Dad Tricks His Son Into Believing Made-Up Facts About Birds, Receives A Phone Call From Son's Teacher Because Of It

Le tuit tuit

Kylin

• Published in Funny
• November 27, 2022

There are a considerable amount of wonderful parts of parenthood. There is so, so much good that can make most of the struggles worth all the effort.

The obvious things like those little hands wrapping around your finger, the delight and pure unadulterated joy in their laughter. If you have more than one child, then those moments where they’re completely in sync and have tangible love and adoration of each other.

Aside from that though, maybe due to a subconscious attempt to balance the scales after a particularly difficult day, there can be fun had in using their lack of years lived to playfully trick your child from time to time. Young children have no idea how to interpret sarcasm until they’re around 6 years old, and generally, they look to their caregivers as Supreme Keepers of Knowledge, so most kids usually take their grown-ups at their word.

I think a crucial part of these moments is that everyone enjoys themselves, and someone isn’t the butt of the joke. And as important, the child leaves the interaction knowing that it *was* a playful joke and not real information.

Otherwise, that can cause trouble sometime down the line. As one Redditor found out the hard way.

He recounts in the r/TIFU (Today I F–ked Up) community receiving a phone call from his son's teacher to ask about an interaction they had in class that day. Turns out OP had “trolled” him, and convinced him that birds in different parts of the world had different accents, but forgot to tell him that he was joking.

Keep reading to see how the teacher reacted, and the evolution of a r/TIFU post into a r/TIL.

It all started with a call home from OP son's teacher about him being told that birds have different accents

Though OP's story didn't just stop at birds, he totally went with it being applicable to all animals

Oui, oui, meow-nsieur.

Though OP points out his daughter (son's twin) knew he was full of himself

If there are multiple kids, at least one is a little genius.

OP loves "trolling" his kids, and had forgotten about this specific joke

When confronted by his son’s teacher...

At least he owned up to it.

Luckily, the teacher seemed to find the whole thing funny, and had only called for clarification

Up until a certain age, you gotta be sure the kid knows when you're joking.

But as it turns out, OP wasn't completely off base

Technically, he wasn't wrong.

An eff-up turning into a literal learning experience

Not like, *that* British

Unless...

The video that's linked above.

Apparently, it's not just birds that have accents

OP's mind is getting blown.

Dogs and cats have accents, too

And COWS!?

I really hope there are cows with stereotypical Minnesotan accents.

Whales even have different dialects

Hullo!

Amazing how that works

Who knew birds needed more than body language and mating dances

Cool tip!

Gonna be listening to birds today

Parents have *always* been testing the limits of what their kids will believe

A classic

The "trolling" can cause some resentment

Just make sure your kid is cool with it

Have you ever been on the receiving end of silly made-up facts from your parents? What sort of nonsense were you taught and how long did you believe it?

How did you find out you had been bamboozled by your parents, how did it make you feel? Did it negatively affect your relationship with them?

Or on the flip side, have you yourself partaken in making absurd but easily believable “facts” to share with children? We want to hear about it, so drop your story in the comments section below!

Kylin