Fun and scary: what life with children really looks like

Parenting looks flawless and attractive only in advertising diapers or on posters in a women's clinic. Experienced parents know that family idylls are possible, but they consistently alternate with mayhem, chaos, destruction, curiosities and situations when it is not very clear what to do — swear, laugh or cry.

See a selection of painfully funny and recognizable photos shared by parents from different parts of the world — we are sure some of them will make you nod your head understandingly.

"Yesterday we found my wife's phone in the toilet," a user with the nickname footeperu wrote on Reddit. "We didn't know which of our three children put it there until my wife looked at her photos."

"If I'm ever asked how I worked on the remote in 2020, I'll just show this photo."

"I worked the night shift and when I got home, I went to sleep. When I got up, I went for a walk with the dog. Thanks to the neighbor: he already warned me at the exit from the yard that I probably shouldn't go anywhere with such a marker painted on my face."

"I took the children to parasailing. Rising into the air, they depicted the dead. My heart almost jumped out."

"My son just made a huge mess. It 's his expression that means: "I'll explain everything now.""

"We rented an apartment where frosted glass is inserted into the bathroom door. My youngest is always waiting for me at the door, and sometimes, showing impatience, snuggles up to her, and it looks like a scene from a horror movie."

"I told my son that he can't swim in the pool without adults. He got offended, stripped naked, said he didn't want to stay with us anymore and left."

"After nine months of working from home, my daughter saw me in a suit for the first time. She didn't like it."

"As it turned out, my daughter promised to show classmates "something that we have at home and smells very delicious." I don't even know how I'm going to talk to their teacher now."

Taking pictures with children, you never know what kind of surprise awaits you.

"My brother made my daughter a hairstyle from a "lepeik". It took me 20 hours to comb all the details out of her hair."

"My daughter built a slug hospital in the garden and dragged more than 30 "patients" there. Now they are spreading everywhere, and I am afraid to go out into the yard."

"A neighbor came to visit with her baby. At first we were happy about how quietly and calmly the child was playing..."

"The child found white paint — and immediately turned the kitchen into Saruman's domain."

"It's always nice to see how a child usefully spends time at school."

"I woke up to the fact that my daughter was standing over me. Yes, in this form. As a father, I've never been so proud. And so scared."

"We have 10 rooms in our house, but no matter which one I go to work in, the children soon end up there."

"My daughter stole my mother's wallet, but soon solemnly returned it. Everything was in place, only instead of an identity card there was this."

"I came home, and the first thing I saw was my purple son. As it turned out, his daughter painted it."

"There was a blizzard at night. And in the evening, the children forgot to close the window in the car."

"My six-year-old daughter received tattoo markers as a Christmas present and quietly disappeared for half an hour. Now we can't wash them. Generally. It seems to be permanent tattoo markers."

"She just wanted to play with my laptop."

"My son stuffed all this into the air conditioner for 6 years."

"I went to the bathroom. But my two-year-old daughter thinks I've been there too long."