‘Kids Are the Worst’ Instagram Brings the Funny to Parenting

Genevieve Shaw Brown, ABC

You’d be hard-pressed to find a parent who actually thinks their kid is the worst. 

But that doesn’t stop them from sharing photos of their little darlings misadventures on the popular @KidsaretheWorst Instagram.

The account, which has 234,000 followers, was started by Anna Macfarlane, a writer mom of four from Utah. She started the account after talking to a friend.

“It kind of became a joke to show empathy to another mother after she shared a particularly horrifying story to say ‘kids are the worst,'” she told ABC News. “We would all laugh and then move on, knowing that of course they weren’t the worst, but hyperbole can bring a bit of sanity and laughter to an otherwise stressful moment.”

Macfarlane said the perfection that parents often present on social media was one reason she started the account. It just didn’t ring true for her. “Kids are messy, parents are messy, and I feel like I am winning when my kids leave for school with matching shoes and teeth brushed.”

She has her fair share of critics, she admits, especially at the start. “I saw a lot of people comment that the name was horrible and that I didn’t understand how wonderful children are. Which, of course, I know isn’t true. My kids are seriously amazing and I feel like I won the lottery with the four of them, but they can still do things that drive me crazy and [make me] want to cry in my pillow some nights.”

But in general, Macfarlane said the feedback is “great.”

“Parents like to know that they aren’t the only one who has served cold cereal for dinner three nights in a row and worn the same yoga pants for the last few days … and nights,” she said. “When your kid is throwing a fit in the middle of the grocery store, you think back on the photo you recently saw of the kid who put his mom’s new lipstick all over his face and hair and you think, ‘OK. I’m not alone. I can do this.'”

She added: “Parents who would rather laugh together than cry alone understand that it is a fun account meant to support each other in this crazy child-raising adventure we are all on.”