There are few harder jobs out there than being a parent. There are few that are as common, too. Having responsibility over the formation of a whole person for a minimum of eighteen years is not for the faint of heart, although some might argue that many have this realization a lot later than they should do. Almost everyone has a number of preconceived notions about how moms and dads are meant to act compared to how they often do. Similarly, almost all parents have some unwavering, set ideas about how they want their kids to be.

You might hope that these values were centered around things like being a decent person, and making as much of a positive contribution to society as you’re able to. Unfortunately, some parents’ ideas about what makes up these qualities can fall short of what they should be — and have some unnecessary rules to boot. 

An area where this can be especially typical is when it comes to the sex of peoples’ children. Gender reveal parties have become as notorious as they are fashionable for their reinforcement of the stereotypes about girls and boys, as well as occasionally causing a danger to the attendees themselves. 

These expectations don’t stop in the womb, either. If anything, actually having a child to project the fantasy on to can make some parents even more determined for a certain outcome. It’s a kind of nefarious practice, which seems to be reflected and supported in the bizarre universe of decorative parenting merchandise. 

This was most recently proved by a viral tweet from @mattxiv, showing a selection of signs on sale at an unnamed store with some deranged looking messages. Two of them claimed to offer definitions of «girl» and «boy» that raised more questions than answers.

As if these confusing descriptions weren’t enough to start a conversation, they were accompanied by another sign with the world-weary declaration that its prospective owner «love[s] their ungrateful children». It comes as no surprise that Twitter users were baffled by these offerings, and had plenty to say about their mixed messages. Regardless of the slander, though, it’s sobering to think that there are people out there who buy this sort of thing.