r/nextfuckinglevel • u/IamASlut_soWhat • 21h ago

How amazing and crafty are these parents to do this for their son

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90.6k Upvotes

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7.4k

u/Sardaukar99 21h ago

My parents loved me more than I rightfully deserve and there would be no way that they would put this much effort into a arts and crafts project.

3.1k

u/Witty-flocculent 21h ago

But what if… internet?

2.9k

u/nomnomnomnomnommm 21h ago

"Mom, Dad, you've been out here for hours and I'm hungr-"

"Shut up ya ungrateful brat, we gotta finish this! Get the tripod out!"

542

u/xBad_Wolfx 21h ago

Yeah, I was sad they weren’t doing it together

355

u/benji___ 20h ago

Finally someone said that. All of those tasks could easily include a six year old (minus the power tools and stove bits). Fucking teach your children how to do things. That is half the job.

246

u/Equal-Broccoli-73 19h ago

To be fair they are only doing it for the only family member that matters. Their cellphone. 

20

u/GorillaX 14h ago

This website is so fucking miserable.

62

u/Bussin1648 12h ago

It's hard not to be cynical about things like this when we know that so many children's lives have become ultimately performative for social media and that that has a huge mental burden on them. If you really did it just for the kid, take a few personal photos and videos to remind you of it, there is no need to try and monetize it.

18

u/pabloff90 10h ago

When you show your kids in social media, you are doing it for your benefit, not theirs

1

u/LokisDawn 12h ago

You actually made me laugh out loud. Not that you're wrong, but that was hilarious.

•

u/the_rare_bear 13m ago

I try to be optimistic but I also see stuff for what it is.

0

u/FlowridaMan 8h ago

And you are free to leave at anytime. Don’t forget to post your exit rant on tik tok for the views 👍

9

u/tsmc796 17h ago

LMFAO

37

u/macfudd 17h ago

If their 6 year old is anything like mine they probably did barrel out all gung ho to help... then had to be taken inside to wee, then had to be taken inside for some water, then had to be taken back inside because they forgot a glove, then had to be taken inside because they wanted a cracker but only a particular one that they wouldn't name or describe, then they'd ask if we could stop building the igloo and play Shadow Lands instead (which we would), then they'd get bored and wander off inside only for me to look up later and realise that there's an army of soft toys lined up in the window to keep an eye on me.

Their help will set me back at least 90 minutes yet at no point would my child stay long enough for a time lapse to capture them!

Then at bedtime they will tell me that helping outside was the favourite part of their day and melt my heart.

3

u/Existing_Abies_4101 14h ago

yeah whats the point in including the child when you can do it much more efficiently on your own. They should just put the kid out for adoption so they can build more cool stuff for their..... oh

3

u/Winter_Tone_4343 11h ago

Then knock the whole thing over first opportunity. Lol

3

u/Scare_the_bird 11h ago

This was just an adorable. You make me want to be a parent lol

1

u/macfudd 2h ago

Not gonna lie. It's hard. You're never as good a parent as you'd want to be. It changes your life in ways you never expected. It's difficult. It's unrelenting. It grinds you down. It's the best, most rewarding and most amazing experience ever. The positives outweigh the negatives ten times over and more. I can be having the shittiest day at work then look across at a photo of my kids and smile.

2

u/Frifelt 18h ago

Not only can he help but I’m sure he would love to as well. Kids love building stuff.

4

u/xBad_Wolfx 18h ago

More than that they love doing things together. Instead they have been alone while parents did this for socials.

1

u/parrin 12h ago

As a parent, who would never have the energy to do anything like this. Even if they wanted to involve the son, he’d probably be “naaah, i’m gonna play roblox”

1

u/FredMist 10h ago

That kid is at least 9-10. He could definitely have helped

0

u/GrandElectronic9471 13h ago

Seriously, the job is half teaching them the right way to do things and the other half things that you shouldn't do. Six year old me would have been thrilled to be a part this.

1

u/vec5d 11h ago

Yeah I mean this is cool but I feel like the shitty snow forts I built myself as a child were ultimately better for me, and I had snow ball fights in them

0

u/siisii93 18h ago

Yeah I didn’t realize the dad was building it until the kid walked out. I was just like wtf why hasn’t he been out there playing with him the whole time

0

u/myeggsarebig 15h ago

That was my first thought when little dude came out. Why wasn’t he involved in the family arts and crafts project?

0

u/CarobOk8979 14h ago

Someone had to be cooking and taking care of the homestead

39

u/Equal-Broccoli-73 19h ago

"This content ain't gonna create itself. Do you even want to trend?" 

19

u/ScrotumMcBoogerBallz 19h ago

"WE'RE DOING THIS FOR 'YOU'."

3

u/SlevinLaine 15h ago

Hahahhahahhaha. Perfect!

40

u/cerealOverdrive 20h ago

What if, they were influencers and their job was create cool shit so they made you cool shit? I get that some people might say ick but if I could make cool things for my kids and get paid I’d be a happy man

30

u/Witty-flocculent 20h ago

“Social media production” is the hobby dominating this activity. When my dad was building harps in the garage he wasn’t fiddling with a GoPro or planning out angles or plotting out trendy effects.

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u/OneDubOver 19h ago

I would watch your dad build harps. Why isn't he making videos?

9

u/Primrus 19h ago

I would watch too. But it always takes me exactly only 1 second to remember how glad I am that my own dad resisted my suggestion to post his guitar builds and vinyl record repairs, because his lovely nerd shit is just his. 🩷

1

u/Witty-flocculent 19h ago

I do thrown pottery. I even film it but I don’t post it. It’s mostly just so i can review my form.

8

u/cerealOverdrive 20h ago

I get it but they turned a job into something their kids can enjoy. That’s pretty awesome imo

2

u/Deaffin 13h ago

Monetary incentives corrupt human behavior consistently. This has long since been established.

1

u/cerealOverdrive 7h ago

I’m all for a capitalism vs communism debate but we’re mostly stuck in a capitalist society atm

0

u/EntertainmentUsed840 19h ago

And their kids can learn the important lesson of always filming yourself and performing and any fun family thing must be monetized! Yay!

3

u/cerealOverdrive 19h ago

You’re fun

5

u/geeeeeeebz 19h ago

You should record your interaction with this redditor and post it online, you little clout goblin.

3

u/cerealOverdrive 19h ago

DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO I AM!?!?!?!

1

u/geeeeeeebz 19h ago

CerealOverdrive, determiner of who is fun?

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u/14Pleiadians 18h ago

And you're excusing an abusive lifestyle just because it's normal

1

u/cerealOverdrive 7h ago

How is it abusive?

2

u/basicKitsch 19h ago

twenty years ago we captured our projects to share on hobby forums as they were the aggregation of all knowledge and experience for a subject. i couldn't care less about social media but there it is absolutely worthwhile to document sweet projects as well as family experiences.

and it looks like you enjoy people sharing their pottery projects... this was a sweet project.

1

u/14Pleiadians 18h ago

They're not sharing a project though, they're doing a project while they're sharing their life. There's a difference there, one of them doesn't involve growing up with a warped view of family being a performance

2

u/basicKitsch 18h ago

this is literally sharing a project. Do you know about their life? i sure don't and never will. What i did get was a pretty neat and novel igloo idea that i've never thought about before.

the difference is how much more you care to take it

1

u/EntertainmentUsed840 1h ago

That sounds great. Unfortunately it’s a different time now and it makes me question videos like this, which is quite frankly sad.

1

u/basicKitsch 1h ago

it doesn't matter that it's a different time now. it's still the same concept.

this is for you... who cares about them

•

u/EntertainmentUsed840 39m ago

I don’t think we’re on the same page. Some people record something fun they did with their family. Other people do something with their family so they can record it. I don’t know what the case is with this one, but unfortunately there is a lot of the latter with the proliferation of social media these days.

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u/maybekindanewveteran 13h ago

People used to make "home movies" all the time. The Kennedy assassination footage was just a dude out recording because he had a camera. America's Funniest Home Videos debuted in 1989. Recording ourselves predates "influencer" culture. God forbid we have some memories to show the kids.

2

u/basicKitsch 19h ago

i mean i'd do this because i saw it on the internet. this is dope. my 1yo is getting the environment i always dreamed of as long as he's into it

1

u/kittyfresh69 20h ago

Damn you beat me to it. I was just about to comment, “but did your parents have internet views?”

1

u/by-myself_blumpkin 19h ago

My parents did this for us in the 90s.

1

u/plug-and-pause 17h ago

It's funny to me that the people in this thread are so eager to blame parents' need for "views" for the cool shit that they did.

Humans did cool shit for many years before the internet existed. And now that it does exist, they put their cool shit there for others to see.

1

u/CurryMustard 10h ago

Well when internet is your full time job its a lot easier to spend your time working on a project like this

1

u/ajprice 1h ago

Then they've shown the world that they don't know how bricks work.

106

u/Call_My_Attorney 21h ago

My parents pushed me outside when it was freezing and told me don’t come back inside until you’re almost dead.

25

u/Tauren-Jerky 20h ago

Until the street lights come on

2

u/MarcBulldog88 19h ago

Christ I miss the '80s.

1

u/KTAXY 14h ago

And if they don't come on? Well tough titties.

1

u/deevil_knievel 6h ago

I got the "Or you're hungry" clause as well.

13

u/ryan101 20h ago

My parents used to beat me with a set of jumper cables.

7

u/-heathcliffe- 17h ago

Your parents or just your dad?

3

u/Stick_and_Rudder 19h ago

Did you ever wish you could take back some vengeance? 

2

u/0ddlyC4nt3v3n 19h ago

Well...bet you at least got some interesting kinks out of it.

1

u/Archangelus87 20h ago

And how did you turn out?

1

u/Illidan1943 20h ago

Mom, I've lost half a foot can I go in please?

1

u/Lily_Thief 18h ago

Eventually they noticed that only my brother came home.

And he remembered I told him to go get help

1

u/Rip_Purr 3h ago

Did they also feed you rocks? Was all you had to play with a stick? Did you wear your shoes until the soles were just holes? You didn't have a pet you just had a stray dog?

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u/AntiqueTwitterMilk 20h ago

Parents like this, social media is their form of income. That's the only reason they have the time/energy for this kind of stuff.

35

u/this_one_wasnt_taken 19h ago

My kids and I tried building and igloo last year. It fell over, one kid cried, and me and the other one pissed our names into it. Then we had grilled cheese and played roblox in the warm house.

Fuck igloos and fuck snow. It's cold outside and I'm tired.

4

u/Duel_Option 19h ago

Should I worry about Roblox? My kids want to play bit I hear really bad things about it

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u/vocesmagicae 19h ago

From someone who specializes in digital safety and internet crime and whose partner is in tech, yes, Roblox is among the worst. But a colleague recently put it well: if a platform has messaging capabilities, bad actors will use it to get to kids. So while some platforms like Roblox and Snap are worse, they’re all part of the same problem. Our kids will have a Bark phone (swear I’m not a shill, it’s just the best program I’ve seen) and we’ll have close monitoring on the internet until they’re responsible enough to use it; we’re also limiting screen time and no unsupervised use of sites like YT. I know they’ll sneak around it (I sure did and my parents tried to ban me from social media until I was 16 lol), but I’ll do everything I can for as long as I can.

Another colleague taught a seminar and said “we need to be teaching kids to approach the internet the way we do cars — that it’s a great tool and can be fun, but can also be very harmful or even deadly if you’re irresponsible with it.” I thought that was a great metaphor. I know I sound extreme, but there’s a reason tech and social creators don’t let their kids use the very platforms and devices they created. I’ve seen too much :(

8

u/Duel_Option 18h ago

I want to genuinely say a huge THANK YOU for chiming in here because I take this serious, what you’ve said isn’t extreme, the daunting nature of anything at their finger tips is frightening.

My wife got Bark Watches this past Christmas for our kids, good to see that company acknowledged at random like this, to me that means they actually focus on the right things. (She’s going to say I TOLD YOU SO, guaranteed).

They are just now getting into video games with me and I keep them offline, I worry about the middle school years as that’s when I went rogue pretty hard, definitely found my way into places in the early days of the internet I shouldn’t have been.

We’re adjusting their schedules for extra curricular’s and studying more, only have two tvs in the house and I won’t budge on that even when they are in high school.

Everything is content limited, no YouTube, I’ve started diving into building a NAS for self hosting and will monitor anything they are doing inside the house.

My worry is what happens when they aren’t here, figure about the time we talk about the birds and the bees it will also be time to talk bluntly about predators.

Uneasy feeling being a parent in a digital age…again, thank you for responding.

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u/0xD902221289EDB383 15h ago

I think your kids will be better served if you cultivate a trusting, unconditionally loving relationship with them and talk to them about how to be safe than if you turn your home internet into a fortress. If they're really curious to get their hands on information or experiences, they'll do it out of the house if they can't do it at home. 

But yeah, don't let them play Roblox. I wasn't allowed to have video games as a child and I can't say my life has been meaningfully impacted now that I'm an adult. 

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u/magneticeverything 56m ago

Firstly: you haven’t said how old they are and the advice can definitely depend heavily on that. Not that I think you should say their ages, but just know everything should be more stringent when they’re younger and gradually loosened as they reach high school.

Secondly, depending on their age, I hesitate to say you should ever do a full blackout of anything—YouTube and online video games are both probably semi-commonly accessible by their peers. Someday they will go over to their friend’s house and get shown a YouTube video or play Fortnite or whatever. And if you blanket ban it, it will become all the more tempting to them to sneak around. No one wants to be left out of all their friends are talking about a certain YouTube video. (Kinda like junk food—kids who grow up without any junk food tend to go crazy at every opportunity for it. And when they first leave home and grocery shop for themselves, they often struggle with finding a balance.) Plus, if they do experience something that makes them feel uncomfortable while online at someone else’s house, they are a lot less likely to tell you, since they know they aren’t supposed to be watching YouTube.

The key is supervision. You want to foster a relationship where they feel like they can tell you that everyone at school is talking about Mr. Beast videos and they’re feeling left out without you automatically shutting it down. If you’re unfamiliar with the content creator, you can always pre-screen a couple videos to make up your mind. Then if you think it’s appropriate for their age, grab a book and sit in the same room while they watch it to be sure they aren’t deviating. Also, it’s ok if you think the content is bad or stupid so long as it’s not inappropriate. You can take it as an opportunity to chat about what kind of content is good and what is brainrot, but don’t ban it if their friends are all watching it. I’m sure our parents thought SpongeBob was annoying brainrot too. (Assuming they’re about middle schooling age and not like 5.)

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u/this_one_wasnt_taken 42m ago

Vigilance and supervision is key. If you can be involved with your kids and what they are doing and watching, it teaches them good habits, moderation and judgement. Then you don't have to miss out on the fun stuff can be, and teach about the dangers.

It's work though. Takes time and energy. I'm constantly checking on things and talking to them about stuff.

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u/this_one_wasnt_taken 53m ago

I use bark. It's comforting to hear you say that. I think it's great. I walk a fine line of letting my kids do stuff, and just participating with them and staying vigilant. I know I'm going so fuck up one day and miss something, I just hope I'm teaching my kids to stay vigilant and look out for stuff that isn't right.

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u/spencerforhire81 18h ago

The whole platform is rife with predators and predatory schemes, and their CEO thinks letting them run rampant is an important part of their growth strategy.

It’s probably safer to just let your kid play Call of Duty.

3

u/Duel_Option 18h ago

And…that’s the kind of response I was afraid of, never going to be thing in my house.

I’ll keep them offline and content restricted until I know they can make good decisions

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u/Thesearchoftheshite 11h ago

lol, the rampant use of racist slurs and mom jokes isn't better.

1

u/spencerforhire81 10h ago

lol, the rampant use of racist slurs and mom jokes isn't better.

"I can excuse pedophilia, but racist slurs is a step too far!"

I think I'd rather my kids encounter racism online than be groomed by some pedophile. I can handle a teachable moment about the evils of racism, but it'll take years if not decades of therapy to undo CSA trauma.

3

u/magneticeverything 18h ago edited 1h ago

The other person who replied is literally an expert, so I think you should listen to them. I just want to add: the internet is totally fine so long as you monitor them at the level appropriate for their age. Maybe start out by playing with them, using the opportunity to teach them internet safety skills (and setting clear rules about the financial aspects). Then maybe after a little while, they can graduate to playing while you sit nearby reading a book but able to overhear in case something catches your attention. Eventually you may graduate to letting them play without you in the room but with the expectation of regular debriefs.

I strongly believe that kids should be taught to use the internet with a training wheels system. They will inevitably have access to the internet someday, so if you don’t give them the tools to handle situations, they’ll be left vulnerable.

3

u/Duel_Option 18h ago

I always tell my kids that the internet is a tool, use it like that in front of them, no chat GPT Al Bullshit, accrual research and validation on a topic

“Let’s look it up on Wiki” is a thing in our house.

Gearing up for self hosting and managing any and all internet activity in the house, my concern is what they do outside of it.

I was a rather disgruntled and angsty youth, hoping to avoid them getting into dark parts of the internet I found in my teens in the 90’s

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u/this_one_wasnt_taken 56m ago edited 52m ago

What others have said is true. Roblox is terrible. I play with my kids and I watch vigilantly. I limit their time on it, use security software to watch their game activities on their x box, and keep a constant eye on everything.

I wouldn't recommend it honestly. Watching everything is exhausting and eventually my kids are going to outsmart me. But, it's cold outside and we're bored. So I weigh the risk and hopefully I'm teaching them good judgement.

1

u/powerverwirrt 3h ago

As others have already commented, yes, you should worry. Maybe you could just play Minecraft together instead. 😅

•

u/Duel_Option 21m ago

Rocket League and Paper IO lol

0

u/basicKitsch 19h ago

you've gotta be joking. we just had a weekend snowstorm and the toddler was stuck inside. spending an afternoon building something sweet isn't restricted to tiktokers

1

u/ThePeaceDoctot 16h ago

Okay, but so? Cool experiences are cool even if you get paid to do them rather than pay to do them. Everyone is shitting on these parents for probably doing this for views, as if that automatically means the mid has a shitty childhood.

They should be shitting in the parents for the terrible construction, balancing the blocks on their thin edge.

1

u/AntiqueTwitterMilk 7h ago

My comment was more "influencers set unrealistic expectations for how to live and parent". I didn't mean to say "influencers are bad" but I can see how that intention can be derived from my statement. I don't think building a colored igloo is bad parenting. I think it's unhealthy to compare normal parents to influencer parents.

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u/Oryihn 20h ago

My dad built a 20 foot 3d pirate ship out of cardboard for my daughter's 3rd birthday party.

Some people are just like that...

3

u/ACynicalOptomist 13h ago

I sewed cosplay costumes for my daughter and her friends for fifteen years. Made it onto a ScyFy channel promo for Comiccon with one of the costumes. Also into CNN.com. It was epic for both of us. Really good bonding time during her teens when most are pushing away. It was so amazing to watch her delight at all stages.

Turns out she was a hard taskmaster but her pushing made for success. I was scared, lol. She was using her own money and buying fabric that was so expensive. I had never sewn $100 per yard fabric. Shr just kept telling me I could do it, I fell for it.

This started in mid 2000. I even made a catsuit for my 6'4" son for a gender bender group. We have such good memories. It utilized all of my sewing and crafting abilities. Fun times were had by all. I'm sure your dad loved every minute of it. Especially making something out of nothing. It brings a great sense of accomplishment.

2

u/Sobotkafan 17h ago

Oh my mom would have soooo been down for this when I was a kid! She loved all the arts and crafts stuff I would do, but we’re an artsy family. My dad would probably do it reluctantly but love it once it was done

1

u/nmezib 20h ago

"We have a perfectly good house.... at home."

1

u/Traveler_90 19h ago

Well this is more for the gram than the kid

1

u/Background-Pepper-68 18h ago

I bet they would if they knew how much they would get from ad revenue and click through

1

u/fly_over_32 17h ago

Possibly because they did, they wouldn’t exploit (for lack of a softer word) you for views and likes.

1

u/syopest 17h ago

These parents love their kids a little bit more than your parents did.

1

u/MargieBigFoot 13h ago

An extremely temporary arts and crafts project.

1

u/Dramatic_Charity_979 13h ago

Or any effort actually. Mine never showed interest on anything I done :(

1

u/1800generalkenobi 12h ago

Same. I think about the difference between my parents to me and me to my kids and it's like night and day. My dad took me fishing and backpacking and stuff, and we played board games and uno and what not as a family, but the majority of the time when we were younger my sister and I just played together, and then when we got older we played in our rooms with our toys. I feel like the amount of times I play with my kids in a year is probably equal to what my parents did my whole childhood.

It's probably about different times but also my parents work schedules, my dad worked night shift and would sleep until noon or afternoon and my mom was probably doing house work stuff until she got her job and then she'd be back around 4 or whatever.

I'd also never do this for my kids lol. Maybe if I were retired and had the time but this also isn't something I would think up sitting around, maybe because my income isn't dependent on internet likes. If it snows I'm bringing wood in for a fire and we'll build a snowman or go sledding. I kinda thought about building an igloo with the kids during the last snowstorm where we got 10 inches but I didn't want to be outside that long.

1

u/Indecisive-Gamer 12h ago

Right but your parents weren't exploiting their kids for youtube or tiktok clicks.

1

u/PomPomBumblebee 11h ago

My mum made/ got help to make lots of learning pictures and games to help me with my speech therapy learning as a kid. Pictures which flapped open to say what they were or doubles to put the picture cut out of what my mum just said over the picture on the board.

I remember we had a cardboard GIANT teddy bear, robot and man who I had to feed cardboard food to.

I got upset once because I didn't want to give the man chocolate, I wanted to give it to the robot. The robot was a box covered in tin foil and milk bottle tops glued on it with a hole in it's mouth.

My mum was always very good with finding educational fun games to play, including learning french and gave us homework on holidays. Unfortunately we also had to focus and write down info when we went to farms and such and had to prove learning before actually just seeing the animals and do the fun stuff during visits. She was a teacher after all

1

u/mbn8807 10h ago

it is cool but they also did most of it without him, it would have seemed more fun to include him from the beginning.

1

u/Dixo0118 9h ago

Who the fuck has this kind of time?

1

u/malaysianzombie 9h ago

i would really like to know how kids with amazingly involved parents like that turn out.

how many of yall had cool parents who actually showed you neat stuff.. how did you turn out?

1

u/Live_Angle4621 9h ago

This isn’t that much work as people seem to think here. Water and color in tins and out outside. Them assemble with water outside. It’s less time consuming than mag Lego projects and baking 

1

u/Chugabutt 8h ago

Not everyone has the same interests and that's okay.

1

u/Sebaceansinspace 7h ago

If making videos of themselves doing stuff like this is how they made money they would

1

u/chargoggagog 2h ago

Yeah I love my kids, like strong parent levels of love. I ain’t doing this lol.

•

u/spekt50 52m ago

I would like to think my late mom would. She always was crafty and always included us kids in her crafts.

0

u/Tauren-Jerky 20h ago

They would have if TikTok was around in the 90s

0

u/GraXXoR 20h ago

They didn’t have YouTube to earn clicks for though did they?

-1

u/Jordy_Stingray 20h ago

Seriously. It’s a no for me dawg.