Growing up, my parents would constantly complain that they “sounded like a broken record.” And, honestly, they did. Being a parent often means repeating the same lesson hundreds of times, in a desperate attempt to get it through stubborn kiddo’s heads. But one mom on TikTok suggests a strategy that can help make this process just a little bit easier.
Nicole of @raisingkindkids on TikTok shared how she uses “parenting one-liners” in her house: short, straight-to-the-point quips that help kids remember important lessons and avoid long lectures.
One, for example, is “You can be mad, but you can’t be mean.”
“When we say things over and over and over again, it can feel like, oh my gosh, why do I have to keep repeating myself?” Nicole explained. “So we have some one-liners that just make things so much easier. And more importantly, they work because our kids know what they mean.”
The one-liners don’t work in a void. Nicole stressed the importance of teaching kids what they mean when first introduced. Then, going forward, the saying functions as a call-back to the initial conversation.
“My kids ask things over and over and over again after I’ve already given them the answer. How many people’s kids do that?” Nicole said. “We use ‘asked and answered.’ So I explained it to them the first time, ‘You’ve already asked, I have already answered. I’m sorry if you don’t like the answer, but that’s the answer.’ So if they keep asking, then I just say ‘asked and answered.’”
She also explained how the one-liners continue to apply, and even evolve, as her kids grow up.
“If I see my kids making a questionable choice, especially when they were little and they were being adventurous and climbing on something, I say, ‘is that a good choice for your body?’ Or I’ll say, ‘make good choices for your body.’ … Now I’m sending my teenagers off to be off by themselves, I just say to them, ‘make good choices,’” she said.
Nicole shared a full list of parenting one-liners at the end of the video, including lines such s, “You don’t have to be friends with everyone but you do have to be friendly,” “stop means stop and no means no,” and “it’s ok to not be ok.”
She also asked parents to share some lines they use at home in the comments.
“As a mom with littles I use ‘if we want to come back, we have to leave nice’ has stopped so many tantrums from happening at the park,” shared one user.
“As a disability advocate: ‘everyone’s brains and bodies work differently,’” another wrote.
Another mom shared, “Instead of telling our kids to say ‘I’m sorry,’ we tell them to ‘make it better’… they usually do go apologize but will also say things like ‘are you okay? can I do anything for you?’”
Honestly, I’m writing these down to use on myself — sometimes, even grown-ups need to learn a lesson! We love to see parents committed to raising kind kids, no matter how many times you might have to remind them.
