Children are natural-born rule followers… and sometimes even better rule interpreters!

One quick-witted child obeyed every word his mother said — just not in the way she expected.

Read on for the full story!

My 3 year old is already learning malicious compliance

My husband, my housemate, my 3-and-a-half-year-old and I went out by a creek to cut some willows.

While they figured out where to start cutting, I sat with my son throwing rocks in the creek.

It was a cool day out (45°F), and my son asked to play in the water.

The mother gently tried to redirect him.

I told him, “No, it’s too cold. We don’t want your feet to get wet ’cause you’ll get cold and you could get sick.”

My son said, “Oh, OK. Well… Can I put my hand in the water?”

I told him that it was very nice to ask and yes, he could.

He was very interested in the water.

When he touched the water he said, “Oh yep, you’re right! It’s cold! I like that water!”

We spent a little more time throwing rocks before moving down by a driveway bridge to cut the willows.

He only accidentally stepped on a wet rock once, but not actually in the creek.

Here’s where the malicious compliance comes in.

They continued on with their day.

While the guys were bundling the cut willows, my son was playing with a couple of sticks, throwing things in the creek and a puddle on the driveway.

Of course, the whole time I’m reminding him to not get too close to the creek because he could fall, we don’t want his feet wet, don’t step in the puddle, etc.

And the whole time, he was repeating and following the rules perfectly.

But then he came across a puddle.

At one point, he dropped a stick in the puddle and he comes and tells me.

Without thinking (it’s so easy to get stuck in parrot mode), I say, “Remember, we don’t step in the creek, now grab your stick.”

Then he does it.

He looks at me and says, “Oh, OK! That makes a lot of sense.”

Then he smiles and steps right in the puddle.

He knows puddles from creeks, and he knew he wasn’t stepping in the creek — he was stepping in a puddle.

It was the cutest malicious compliance I’ve ever seen, and I couldn’t even be mad at him because it was really my fault.

Every rule needs a little wiggle room.

What did Reddit have to say?

Maybe kids know more about psychology than we give them credit for.

This user wonders what kinds of malicious compliance he could get into during the notorious teen years!

Some parents wouldn’t have let this slide, no matter how cute it may have been.

She gave him a set of rules and a loophole wide enough to splash right into!

You know toddlers are going to jump in every time.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.