10 Times my kids have cleverly outsmarted me

Sometimes I can’t believe how quick my kids are to outsmart me.

We played the Game Show Network’s online version of the game “Idiotest” and found the entire thing entertaining. It’s so interesting to see how our brains work as we’re drawn to different answers. It’s a great mind exercise challenge if you’re interested in trying it out with your kids (or on your own; I continued playing by myself to see what level I could reach).

Although I beat my kids at that game, it got me to thinking about all the times my kids have out-smarted me in the past!

1. Identifying animal genders

After studying the two mice I got her for her birthday, my daughter mentioned one was a boy. She brought it up on multiple occasions. I patted her head and told her the pet store clerks knew what they were doing. Eight weeks later we had a whole lot of baby mice on our hands and I was panicking.

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2. Math homework

I sat down to show my daughter how to add fractions. I ended up with a number that was smaller than the smallest number in the original equation. She doesn’t come to me for math help any longer.

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3. Following through as the Tooth Fairy

I am a good mother, but I hang my head in shame at my failure to perform my Tooth Fairy duties. When I forgot to place a dollar under my son’s pillow, he miraculously woke to find a beautifully written message and a gold token from the Tooth Fairy (brilliantly and quietly played by his sister).

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4. Pretending not to know where anything is

My kids need help finding everything. They are unable to follow the simplest directions while I explain where to locate a missing item. But when I package up all of the stuffed animals they’re not using, place them in plastic bags and bury them in the farthest corner of the garage, they miraculously turn back up in the very same bedrooms I had confiscated them from. And my kids look at me like, “you weren’t seriously planning to get rid of this, were you?”

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5. Singing the correct song lyrics

“Let it go! Let it go! I am one with the wind and SNOW!” I was quickly chided after singing this famous Frozen lyric incorrectly. In fact, my kids jump all over me every time I get a word in a song wrong. For what it’s worth…it should be “snow” instead of “sky.” And maybe I purposely sing things incorrectly now just to keep them on their toes.

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6. Jokes And Riddles

Kid: Mom? Will you remember me in one minute? In one day? In one year?

Me: Yes of course. You don’t stop talking long enough to give me time to forget you.

Kid: Mom?

Me: What?

Kid: Knock Knock.

Me: Who’s there?

Kid: HEY!!! YOU SAID YOU’D REMEMBER ME!!

Got me again

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7. Video Games

There was a time that I mastered all the video games. No one could beat me at Mario Kart…but between Minecraft, Candy Crush, and all things Wii…they beat me every time.

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8. Pitting Mom Against Dad

This is the oldest trick in the book and I still get suckered by in. Kids ask Mom for a treat, Mom says no…kids corner unsuspecting Dad, Dad says yes. Outsmarted again. And also punished.

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9. Remembering Appointments

My brain is sometimes a jumbled mess. I’ve made appointments for my kids and then promptly forgot them. The children, however, have steel trap memories when it comes to anything that is going to get them out of school. “Don’t I have a dentist appointment tomorrow?” Why yes you do, and God bless you for remembering.

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10. Detecting Ingredients

I have a heck of a time trying to get my kids to take prescribed medicine when they are sick. I’ve tried slipping them into everything from milkshakes and juice to pasta sauce and mac and cheese. My kids will take a bite and within seconds ask me if I slipped their meds into their meals. How do they know!?! (For the record, smoothies work! Who’s outsmarting who now?).

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Season 2 of Idiotest is coming up on The Game Show Network. Check your local listings for times and play the game online to see if you’ve got the chops!

Disclosure: This post is part of collaboration between the Game Show Network and SheKnows.

Image: sinseeho/Getty Images