ever felt sorry for inanimate objects because you attributed your own feelings to them? Of course, you have! You're human and it's a common phenomenon called anthropomorphizing. So anything that's as cute as these emojis are bound to tug at your heart-string and get you as sentimental as this mom.
If emojis could talk (and had feelings) we're sure they would thank this loving mother for including them in her texts. This kid is lucky to have such a wonderful caring mother. If she cares this much about a random bunch of emojis, we can only imagine how much she cares about her family.
Stating the Obvious
You have to appreciate that Melissa's father wanted to let her know who the text was from but also what device it was sent from as well. Why Melissa's dad thought this information was important, we'll never know. What we do know is this father's very specific text couldn't be more adorable!
Being mindful and specific is certainly something we can learn from our parents. We wonder if our children will have the same experiences when it comes to us as we navigate the murky waters of modern tech! Who knows what it will be like in 15 or so years or how we'll adjust...
Bush Burger
Today, thanks to the development of autocorrect, we could all easily write “correctly,” and yet, we don’t. Even though it's meant to help us send messages without mistakes we still somehow “misspell” and “misuse” words, ignore punctuation marks, and modify the basic rules of grammar. So is it really that helpful?!
On the other hand, without this function we wouldn't get gems like this text exchange concerning Burger King, or "Bushes King," according to this mother's autocorrect. Let's just hope that the two were eventually able to understand each other and share a "meat in a roll" meal at Burger King.
Sibling Switch
It's no secret that siblings don't always get along. Whether it's fighting over the remote control or arguing about who gets to sit in the front seat, siblings often find themselves at odds with one another. And what's worse, parents often find themselves right in the middle of it, as if they're referees closely watching a wrestling match.
What with all the squabbles and bickering it's hard to keep up so is it any wonder that parents sometimes mix up their children? Luckily for Selma (and for us), she was able to catch her parent doing so in writing. We have a feeling that ice cream was on the parents this time.
Killed It!
Slang once traveled solely through word-of-mouth, but with the emergence of modern tech, the speed at which slang expressions could spread outside of their communities changed drastically. Still, it's easy to forget at times that our parents may not understand some of the slang terms we use and will often need to check with us.
This is exactly what happened in this text exchange between this kid and their mom. She had an idea what her daughter meant but she still wanted to check. While she's learning, she might as well get familiar with all the other slang terms kids are coming up with nowadays...
Dough-nt Confuse Him
Online slang moves fast. New words and phrases move from cultural obscurity to mass audiences seemingly overnight. You blink and all the websites and social media feeds become incomprehensible. But here it seems like Libby's dad is trying to catch up on the latest "lingo" (another word for a particular slang).
While "get this bread" isn't exactly an easy phrase to decode, this dad is happy to embrace all the new slang so he can keep up with his kids. This dad deserves a gold medal, it's not easy when you get older. May the rest of his interactions with his kids bring more enlightening terminology.
Formal Communication
Gone are the days when all communication was letter bound! With the technological revolution that is instant messaging, be it on our phones or laptops, there is no longer a need to sign your name after each message you send. This convenient fact, however, hasn't reached everyone, we're looking at you, Gene Jasper!
As boomers are one of the most scrutinized and scapegoated generations ever, especially when it comes to using tech, it’s probably no surprise that they have trouble understanding all the features that come along with it. Or could it be that he's signing his name in defiance of an increasingly modernized world?
On Repeat
Parenting is a constant balance of cool perks, like gaining valuable relationships with your children, and super annoying realizations, like how difficult it is to get ahold of them when they get older. PSA: Call or message your parents back! Our lives get so busy that it's easy to leave our parents on read.
It'll only take a couple of minutes (or hours, depending on how chatty your parents are) to catch up and let them know you're doing well. But guess what? You don't even have to wait for them to call or message you, you can just call them whenever you want!
Drunk Text
If you haven't seen your folks in a while, it's always a nice idea to send them a photo. This is probably what this kid thought when they sent this photo to their dad. That way, their parents can't complain anymore about rarely seeing them that they might forget what they look like.
At least this dad could see the humor of it and decided to clap back with this response. It seems this dad forgot to come up with a witty, albeit it corny, dad joke and instead just made fun of his kid's looks. Nice one, Dad, this one's for the books!
Don't You Forget About Me
We owe a lot to our mothers. Outside of that whole carrying us around for nine months and the "giving us life" thing, they actually know a thing or two - so they can give some great advice. They can even be funny, like this mom and her hilarious response.
So you can't blame this mom for wanting to remind her kid of that very fact every now and then. After all, it must have been a lot of work to look after an infant, raise them to adulthood, and then they seem to forget all about it... Talk about being ungrateful!
A Slip of the Fingers
Autocorrect gets all of us at one point or another, and laundry is a bit of a complex word from the outset. Of course, autocorrect uses every misspelled word we type as an opportunity to improvise. Plus there are lots of people out there who don't like using complicated words like laundry.
This little mistake made this Dad confused, but he adapts without taking too much time. He even extends an offer of dinner to the non-existent Lauren. And he would know that men aren't worth the time – he is one. Thankfully, it's all cleared up in the end and everybody can come have dinner.
Rolling With the Punches
The things you say or text to your friends you likely wouldn't say to your parents. Either way, though dads traditionally can handle it a little better. So, when you accidentally tell your dad that you want to punch someone in the eye with a rusty fork, it doesn't always go over so well.
However, instead of freaking out, this father figure has nothing but good advice, telling his daughter to be safe and even considering the possibility of a court appearance. We're sure he meant it as a joke, but it's still too bad that these texts are probably saved on some server deep inside Apple somewhere.
A Comedian in the Family
Many of the text conversations on this list start out strange and then somehow still manage to get stranger, but this one seems like a perfectly normal message. This child is letting their mom know they need will soon be needing vision-giving contact lenses so he or she can see.
This mom then casually inserts a pun into her response, which she clearly thought was hilarious as we see her laughing emoji. But her child was not impressed and responded the way you always should when one of your parents makes a corny joke, with ten sad-faced emojis that perfectly express your disappointment.
It Seems Like a Common Problem
If this is the immediate response to such an innocuous question, we're going to go ahead and assume that this guy has been having girl problems for quite some time. Was it just the one girl, or has this poor lad gone through the wringer with one girlfriend after another?
The dad knows the truth – they're all crazy, son, you better get used to it. Really, all people are crazy, but that was the scope of the conversation. Anyway, what color do you want your dragon to be? Gold and silver are the usual choices, but red is also popular.
Father Commands You to Laugh
Dad jokes are, for many, something that you groan at and try to forget about almost as soon as you can. But this one is pretty good. Not only does it use Harry Potter as a starting point, which is the most popular thing to come out of our modern era.
But the clever use of abbreviations really makes this joke what it is. Naturally, the dad then adds a smiley face at the end, just to subtly let you know how funny he thinks his joke is. He hopes you're smiling too. So while it's a dad joke, you have to admit it's still pretty clever.
We Both Know That Isn't Happening
Whether this is actually what the son was hoping to get or if it was just an attempt to put his dad on his back foot, this son got a response that shut him down for good. The thing that most kids forget about their parents are that they've been around for a while.
And they have a lot of responses stored up for these kinds of situations. It's tough getting the better of them during these kinds of conversations. So, maybe this was a dad clapping back, or maybe this was a parent that wanted a kid to buy his own darn protection, darn it.
The Moth Comes for All
Moths are not, by most metrics, dangerous creatures. They can't sting; we don't think they bite humans – they don't even eat other animals. They eat curtains. Still, they're bugs, and that means that there are plenty of people out there that can't stand to be near them. We get it. Bugs are bad.
This kid begs his or her father to take care of the moth infestation. The child sends message after message because otherwise, they can't get out the bathroom. But the dad failed in his fatherly duty, and now the moth is in control. The bathroom is its home, and it will need snacks.
Equally Unequal
This child is just trying to wish Dad a happy Father's Day – one might call that the bare minimum. But such a task cannot be accomplished because their dad's phone is off. So a text will have to do in such a situation, right? The father is happy that this child remembered...
But while he is happy that his child remembered he doesn't let them forget how he actually feels about his kids. We're betting they do really love each other — they probably just like expressing it in the most unconventional way possible. But at least all the children are equal, sort of.
Taking Every Opportunity
You know you're ready to become a dad when you start telling dad jokes at every chance you get, but it isn't going to be very fun for your kids. Dads have a lot of humor that is just straining to get out at every opportunity, which means even a simple conversation is just another opportunity for a joke.
His response isn't helpful as it gives no indication of what lies in store at Thanksgiving dinner. But, when you think about it, how else could a turkey possibly smell? Not through the wings. They can't even fly using those, so smelling with them is right out of the equation.
There's Always One
Kids these days are pretty good at texting, but most of their parents grew up sending letters by mail, putting punch cards into computers, or using Morse code. Some may have even sent smoke signals. So the ins and outs of communicating in the modern era escape them. It's usually one or the other.
In this instance, it's the dad that is having some difficulty with his thumbs and also with remembering the name of the media. And, now that we look a little closer, how to spell “bow” and “are.” Poor marks all around, honestly. Still, he was able to communicate enough for a clear answer, so there's that.
It's Your Own Fault
This child, whoever it is, only has himself or herself to blame for what almost certainly occurred after this exchange. Why, why, oh WHY, would you ever give your adult parent the information they need to lock the capital key? Do you want them to send you messages that look like they're having an emergency?
Sure, capitalizing a single word adds a little bit of urgency to a message, but when it's the entire text? It's just not the right choice to make. Now everybody in the family is going to be mad at you. We're mad at you, too. You should be mad at yourself.
How Could You Possibly Make That Mistake
Acronyms! Done right, they're a chance to communicate without having to type out the whole phrase and save time when you message your friends and family… Done wrong? Everyone will remember you as that person who's completely out of touch. Maybe this is the kind of dad who doesn't pay too much attention to the outside world.
It could be that he's really busy, what with work, his family, and possibly his model trains. Who has time to keep up with the news and what's happening around the world? Or could it be that this father was “just joshing” and wanted to send something funny without thinking it through?
There's This Thing Called “Cash”
Many might think that if you don't have a debit or credit card, it's pretty darn hard to buy the things you need. But there are these weird slips of paper that have little green faces on them. Many, many years ago, they could be exchanged for goods and services.
This kid was terrified that Dad wouldn't be able to buy anything without his card, but Dad had plenty of options at his fingertips. Including saying what we hope was a joke — that the dad could use the college funds to buy the groceries. Hopefully, that didn't put too much of a dent in it.
Mom Is, Technically, Proud
Chemistry, especially some of the more advanced subjects, can really take it out of a student. These people get up early to study flash cards of molecules, for Pete's sake. Thus, getting an A in their Chemistry class is something to celebrate. At first, Mom seems...surprised? Or could she be Confused?
Something like that, but it's all just a misunderstanding. She didn't know what WTF stands for...well, that it certainly doesn't stand for, “Well, that's fantastic.” The mom is very happy that her child did well in school, of course, but it takes a little bit of interpretation to figure that out.
Testing the Waters
Mom is sending texts. A lot of texts. About homework, chores, and the upcoming holidays, and then, finally, about buying their child a new car! Which finally, FINALLY gets the child's attention, but it's all just a ploy, a ruse, a fake! A falsehood was perpetrated because the child was refusing to respond to any of the other messages.
Well, we're not really sure who's really at fault here. The child really could have responded sooner, but sending texts about doing chores around the house and checking if they've done their homework, what exactly did this mom expect? You have to do a little better than that if you want your child to respond.
We Are Very Confused
Voice-to-text is an incredibly useful piece of technology for people who have trouble hitting those tiny little keys. It can be a trial for people with bigger thumbs. Still, that doesn't mean that voice text doesn't have its own issues. You don't have to actually say the spaces to put them in between words.
Maybe it's just because this was way back when the feature first came out, which meant this mom wasn't familiar with all its functions. Fortunately, she seemed to figure it out as she sent another message, which...well, we have no idea what it means. It could have been an accidental text.
Nice Pic, Dad
Once Smartphones became something that everybody had, the floodgates opened when it came to weird texts between parents and their children. Like, for instance, a dad that is so excited to send text messages and pictures to one of his kids. Of course, he doesn't have the etiquette down just yet.
Maybe don't send pictures of yourself on the toilet to your kids. That's just common sense. Of course, most people can't tell that this person is on the toilet. But the child knows. The child will always know if a Dad is doing something embarrassing. Because he will always be doing something embarrassing.
What Did I Just Say?
Why is it so hard for some people to follow simple instructions? A mom tells her kid not to text her while she's on the treadmill – for some reason – and the kid just goes and does it anyway. The child wasn't planning on it but did it anyway.
The mom, of course, gets upset at this. Why shouldn't the child text the mom while she's on the treadmill? Has this happened before? Does the treadmill stop working? Does it break the mom's flow? Maybe the treadmill is powered by radio waves, and when a text comes in...look, we don't know.
You'll Pay for This
We don't even know which parent it was who sent this joke, but obviously, it was a parent since no one else would have the idea to send such a great but also, somehow, terrible joke to someone via text. You see, parents have the magical ability to turn any message into a joke.
And this is the kind of joke that will have terrible ramifications in the future. The child might just do everything he or she can to get back at the parent. Maybe not even with a joke. We're talking “put you in a senior home” kinda thing, and not even one of the good ones.
Swapping Some Words Around
One of the neat features of a lot of text apps is you can add your own shorthand. Think of it as your own special little code. You could type “OMW,” and your phone would interpret it as “on my way,” for instance, sending that instead of the three letters. This is what has happened here.
A daughter named Emily decided to go in and make it so that when her mom typed “hi,” it would be changed to “Nugget.” Classic. The mom quickly sees that it's making a change without her typing it but has no idea how to get around it. She then, of course, blames Emily.
Maybe Just Call Next Time
A lot of times, it's easy to figure out the backstory of a picture like this. Or, at least, to figure out what the people meant when they typed what we see. That is not the case here. Whether “Momma” is actually talking about duck jackets or muck maggots or husk gaggles, we have no idea.
We do not know what she is talking about and the person on the other end is just as mystified. The only possible response is just a stuttering question because there's no way to come back from that. It's all even better since the conversation starts with “are u sore.”
A Classic Family Moment
Every family has some of those moments that are brought up constantly at holidays or reunions or things like that. This one is bound to leap into the rotation right away. At first, Mom's response seems entirely impossible to understand, but the second text explaining she found her glasses gives it away.
It could be that she tried typing “I can't find my glasses”, though it may vary a little bit. The second text was like the Rosetta stone for the first text. We wonder how fast this screenshot got passed around to everyone else in the family. We hope it was immediate.