Photo : Pixabay

Sometimes you just need a break. Maybe a kid kept you up all night or has been hanging off your leg every hour of every waking moment in recent history. Maybe you are out of ideas for how to keep your young child entertained for one more second and all you really want to do is lie down.


That’s when author and podcaster Hillary Frank says you should play the “What’s on my butt?” game.

Frank was recently interviewed by Terry Gross on the NPR show “Fresh Air” about her new book, Weird Parenting Wins. When Gross asked Frank whether she’d come across any especially helpful parenting advice during her book research that she still uses, Frank offered up this suggestion:

Frank: “There is a game that a mom made up called, ‘What’s on my butt?’ And the way you play is when you feel like you just need a break, and your kid feels like they want to play, you lie down facedown on the couch. And you tell your kid to go find some random object around the house, put it on your butt and you have to guess what it is. I play this with my daughter and it allows me to refuel.” Gross: “Do you guess right?” Frank: “No, it’s impossible to guess right.”

N ot only does her daughter still like to play the game— she is also responsible for putting away all the objects at the end.


Another suggestion if you’re feeling like you’re simply over the whole parenting thing today/this week/this month: Go read this cathartic post on Reddit about unexpectedly hating parenting. The poor guy has 8-month-old twins and the comments of support and commiseration will make you feel all warm and fuzzy.