How to Annoy Your Parents

Show your parents who’s boss with these (mostly innocent) pranks and irritating habits

Parents on your case again? Sometimes, bugging them back can be super satisfying—and we can help! Keep reading for all the best ways to annoy your parents, whether you’re at home, in public, or riding in the car. Soon enough, they’ll be pulling their hair out in frustration.

1

Fail at your chores.

Next time they assign you a task, fail at it—but make it seem accidental. “Accidentally” being bad at washing the dishes or “forgetting” to hang up your coat when you walk in the door will get on their nerves. If they think it’s an accident, though, they’ll be less likely to get suspicious or ground you.
- "Forget" every time you're asked to do something simple, like take out the trash, or walk the dog.
- If you have a chore, complain about how it's too hard.
- Say you don't know how to do something. After they explain how to do it, say you forgot.
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2

Pester your parents with repetitive habits.

An annoying habit becomes more annoying the more you do it. So if you want to really grate on your parents’ nerves, do something irritating—over and over and over again. Think clicking the light switch on and off repeatedly, or asking, “Are we there yet?” every 2 minutes next time you’re on a road trip.
- Walk into the room when they are trying to watch a film and constantly ask questions about everything.^{[1]XResearch source}
- Follow them around the house and step on the back of their shoes. Apologize. Repeat.
- When they ask you to go get something, come back without anything. When they ask again, come back with something that's not what they ask for. Keep doing this.

3

Prank them.

Make them feel like they’re losing their minds with some light pranking. Really get on your parents’ nerves by sabotaging them to make life just a little more inconvenient. Just don’t do something so severe—like shutting off their alarm clock the night before a big work meeting—that they go from “annoyed” to “raging mad.”
- Set their alarm clock for 6 'o' clock in the morning on a weekend.
- Sprinkle a little bit of water on their pillow so they think the roof is leaking, or perhaps your pet is peeing on their bed.
- Write your name in the dust all over your parents car.
- Turn the heat down when it's cold, and up when it's hot.
- Make them drive you to school. When you're almost there, say you forgot something super important. When you're almost home, "find" it.
- Ask them for help with your homework. Then when they sit down, get up and leave them to do it.
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4

Hide your parents' stuff.

“Misplace” everyday items to really drive them nuts. Stealing low-stakes everyday items, like the TV remote or the book they’ve been reading, will make them lose their minds. When they ask where the item went, say innocently, “How should I know?” (Just keep in mind that hiding super important things, like their car keys or their wallet, can cause more damage than it’s worth.)
- Hide the TV remote or their mobile phone.
- If your parents want you to take a bath or shower before bed and you don’t want to, hide the shampoo.

5

Embarrass your parents in public.

Parents hate to be bugged, but they really hate being bugged in public. Take your annoying behavior to a new level by embarrassing your parents at the supermarket, department store, or other public location. They’ll not only be annoyed, they’ll be super flustered.
- If you are in a store with them, constantly pick things up and ask how much they are.
- Start begging for candy or junk food at the grocery store: "Can I have this, please?"
- Beg to go to the bathroom. When your parents find a bathroom, say you don't have to go anymore.
- Just stick to embarrassment and avoid outright humiliation: you want to annoy them, not hurt their feelings.
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6

Start talking in an annoying way.

Talk a lot, say annoying things, or take on an irritating accent. From talking in a made-up language to using horrendous grammar, talking in an annoying way is sure to get your parents’ goats. And the more you keep it up, the more irritated they’ll get.
- Use bad grammar and don't stop even after your parents correct it.
- Call your parents by their first names, instead of "Mom" or "Dad."
- Talk in a different accent, or just jabber at them in a made-up language.

7

Be loud.

Increasing your volume is one of the simplest ways to annoy them. Just about everyone is irritated by too-loud volume, and that includes your parents. To totally chap their hides, turn your music up really loud, speak at a loud volume, and slam doors (just be safe about it so you don’t hurt yourself).^{[2]XResearch source}
- Turn your music up really loud, especially if they don't like the music. If they say a word from a song, suddenly burst out into that song, singing really badly at the top of your lungs.
- Jump up and down the stairs rather than walking.
- Laugh really over the top if someone tells a joke.
- Walk into a room and scream, saying you have seen a ghost.
- Chew with your mouth open and slurp when you drink.
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8

Spout “fake” facts.

Correct your parents incorrectly and offer random made-up facts. Your parents send you to school to learn about the world and grow into an intelligent young adult. So imagine their aggravation when they hear you make up “facts” or correct them wrongly.
- Correct your parents' grammar constantly, but incorrectly. When they say, "Who wants ice cream?" yell back, "Whom wants ice cream, you mean, I believe."
- Try talking really "properly," even if you don't know what you're saying. Pick a really long word, like "philandering," and use it constantly: "Well, frankly, darling, this philandering philistine hasn't got a cotton picking clue."
- Recite random facts when your parents try talking to you, or just make them up: "At school we learned about how the interior crust of the moon is where they get the stuff for cell phone screens. They send kids up there to get it."
- Say vague nonsense. If they ask what you did at a friend's house, say, "It was...totalitarian."

9

Just be super duper weird.

Vague, but effective: just be as gosh darn strange as you can. Unexpected, unexplainable, and downright weird behavior is sure to leave your parents puzzled and annoyed. Invent 10 imaginary friends and talk to them all at the same time in front of your parents, or wear all your clothes backwards inexplicably. |Being weird will have them scratching their heads for days.
- If they are walking to the bathroom, run in and lock the door and tell them you were desperate.
- Just start summarizing the plot of Star Wars out of the blue, or tell your parents about your skeleton key to the underworld in super-specific and dramatic detail.
- Wait until you have the house to yourself and move around all the furniture, stacking it in weird places.
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Warnings

Acting like this could become a bad habit, causing you to have trouble making friends.
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This behavior might make your parents mad, especially if you do it too much. Messing around once in a while and pulling a harmless prank may not be a big deal, but avoid making them angry or being cruel: annoying your parents on purpose can affect your relationship in negative ways.
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