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SALT LAKE CITY — Every parent has off days, but it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one while scrolling through the picture-perfect lives on your newsfeed.
Enter @Kidsaretheworst — an Instagram account dedicated to capturing children's shenanigans and keeping parenting real. Account owner Anna Macfarlane hails from Salt Lake City and told KSL.com she started the account last May as a way to vent.
“My friends and I would frequently talk about our kids and then always end every story with a sarcastic ‘kids are the worst,’ which would make us laugh,” Macfarlane told KSL.com in an email. “Child rearing is crazy! But it's also so rewarding.”
[A photo posted by Kids Are the Worst | Kid Photo (@kidsaretheworst)](https://instagram.com/p/x4pGjjmH_D/) on
The account now features crazy kid antics from all over the world: A curly-haired blonde toddler [happily sits in a pool of egg yolks](https://instagram.com/kidsaretheworst/p/0F0JI1mH5k/); big, innocent brown eyes stare up as a toddler [sits in a bubble bath](https://instagram.com/kidsaretheworst/p/0A-gKimH30/), fully clothed in his Sunday best; and many, many incidents involving markers or lipstick.
[A photo posted by Kids Are the Worst | Kid Photo (@kidsaretheworst)](https://instagram.com/p/0GNtZtGHyu/) on
“Most people that follow and comment are parents, it seems, and it's like therapy to see that other kids are sometimes ridiculous and you are not alone,” she said. “The thing that resonates is that while your kid might have drawn all over his body with Sharpie and it took three weeks to completely wash off, at least he didn't poop all over his crib last night like the kid that just showed up in your Instagram feed.”
The account, which now boasts almost 50,000 followers, has caught plenty of national attention after being featured on Buzzfeed and even got a Facebook shout out from actress Sofia Vergara. Macfarlane says the response has mostly been positive, although her children were slightly offended by the phrasing.
“They have threatened me that they will start an account called “Parents Are the Worst’ and I tell them to go ahead, good luck, but it has to be private,” Macfarlane said. “For the most part, I think people are taking this account in the fun way it is intended and they feel a little better about their child rearing every day.”
[A photo posted by Kids Are the Worst | Kid Photo (@kidsaretheworst)](https://instagram.com/p/yoeRjtGH4v/) on
Macfarlane is also behind the [@dogsaretheworst](https://instagram.com/dogsaretheworst/) and the newly launched [@weddingsaretheworst](https://instagram.com/weddingsaretheworst/) Instagram accounts. She blogs at [kidsaretheworstblog.tumblr.com](http://kidsaretheworstblog.tumblr.com/) and will be launching a website soon so parents can “share more stories, videos and laugh even more,” she said.
["Now you'll have to play with ME!" -your dog #DogLogic #DestroyHumansToysToGetHumanToPlayWithMe photo thanks to @austinpricetattoos #Dogsaretheworst #dogshaming #dogsofinsta #dogsofinstagram #dogs](https://instagram.com/p/yH2zJ7hkv9/) A photo posted by Dogs Are The Worst (@dogsaretheworst) on
“I often think of the quote by Marjorie Hinckley, "The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache,’” she told KSL.com. “Kids Are the Worst is my way of preventing headaches! I'm just saving the world, one laugh at a time.”
