Funny ParentingCulture

My Son Thought I Was a Guy This Whole Time

A boy's internal lore had his mom filed under 'stronger male rival to defeat someday.'

ยท 6 min ยท Togetter

What's going on

A Japanese mom posted about the moment her son hit her with a devastating revelation: he had apparently been operating under the assumption that she was a guy this entire time. Not just vaguely confused โ€” he had a full internal classification system. Dad was "the fun guy who plays with me sometimes." Mom was "a stronger male I need to defeat one day."

Looking back, it explained everything. The weirdly competitive energy. The constant arm-wrestling challenges. The locker-room talk. She had assumed her son was just unusually open with her compared to other kids. Turns out he had categorized her as a fellow dude and was treating her accordingly. The thread quickly filled with parents sharing their own kids' baffling gender logic.

Comments

I always thought my kid shared more about school than most kids his age… and then this happened.

๐Ÿ‘ฆ “Wait โ€” Mom, wait โ€” are you a GIRL?! I thought you were a guy this whole time. Because I figured, since you were a guy, it was fine to talk dirty and compliment your arm and stomach muscles… I’m so shocked I can’t go on ๐Ÿ˜ญ I can’t survive this ๐Ÿ˜ญ”

WHY.

I always thought parenting was unusually exhausting at our house โ€” way more “gross boy humor” and “dominance posturing, mom edition” than other families seemed to deal with… Turns out he had unconsciously categorized me as a fellow guy. All that roughness was just… how boys treat each other. Kid-sized. I’m the one who’s in shock ๐Ÿ’ฆ

When I dug deeper, his internal settings were something else entirely:

  • Dad โ†’ “a fun guy who plays with me sometimes”
  • Mom โ†’ “a stronger male, someone I need to defeat eventually”

Other kids are soft with their moms, don’t challenge them or confide in them the same way. Ours was the total opposite, and it cost so much more energy. NOW it makes sense!!

Every single bath time, I’d get this:

“Man, you’re so lucky, you’ve got muscles and a deep voice (compared to a single-digit-age child, sure) ๐Ÿ˜ญ But I’m the strongest arm wrestler in my grade ๐Ÿ’ข Let’s go after we’re out!” (loses every time)

Apparently THIS was why. Kids’ brains are wild.

Maybe it’s because I buy stuff like this. (Exercise equipment, to fight sitting around too much.)
This is too adorable ๐Ÿคฃ Hope he keeps sharing stuff with you forever~
This is lovely. You can see she just parents without making gender a thing. Respect.
Like… who did he think gave birth to him ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ
wwwwwwwwww this is genuinely the cutest thing wwwwwwwww He was treating her like a buddy this whole time lmao
I laughed so hard, this is so cute and wholesome. Getting sweetness from your son is nice, sure, but being accepted as one of the guys honestly sounds like it’d be fun too? A little jealous ngl.
Okay but hold on!! This is too good ๐Ÿ˜† And now I want one of those punching bags that showed up at the end!!
No WAY wwwww His definition of “mom” lmaooo wwwww
The default settings were so unhinged I had to share wwwwwwwwww peak content wwwwwwwwww
This is way too funny. I didn’t know this could even happen!
Absolutely hilarious
This story is too much lol
I’m dying to know how old the kid is… I’ve never heard of a kid mistaking their mom for a man before and I can’t stop thinking about it…!! You’ve worked so hard for nothing and everything at once!!
He probably saw the thick chest hair and rough body hair and thought “yep, that’s a dude”

Mom โ†’ a stronger male, someone I need to defeat eventually

Can this actually happen. This is way too funny.

Starting to think she might be Yoshida Saori. (Saori Yoshida is a legendary Japanese female wrestler who won three Olympic gold medals โ€” not someone you’d want to arm-wrestle.)
I mean, “wouldn’t he notice from the bath” is a valid question… but honestly, finding out your mom’s gender is the opposite of what you thought? That’s a world-flipping revelation at any age.
This is hilarious, but โ€” they bathe together and he still thought she was a guy…?
My toddler also doesn’t seem to have figured out the genders of family members yet. Gets friends wrong too.
My 4-year-old son treats me so rough and rude that I once asked him, “Do you talk like that to the girls in your class too?” And he went: “The girls are… too cute, I can’t do that to them.” ๐Ÿคฃ
My son used to say “back when mom was a man” โ€” so I asked, “don’t you mean when I was a kid?” He said, “No, I thought you were a man but turned into a woman when you got married.” (lol) “Because your muscles are huge!!” w He makes me flex for every new friend he brings over ๐Ÿ˜‚ Kid, YOU’RE the reason I got this strong โ€” I carried you everywhere.
The default settings are incredible but ALSO โ€” why did this misunderstanding happen in the first place?! Is it like how infant girls reportedly see their mom as an extension of themselves? Just… carried that into childhood? Someone please explain ๐Ÿฅน๐Ÿฅน
Adorable. That’s one serious gap in the internal model. Can’t wait to hear what happens now that he knows.

My take

Kids can hold some wildly off-base assumptions โ€” like thinking adults were never children and just started out as adults. This one somehow took it further: Mom isn't just an adult, she's a rival male to be defeated. One day. Eventually.

Comments loosely translated for tone.

Source https://togetter.com/li/2707642