Super Hero Mum: How She Used Imgur To Get Her Son To Take Out The Trash

Here is a real 21st Century parenting story of how a mum used extraordinary means to get her son to take out the trash. Rather than nagging, there is always a better way to get something done. She spoke the language her son understood read more on this story culled from distractify.com

Frankly, 21st century parenting seems impossible in an age where toddlers know how to Snapchat and have their own tablets. The average 21st century child can’t be convinced to care about anything unless it is online. Cashing in on the social media, an enterprising mother decided to get her point across using a language her son would understand— Imgur. Parenting seems to compete with social media. 

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After several attempts at getting her son to dispose of the trash, with no success, Imgurian Kerrisimo (aka Kerri) uploaded a picture of the trash can with the note: “D, this is your mom. Please take out the trash!”

Kerri’s strategy was a necessary one. She told BuzzFeed News that her son Devon spent huge amounts of time on Imgur. “He would be like, ‘Look at this thing’ and would just show me different things he thought was funny,” she said. So Kerri decided to use this to her advantage.

As she told BuzzFeed, she often needs to come up with creative ways to get through to Devon, who is on the Autism spectrum. “I said, ‘What do I have to do? Post a picture on there to get the trash out?'” she told BuzzFeed. “And he said, ‘Oh yeah right, Mom.’ But Kerri wasn’t playing around. She intended to do something about this.

In her post, she asked Imgur to help with her quest for an empty garbage can. According to her, “my son has been lurking here and constantly has his nose in the phone reading and laughing at stuff here. He doesn’t hear me when I ask him to take the trash out. Help me get this to the front page please so maybe the trash will get taken out soon”

And Imgur, it seemed, was happy to oblige. The post made it to the front page and gained some very loyal followers. Below are some screen shots of comments…see for yourself..

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Some were very impressed by this display of skilled parenting.

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Others had their own ideas about how to handle the situation.

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Some were even terrified that the post was from their own mothers.

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And, of course, there were the slobs who jumped to her son’s (and the trash can’s) defense.

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All of Imgur waited breathlessly, wondering how the story would end. Ultimately, Kerri’s parenting style won out.

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Good job,  Kerri, you are a modern day hero!!!

This is a rare case of how a parent brilliantly turned what most would call a ‘social evil’, into a ‘social service’ . There are numerous lessons to be learnt here.

  • As the saying popularly goes ‘if you cannot beat them, join them’ was well played out here. This mum decided rather than insisting her son stop using social media, she used social media to her advantage. Yes, speak in the language they understand.  
  • Most times ‘don’t get mad’ works better in instilling discipline.
  • Dealing with today’s kids, parents need to think of creative solutions. 

As parents and guardians of the ‘cyber child’, we would still love to hear your thoughts, comments, opinions on parenting in the 21st century.

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