The Best Complaints Parents Have Heard From Their Toddlers

There are a lot of things that people like to complain about in life, many of which are valid. If you have a toddler, though, the chances of them complaining about something legitimate are slim to none.

Toddlers are there to question you and to ask questions you might not even know the answer to. They're going to cry about the fact that their water is too soupy, or be upset that the squirrel outside doesn't have a jacket, and you just have to roll with it.

Squirrels Get Cold Too

squirrel climbing tree in forest
Photo Credit: Pexels / maddie franz
Photo Credit: Pexels / maddie franz

"A 3-year-old girl I babysit was sad that the squirrel outside didn't have a coat, and became angry that I didn't have one on hand for him." —Reddit / Blood-Candy

Next thing you know, you're inside trying to sew a tiny jacket for a woodland creature just to please the 3-year-old dictator you live with.

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Let Her Learn The Lesson

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child wanted to drink pure lemon juice then threw up, never asked again
Photo Credit: Reddit / elizabeth498
Photo Credit: Reddit / elizabeth498
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Sometimes the best way to win the argument is to let them think that they've won.

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Give them what they want, knowing it's not going to go well, and they'll teach themselves.

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The Flavors Are Too Similar

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display of fruit parfaits
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Photo Credit: Unsplash / denisse leon
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"'It's the wrong same!' took weeks to figure out he was referring to the apricot and peach yogurts." —Reddit / Grabagear

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In some way, "the wrong same" actually makes sense here.

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No Bones For This Boy

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child who didn't like pizza bone (crust) or corn with the bone (corn on the cob)
Photo Credit: Reddit / GiraffeLeopard
Photo Credit: Reddit / GiraffeLeopard
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What is it with children assuming that everything hard must be a bone?

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Neither corn with the bone nor bone pizza sound appetizing, so we don't blame him for not wanting to eat them.

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This Is Why We Don't Skip Nap Time

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small girl crying while mom zips of white sweater
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Photo Credit: Pexels / William Fortunato
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"My 6-year-old yelled 'I'm too tired to go to sleep!' in a fit of delirium and rage." —Reddit / theroutesetters

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We've all been there. Sometimes, you're just too tired to do anything, including sleep, and then the feeling just gets worse.

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That's Not How Compromise Works

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compromise over candy
Photo Credit: Reddit / qatest
Photo Credit: Reddit / qatest
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Okay, so maybe she doesn't have a head for conflict resolution; she'll develop other strengths in life!

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She probably just heard mom say it once or heard it on TV and decided to add it to her vocabulary.

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No One Wants Gravy On Ice Cream

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little girl in blue shirt holding chocolate dipped ice cream cone
Photo Credit: Pexels / kamaji ogino
Photo Credit: Pexels / kamaji ogino
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"When I was about 5, my parents gave me ice cream with chocolate sauce and I broke down crying. Took them a while to figure I was upset at the psycho sick [person] who'd put gravy on my ice cream.

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"Eventually, they convinced me to try some and I enjoyed it." —Reddit / gopherit83

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Way To Highlight Their Insecurities

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small boy standing in tall grass pointing
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Photo Credit: Pexels
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"Was sitting at the entrance of the play place at a nearly empty Chick-Fil-A (idk how but there was barely anyone there) when a little boy, probably 2-3 years old, walked up to me, pointed at my sunburnt face, and said the four words that haunt me to this day:

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'Your nose is wrong.'" —Reddit / DeWelsh23

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How Ominous

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child calls parent old, parent asks
Photo Credit: Reddit / paraglenn
Photo Credit: Reddit / paraglenn
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"The last number" makes it seem like this kid knows something that you don't know, or is planning some sort of crime that you should be worried about.

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Hopefully, they're just calling you old, not threatening you.

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Hats Off To Him For Trying

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boy in orange shirt crying carried by dad in black and grey shirt
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Photo Credit: Pexels / Ba phi
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"My nephew had a breakdown and cried when his boot wouldn't fit on his head like a hat." —Reddit / SavageInkStudios

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If he had gone for one of Dad's boots, he might have been able to fit it over his head!

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Yawns Don't Need To Be Scary

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child yawning stretching arms overhead
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Photo Credit: Pexels / Artem Podrez
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"I yawned with my mouth really wide and my little sister told my mum I was trying to eat her." —Reddit / SnooPeripherals6969

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It's like introducing a puppy to a new situation. They're not going to know what something is until it happens to them.

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Don't Cry Because It's Over

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crying because ice cream will be done
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Photo Credit: Need_fur_speed
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Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happens!

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It applies to everything in life, including ice cream. Or, just keep giving him more ice cream so that it never has to end.

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Reality Isn't Always Pleasant

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small girl in white furry sweater upset crying
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Photo Credit: Pexels / William Fortunato
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"My daughter had a complete existential breakdown one day when she found out that she was going to have to pee every day of her life." —Reddit / DrunkUranus

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Just wait until she finds out she has to breathe every day of her life too.

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Don't Look Into The Light

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child in yellow shirt against yellow background covering eyes
Photo Credit: Pexels / Anna Shvets
Photo Credit: Pexels / Anna Shvets
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"My little sister, laying on her back, staring straight into the lamps: 'My eyes hurt!'

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"'Then stop staring at the lamp.' 'No!'" —Reddit / audriuska12

A solution is clearly not what he wanted here.

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The Bones Just Add Too Much Crunch

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strawberry ice cream bones
Photo Credit: Reddit
Photo Credit: Reddit
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If you heard a child say that there were bones in the ice cream, you'd definitely be doing a double-take.

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Luckily, she just didn't understand the concept of frozen fruit.

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You'll Take What You're Given And You'll Like It

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goldfish crackers in green bowl
Photo Credit: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Photo Credit: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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"Cousin's 3yo: (offers a Goldfish to my BIL) BIL: No, thank you! 3: (offers another Goldfish) BIL: No, no thank you! 3: (offers another Goldfish) BIL: No thank you, buddy! 3: GRANDMA, [BIL] WON'T SHARE!

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"Sharing is mandatory in both directions, I guess." —Reddit / tinypiecesofyar

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Now You've Ruined Everything

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toddler wants food in big bowl instead of little bowl, but gets upset when she saw that you moved the food from the little bowl to the big bowl
Photo Credit: Reddit / tristanjones
Photo Credit: Reddit / tristanjones
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Clearly, you weren't supposed to shift the food from the bowl she didn't like into the bowl that she did like—that's far too simple of an option.

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They always have to make things more difficult.

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No One Likes Mondays

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mom picking up little boy on top bunk of bed
Photo Credit: Pexels / Alex Green
Photo Credit: Pexels / Alex Green
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"My wife woke the kids up and told them it was Monday so they needed to get ready for school.

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"'Don't like Monday... Hate Monday... YOU'RE MONDAY!' (Directed at wife)" —Reddit / straighttoplaid

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Do You Mean Itchy?

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black and white photo of girl yelling outside
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Photo Credit: In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images
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"When my little sister was a toddler, she screamed she couldn't go to sleep because her pajamas were 'too spicy.'" —Reddit / gentlybeepingheart

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You should check the spice cupboard, or look into getting a new laundry detergent.

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Congratulations?

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sparkling legs meant child's legs had fallen asleep
Photo Credit: Reddit / brocalmotion
Photo Credit: Reddit / brocalmotion
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If we heard our child yell that their legs were sparkling, we'd immediately be thinking the worst.

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The worst being they have covered themselves in glitter and we'd have to spend the next week of our life finding glitter flakes everywhere.

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Now You Need A New VCR & A New Snack

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old vcr machine with tapes
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Photo Credit: Pexels / anthony
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"My boy cried when, after stuffing his sandwich in the VHS recorder (early '90s), there was no movie about sandwiches." —Reddit / fluffyfluffycake

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Now they've ruined the VCR, and they're going to need you to make them a new sandwich.

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Well, That Was Easy

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kid stops crying over ice cream when mom points out he doesn't like the thing he's crying over
Photo Credit: Reddit / fork_hands_mcmike
Photo Credit: Reddit / fork_hands_mcmike
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Just a gentle reminder is all it takes. It's much better than getting the popsicles home then him remembering that he doesn't like bananas.

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This way you can pick something he'll probably actually eat.

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Or Maybe His Soup Is Too Watery

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two year old baby girl crying in high chair covered in food
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Photo Credit: Pascal Saez/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
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"My 4-year-old brother told me 'My water is too soupy.' I still haven't quite figured it out." —Reddit

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Either they're serving up some chunky water, or that wasn't water he was drinking.

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More Hands, More Problems

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child with mitten on hand pulling it with his mouth
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Photo Credit: Kirill KukhmarTASS via Getty Images
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"The 3-year-old found a mitten on the ground and put it on. He asked where the other one was and I said I didn't know.

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"He looked down and said, like it was a unique problem, 'But I have TWO hands!'" —Reddit / miachaelchondria

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The Effort Was Too Much

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Reddit comment: I watched a friend's kid have a total breakdown because he wanted to have eaten ice cream. The thing was, he HAD ice cream. It was his dessert and it was in a bowl in front of him.
Photo Credit: Reddit / shaidyn
Photo Credit: Reddit / shaidyn
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We too would like to cry about the effort that it sometimes takes to complete basic tasks.

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Even if those tasks are things that would make us happy in the long run.

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It's Your Own Fault

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small child sitting in grass holing hand out to dog
Photo Credit: Unsplash / zachary Kadolph
Photo Credit: Unsplash / zachary Kadolph
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"My 2-year-old puts her hand in front of the dog's mouth and cries when he licks her." —Reddit / bwatching

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How do you explain to a 2-year-old the concept of cause and effect?

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You're Not The Boss Of Me!

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mom working on laptop child drawing next to her
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Photo Credit: Christian Ender/Getty Images
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"Now that I've been working at home (I have a desk set up in my bedroom), whenever I give my 3-year-old grief, he tells me to go back to work." —Reddit / Northern_Way

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At this point, she'd probably love to be able to go back to work and actually leave the house.

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Her Eyes Are Always Bigger Than Her Stomach

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crying over mouth wanting more pizza
Photo Credit: Reddit / gnbartels42
Photo Credit: Reddit / gnbartels42
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This kind of self-awareness is going to take her far in life...

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Eventually, she'll learn that you can just ignore that feeling during important meals like Thanksgiving dinner, where you just need to push past the pain so you can eat as much as possible.

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She Just Wanted To Be Bilingual

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toddler girl standing on forest pathway crying
Photo Credit: Unsplash / Arwan Sutanto
Photo Credit: Unsplash / Arwan Sutanto
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"Demanded to know how to say 'Hola in Spanish' would not accept that hola was already Spanish, cried for hours" — Reddit / mashroomium

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Someone has been watching too much Dora the Explorer.

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But Soup Is Wet Anyway

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reddit post: i want milk in my soup but I don't want it to be wet.
Photo Credit: Reddit / ImMeSoThatsCool
Photo Credit: Reddit / ImMeSoThatsCool
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One commenter pointed out that non-wet milk is just another way to ask for cheese, though their toddler might not have known that.

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Telling your kid cheese is made of milk could have just started another meltdown.