People Are Reflecting On The "Genius" Ways Their Parents Raised Them, And It's So Heartfelt

Reddit user Green_Candler recently asked , "What's something your parents or grandparents did that you now realize was low-key genius parenting?" Here's what people shared:

1. "I was a worrisome and often scared child, and my mom would manage my fear of bugs by telling me that any bug I pointed out to her was a 'baby' bug. Baby spiders in the basement, baby bees outside, even baby worms in the ground. I immediately lost my fear of them, as I thought they were just little babies whose parents were gone. I even started talking to the 'baby' spiders in the basement, reassuring them that everything was okay. Genius."

— Eshlau

2. "Playing Life with my mom (the board game). When she got to the chapel, sometimes she'd marry a man, sometimes a woman. No other fanfare, but it instilled in me, at a super young age, that families can look all sorts of ways, and I appreciate how normal she made it."

— The_hangry_runner

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3. "My grandmother has secret hidey-holes around her house for all the grandchildren. I would come see her, and she would tell me she had something for me in my special spot. My spot was a drawer in the entry table. Sometimes it would be a Barbie, sometimes a few quarters, sometimes a piece of candy. It made us all feel special and like we were the favorite."

— AndiArch

4. "My grandmother used to make me 'help' her with cooking, but really she was just having me do all the prep work while she told stories. I thought I was being a useful little assistant, but she was actually teaching me life skills without making it feel like chores. Now I can cook proper meals, and I still remember all her stories about family history. She basically tricked me into learning everything I needed for adult life while spending quality time together."

— FortuneEducational94

5. "My mom had me keep a composition notebook of words I came across that I didn't know. I'd write the word down, then when I got home, I looked it up in the family dictionary and wrote the definition in my notebook. I wound up with a personalized dictionary of new words I'd learned, plus an instinct for 'Don't know it? Look it up,' which has stuck with me my entire life."

— whatshamilton

6. "My mom instilled a desire to learn. As a very young child, I would ask her questions like, 'How do birds fly?' or 'Why is the sky blue?' She would respond, 'I don't know, let's stop by the library,' and grab a book on the topic. She would then ask me over the next few days, 'So, how do birds fly?' and I would go off for 15 minutes to share all the new facts I had learned about birds, even beyond flying. As I got older, I realized that some of the things I asked, she didn't even know about, but she never said 'I don't know' or brushed me off or stopped my mind from reaching for answers. And I became her own personal ChatGPT, summarizing things she didn't even know she needed to learn along with me. To this day, we both have an unending hunger to learn and share with each other."

— coff33AnDcATs

7. "My mother told me every time she got angry at me when I was a kid, she'd hug me until she felt better again. In hindsight, I can see how it works to co-regulate nervous systems and interrupt patterns, but practically, its genius is in how easy it is to remember, how fast you can react, how quickly it works, and how natural it feels. I did this with my son too, and it was so brilliant!"

— underbelievable

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8. "As a child, bedtime was 8:00. But my mom would let you leave the light on until 8:30 if, and only if, you were reading. Helped the kids settle before falling asleep, and promoted reading."

— Tipitina62

9. "My grandma babysat for me regularly and had a few tricks up her sleeve. Firstly, she let me 'play' with her carpet sweeper whenever I wanted, since we didn't have one at home, and it was a toy to me (she even decorated it with red and yellow tape to make it more enticing). Secondly, she would ONLY let me drink her 'fanciest' blackberry tea (regular old tea bags, but her only fruity tea) if I would promise to sit quietly in the garden and read with her. Finally, she would give me fresh carrots from her garden if I helped her tend it first. That might be weeding, or harvesting, or spreading mulch, or whatever. She also gave me Hershey's kisses if I 'cleaned up' all her fallen walnuts. Now that I'm older, I appreciate her personality so much more, and she helped me find fun in mundane work. I miss her."

— wolfchica12

10. "On our birthday, we were allowed to pick three foods. We didn't have to eat those foods all year if we didn't want to. Saved a lot of 'I don't like it' whining."

— Random-bookworm

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11. "Every time I said I was bored, my grandfather would hand me a broom, a book, or a basketball and say, 'Good. Bored people become creative people.' At the time, I thought he was just avoiding entertaining me. Now, I realize he was teaching me how to build a life instead of waiting for one to happen."

— Physical_Writing9732

12. "I think I have a very healthy relationship with food, thanks to my parents. Sweets were never banned in our home, and they were readily accessible to us children. However, contrary to what many people might expect, the constant availability actually made it less tempting. We would not overeat, hide sweets from our parents, or anything like that. Now I have the same approach with my children, and although they love their sweets (like all children, to be fair), if I say that's enough, it's accepted without any tantrums. Same with TV/screen time. I know there are many opinions on that, but what's worked for me, in my childhood and now with my children, is making it accessible while keeping an eye on the overall time spent. When I ask them to turn off the TV, there is no screaming, and they do it immediately because it is nothing special."

— National-Ratio-8270

13. "My mom never, ever talked about her weight or her size. She's very into healthy eating, but it's never been about how her body looks. I never thought anything of it until I got to college and had so many friends whose moms had passed on weird relationships with food and weight. I'm so grateful to my mom for her approach."

— treeemoji98

14. "There were both boys and girls in my family. My parents taught us that there are no boy or girl skills or chores. All of us were taught how to fix things around the house, clean the house properly, do laundry, do dishes, cook, and even do yard work. We were all taught basic car maintenance and repairs. Their thinking was: 'There are times that no one will be there to do it for you, so you need to learn it yourself.'"

— NeitherStory7803

15. "When my sister and I were old enough to help clean up from meals, but refused, and were total goblins with our eating, my parents flipped the situation. They turned the end of weekend mealtimes into a game of 'baby brother and baby sister are in the house,' in which THEY pretended to be toddlers throwing their food on the ground and being goblins, while my sister and I giggled and played along. How did we play along? By pretending to be the adults and cleaning up the kitchen. It was playful, hilarious, and taught us cleanup skills and empathy, maybe so we don't make such a mess next time."

— KnitAllTheThings18

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16. "Whenever I had a bad dream, my mom would tell me to flip my pillow over. That way, the bad dream was trapped under my pillow, and the cool side would give me good dreams. It worked every time. And I still do it at 33. And it still works."

— Standard_Sand4690

17. "When my sister and I were squabbling, my mom would never jump in. She would always let us, and actively encourage us, to sort out our **** on our own. I think that's a big part of the reason that both of us are such good communicators now, and why we're basically best friends as adults."

— jinond_o_nicks

18. "I come from a really sleep-positive home. Mom and Dad would regularly have a quick nap after work. They slept in on the weekends. They did not wake me up when I was a teenager and wanted to sleep until 2 p.m. As an adult, I never feel bad about sleeping. I listen to my body and take a nap if I need it or sleep in if I need that. I have no shame or anxiety about 'missing half of the day' because I got up at 11 a.m. I feel like a lot of my peers have some degree of shame connected to sleep, or see it as lazy behavior, when in fact it is the most important thing for your health. So thank you, Mom and Dad, for not making sleep another thing to be anxious about!"

— aLasagnette

19. And: "When I was 13 or 14, my parents gave me no curfew. All my friends had to be home by 9 p.m., but not me! Curiously, there was nothing to do with all my friends at home, so that's when I would go home too. My friends all resented their parents for their curfew, and I didn't have to worry about it."

— PCordrey

Tell us about the genius and meaningful ways your parents, grandparents, and other older family members raised you. What did they instill in you? Tell us in the comments or share anonymously using this form.

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