This Mom Has A Brilliant Secret Tactic To Handle Uncomfortable Situations With Her Kid, And People Love It
"There are two types of parents: The 'I'm in deep trouble, I hope my parents don't find out!' and the 'I'm in deep trouble, better call them!' This parent clearly chose which one they wanted to be."
Immediately, it was clear that many people wished their parents would have developed some sort of system like this when they were kids:
Because people like u/Angrylittlefairy often had to figure out their own tactics to get themselves out of those situations:
It became an important discussion about how a simple code (like the 🌭 emoji) can be so impactful on a child's well-being:
So, people whose parents did use secret tactics started sharing what methods they established...
u/Candy_Dots shared that when they were a kid and had people over, their mom would always ask if they wanted popsicles. "If we responded with any color other than red she would go grab us popsicles (which honestly was awesome in and of itself). However, if we said we wanted a red popsicle, she would figure out a reason to kick this person out of our house, no exceptions. I just thought it was my mom being a bro if my date wasn't going well. It wasn't until a while later that I realized she had originally set that up for my sisters to get them out of dangerous situations. Growing up a woman sounds terrifying."
In emergency situations, u/OldLadyT-RexArms said they used to use the phrase "I wish it would rain" with their parents. "They would come get us from wherever we were and our friends always assumed our parents were buzzkills. It kept us looking cool in the eyes of friends/classmates whilst getting us out of situations we felt uncomfortable or unsafe about."
"Ours was 'red socks.' For example, I could give my mom a call and be like, 'Oh shoot, I forgot I needed red socks for school tomorrow' and she’d be on her way. Any sentence with red socks meant I wasn't comfortable and she needed to come get me, call me, etc. I’m 24 now and my mom still remembers the words," shared u/bfammerman.
u/GunnerPup13 shared the system she had in place with her dad. "I would text my dad 'Did I forget to feed the dog?' If I sent him that, he would call me 'angry' and come get me. Had to use it a few times."
There really are so many different and creative ways to have secret codes, like u/Jenny10126, who shared that she and her dad used wrestling. "I had a friend who ALWAYS demanded I call and ask to spend the night at their house. Sometimes I wanted to but sometimes I didn’t. My dad would ask me if I planned to watch wrestling when I’d call and ask. If I said 'yes' he’d say I could stay. If I said 'no' he’d say I couldn’t."
Parents also shared the ways in which they help their kids. "We have a similar code. They ask how is grandma (they don't have a grandma), and I ring them and say they need to come home, things aren't looking so good," u/Kendra_Whisp said.
"We picked out a few of the different face emojis and gave them a meaning. A 'we're here safe and OK' would only be true if it had the ghost at the end. If it had the huge smiley then I would come running," shared u/MrBenzedrine.
And some parents are really using technology to their advantage. "My kids just text and say, 'Hey I want do whatever...' Then a second text that says, 'Say No.' I text back with something like, 'No you can't, how dare you even ask!' They delete their 'say no' text and show their friends. Lol, they have done this since they got cell phones. Sometimes kids wanna be polite but don't feel like doing things," u/NeverIncorrectBanana shared.
u/Cheese_Dinosaur said she "grounds" her son when he doesn't want to do something.
So, at the end of the day, I think we can all agree that every kid wants to know their parent will be there to save them — no matter what. If you have a secret code with your parent or child that you want to share, let us know in the comments!
