Member-only story

Parenting Techniques from the President’s Playbook

Parenting 101

2 min readApr 11, 2025

--

Image by SG Buckley / ChatGPT

Technique 1: Lie

It’s after 4pm. I’m late to pick up my daughter from school. By the time I arrive, she’s curbside, arms crossed, eyes narrowed.

“You’re late!” she snaps.

“No I’m not,” I reply. “You said 4:30pm.”

“No, I didn’t!”

“Yes you did! I wrote it right here.” I show her my diary. It says “4:30PM PICK UP DAUGHTER FROM SCHOOL!” in black Sharpie pen.

Technique 2: Blame Others

Daughter stomps into room.

“Mom! Did you buy my soccer jersey?”

“What?”

“You promised you’d get it. Mine is too small. The match is today.”

“Of course I ordered it,” I say.

“Then where is it?” she asks, looking confused.

“It must be in your room. It’s total chaos in there.”

“You didn’t order it, did you Mom.”

“I did, I swear. But they never sent it.”

“Seriously Mom?”

“Seriously. You know you can’t trust diversity hires.”

Technique 3: Flood the Zone

--

--

SG Buckley
SG Buckley

Written by SG Buckley

Writer, editor, parent. Former staffer at Quartz, WSJ and Inc. magazine.

Responses (1)