16 brilliant tricks our parents used to teach us important skills

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Children usually don't like to be told what to do — especially if that instruction is followed by the dreaded, "Because I said so!"

Growing up, the editors and reporters at INSIDER, Business Insider and Tech Insider were no different. And so, to teach us important life skills — and get us to complete simple tasks — our parents had to resort to trickery and other brilliant schemes.

From bribing us with beanie babies to designating the family home a "no whining zone," here are some of the best tricks our parents used. 

My mom made me touch noses with my sister to get us to stop fighting.

"When my sister and I were little and used to fight a lot, my mom would make us stand with our noses touching until we said 'I love you' and hugged each other.

"It taught me to argue with her, especially in front of my parents. And now I actually don't argue with anyone very often." — Courtney Verrill (Visual Features Intern, Business Insider)

My parents called our house a 'no whine zone' to get us to stop whining.

"My house growing up from day one was deemed a 'no whining zone.' That's just the way it was. Whenever my siblings or I would whine, my parents would just say, 'This is a no whining zone,' and we listened and we stopped.

"It's definitely made me see the upside of things and to be a problem solver, instead of sit on my butt and whine."— Lauren Browning (Associate Social Media Editor, INSIDER)

My parents made me recite the months of the year every night until I learned them.

"When I was little I could not remember the months of the year for the life of me. It was starting to get a little weird that I still didn't know them so my parents made me recite the months in order every night before I could eat my dinner. I learned in a hurry after that."— Molly Sequin (Science Intern, Business Insider)