Parents Doing Their Best… To Drive You Crazy: Here Are 40 Mildly Infuriating Moments You’ll Relate To
We love our parents—deeply, fiercely, unconditionally. But sometimes? They test every fiber of our emotional restraint. Whether it’s asking for help with Wi-Fi… while holding the router upside down, or texting “Call me” followed by total silence, they have a gift for stirring chaos in the calmest moments.
This collection showcases 40 moments that’ll make you laugh, sigh, and maybe rage—just a little. These aren’t dramatic betrayals. They’re tiny, daily instances where your parents’ “best intentions” manage to press all the wrong buttons.
If you’ve ever gritted your teeth through an “I saw your post” conversation, this is your therapy. Let’s dive into the madness we call family.
1. You guys hate carpet in the bathroom? I can one up that. My parents have a bathroom with carpet that goes up the bathtub walls! Bonus points for the terrible wallpaper
2. Parents had me come to school on senior skip day
3. Woke up and saw my door removed by my parents. I asked them “why?” And the replied with “privacy isn’t necessary”
You’re showing your parent how to use their phone. Again. They nod. Seem to understand. Then five minutes later—“Where’s the internet?”
We’ve all been there. The repeated questions. The forwarded spam emails with eight exclamation marks. The food offers when you’ve just eaten. These are not criminal acts. But they’re enough to raise your heart rate for no reason.
And yet, under all the irritation, there’s a weird warmth. They’re doing their best—with 200% love and 2% logic. That combo is… uniquely exhausting. And totally familiar.
4. Parents bought $80 HDMI cable
Were sold this with there TV and told it was required for modern TVs to function along with a $300 surge protector they don’t need as well!
5. My parents are the reason why I hate smoking.
My parents just almost never clean their stuff. Its kinda disgusting ngl. It has been worse before though.
6. Took my parents out to dinner for my birthday but they leave every 30 minutes to smoke
7. My parents took my brand new axe without my knowledge and sharpened it using a bench grinder
8. Parents left for vacation for a week and left the neighbor’s daughter in charge of feeding them. Tank is basically dead
She must’ve dumped the entirety of the food because both filters in there were completely filled with food and wasn’t running. Water became clouded and nasty and as a result almost all of the fish suffered casualties
9. One of my parents decided to wash my Le Creuset and place it like this to dry. I’m literally crying. I said a thousand times for them not to touch it
10. The way my parents display their books…
11. At my parents house and every piece of kitchen ware is 30 years old
This is their chopping board. I feel like I am getting cancer just standing near it.
12. My parents went through my phone and deleted over 1500 different images and videos,and emptied the trash bin. Im 15 and they havent found anything bad on my phone ever
I once asked my dad to text me a photo of a document I needed urgently. What I got? A blurry shot of his knee. Just his knee. I called and asked what happened. His response: “Well, the camera was facing the wrong way, so I figured you’d know what it said.”
Reader, I did not know what it said. I still don’t. But I do know that for the next three days, every photo he sent had a partial thumb in the corner. He was trying. And failing. But trying. And somehow, that made it even more frustrating—and a little bit endearing.
13. My parents mix entire boxes of wildly different cereals together as soon as we get them. Last week was blueberry Cheerios and cookie crunch. Small, but drives me crazy
14. One of our parents hid a rosary in the baby room
My and her parents are very aware of our stances, still one of them hid this in the baby bookshelf during their stay. Only happen to find it by accident
15. How my parents store their DVDs
16. My parents decided to clean my fish tank because it “made my room look messy”
My parents came over to visit for a few days and sow how messy my bedroom was. I was out today and came home to this. The tanks were completely empty and my fish put inside a measuring cup????? Needless to say I was infuriated but I understand that their intentions were good. They are old and I cannot blame them. But to think my years of hard work could be demolished in seconds….
17. Went home to my parents and found this adapter monstrosity behind the TV
According to researchers at the University of Chicago, we react more intensely to mild irritation from close family than from strangers. It’s not about the action—it’s about expectation.
When someone you love constantly misuses “Google” as a verb for Facebook or sends voice messages by accident, your brain sees it as a repeated pattern—and interprets it as emotional friction. That’s why it feels more aggravating than it logically should.
(Source: Journal of Social Neuroscience, 2021)
It’s your brain saying: “This again?” But also… “I care.” It’s a strange, stressful love language.
18. This parent became part of the show so she can get a close up of her kid
19. Parents who raise their kids saying it’s okay to leave a library like this
20. Woke up with an ear infection, asked my parents if they had anything to help…… This is what I got
Expired in 97
21. I’m allergic to almonds. This is all my parents will buy. They eat all the cereal I buy and leave me with this, saying I can “pick out the almonds”
22. These lights switches in my parents’ house
There’s a name for it in psychology: reverse caregiving strain. That’s when you feel responsible for guiding someone who should already know—but doesn’t. Like trying to teach your mom how to copy and paste, and she responds by printing the screen instead.
You want to help. But also, your patience is hanging by a thread. Especially when they reject your fix in favor of “Uncle Thắng said to just reboot the fridge.”
It’s not the end of the world. But when these micro-moments stack up, they leave you both chuckling—and sighing—into the void.
23. The desktop of both my parent’s computers
24. My parent’s thermostat. I am going to heatstroke in my sleep. Merry Christmas!
25. What the hell are my parents doing?
26. There’s this one misdirected tile in my parents bathroom which drives me nuts
27. My parents watch TV without moving the mouse
28. After 8 years my parents gave me a door instead of a curtain
And then they left it with an open wall defeating the purpose of doing this for more privacy.
29. My parents have been away for 2 weeks and this is how many religious groups have asked my mom to send them money
GrumpySharks spoke with Dr. Leah Han, a family therapist and digital-age parenting researcher from UCLA.
She said: “When parents unintentionally annoy their adult children, it’s often because their desire to connect isn’t matched by the same pace or fluency in how that connection happens.”
In other words, they mean well. But their tools are outdated. And their learning curve? Hilariously steep. (Source: UCLA Department of Psychology)
Her advice: laugh with them. Not at them. And record the chaos—it’s gold for future nostalgia.
30. There’s so much wrong with the toilet roll at my parents’ house…
31. Worked a 12 hour shift. This is the ‘Roast Dinner’ my parents said would be waiting for me when I finished.
Ps: I pay £300 a month rent, which includes food, and I didn’t eat in work.
32. Just found out my parents installed an app on my phone to track my messages and tried to hide it
33. my parents and sister went on a vacation for 4 days, so they left a massive sink full of dishes when all i asked before they left is to clean a little. not a single one of these dishes is mine so i set it aside for when they get back on monday:)
34. These wooden spoons my parents use that collect food bits in the tiny holes too difficult to clean with just a sponge
35. Parents refuse to change tires
They promise to change the tires every time it snows but never do 🤦♂️
Yes, it’s annoying when your mom FaceTimes at 6 a.m. to show you her garden gnome. But one day, you’ll scroll through your phone and find that blurry picture of her smiling. And it’ll mean everything.
So try to respond with grace when possible. Laugh a little louder. Guide a little gentler. The frustration won’t vanish—but it may soften. And honestly? That’s enough. They’re not trying to ruin your day. They’re just trying to stay part of it.
36. My parents have installed software on my phone – without my consent – that disables the ability to clear history and streams my web history and activity to their phone. It also shows them what apps I’ve used and when.
37. Parents opening mail
38. My parents buy reusable bags every time they shop
39. This bath mat at my parents’ house
40. why do my parents do this
These 40 moments might make you question everything—but they also prove one thing: your parents are still showing up. In their own strange, outdated, mildly chaotic way.
So if this post made you laugh (or cry-text your sibling), share it. Send it to your parent and see if they can actually open the link. Or comment below with your own story—we know you have one.
After all, nothing bonds us quite like shared parental madness. And love—delivered with a side of digital confusion.
