broccolifarm

These parents told their son they were going to the least kid-appealing place they could think of (i.e. the broccoli farm) so they could make their big surprise (the circus) even greater.

Then it all blew up in their faces.

I don’t think they could have won no matter what they’d promised him: a visit to the dentist; a trip to the garbage dump; an errand with mom to check out bathroom fixtures. Each would have beat out the circus somehow, just by virtue of being the thing the kid was expecting to do.

Kids are just not good with surprises.

The lesson here is: Don’t ever bait and switch a child. Especially if the switch is for something better.

Second case in point: Remember the parents who told their poor kids they had to go Disney World instead of Chattanooga?

That was four year ago and I think they are still crying.

Do you have a parenting story when a big surprise backfired? Please share in the comments!