A childhood drawing rediscovered years later has left the internet unable to cope after one Reddit user shared what many are calling an unintentionally brutal portrait of their parents.
The post, shared by u/icantoteit136 to the subreddit r/KidsAreF******Stupid, featured a pencil drawing the user made at age nine, accompanied by the caption: “I did NOT have to cook my parents like this when I was 9…”
Newsweek reached out to original poster (OP) u/icantoteit136 via direct message on Reddit.
The drawing shows two full-body figures standing side by side, labeled: “Beth at 45” and “Dad at 50.”
Beth is drawn with a cropped top and shorts, her legs meticulously detailed with what commenters immediately zeroed in on—prominent, winding lines running down her calves.
At the time of writing, the post has received over 41,000 upvotes and comments.
“Op is foul for this bc [because] why did they draw the varicose veins in DETAIL,” one commenter wrote.
When another user tried to give the artist the benefit of the doubt—“Is it veins or hair either way looking rough Beth”—the OP shut it down quickly: “Varicose veins I fear.”
Dad fares no better. Though his limbs are relatively slim, his torso is dominated by an exaggerated circular belly, shaded heavily for emphasis. One commenter said: “Beth’s veins, dad’s hair, the muffin tops… absolutely savage.”
The disproportion became even funnier when the OP admitted that the drawing wasn’t rooted in reality at all. Looking back, they said their father “literally wasn’t even overweight,” describing him as average-sized with “the tiniest amount of outward extension of the abdomen.”
Somehow, that mild detail morphed into what the OP described as “the nutty professor on paper.”
The internet also latched onto the name “Beth,” assuming it was a stepmother. That theory collapsed when the OP revealed a crucial detail: Beth is their mom—and not even by name.
“Fun fact, I was so weird that ‘Beth’ (or more specifically ‘Ole Beth’) was actually my mom’s nickname I gave her,” they explained. “Her name is literally not even Beth.”
Naturally, commenters demanded to know whether the nickname survived childhood. It did—unfortunately for Beth.
“I do,” the OP replied, adding that the name evolved over the years from Beth, to Ol’ Beth, to Bithy, before a sibling introduced “McFish,” which later devolved into “McFlesh.” “Needless to say,” they added. “She’s not thrilled with them.”
“LMAO I WAS EXPECTING HER TO BE A STEP MOM OR SOMETHING. I hope you kept your childhood weirdness,” another user wrote.
Others chimed in with stories of their own childhood artistic crimes: Father’s Day cards featuring anatomically questionable shower scenes and teachers proudly displaying them for parents to admire.
“Man that may even be more brutal,” the OP responded to one such confession.
In the end, the sketch stands as a reminder of a universal truth: children don’t lie, they don’t edit and they definitely don’t flatter.