A ‘fed-up’ mum says she’s sick of parents ‘gently’ disciplining their children after her toddler was repeatedly hit by an older child.
The woman says she took her 18-month-old to a soft-play centre, and was shocked when a four-year-old boy began hitting the little girl.
“(He) was whacking my 18-month-old, pushing her down, kicked her in the face,” the woman explained on Mumsnet. “Obviously I kept intervening and actually told him off myself but his parent was nowhere to be seen.
“Once I’d told him off he moved onto a different toddler whose mum approached me and asked if I knew who his parent was. said parent eventually came over and said, ‘Aw is he being rough?’
“I said, ‘Yes he’s being very aggressive to multiple toddlers, has hit/kicked/pushed and keeps following them around even after other parents are intervening’. And her response was ‘Ohh (child’s name) you need to be more gentle!’ in a soft voice then walked off and he continued.”
The exchange left the mum fuming, saying there are certain times that call for harsher discipline.
“Sorry but WTF. If your child is as feral as that, surely you say, ‘Right we’re leaving’ and actually tell them off instead of that response? Seems to be a common occurrence too, always seems to be the most aggressive kids who are being gentle parented.”
It prompted other mums to comment that what this mum witnessed wasn’t ‘gentle parenting’.
“That’s called lack of parenting, not gentle parenting,” wrote one mum.
Another responded: “This is not gentle parenting. If you’re following gentle parenting techniques then you ensure that inappropriate behaviour is met with relevant consequences – in this case removing the child who’s hurting others from the situation and explaining why they can’t play if they’re going to hurt others. What you experienced was simply indulgent parenting – very frustrating but completely different.”
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Jessica replied
- 27 Nov 2022 , 1:03 pm
Reply8:34 pm
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