I refuse to label my parenting as any one ‘style’.
Parenting styles are a thing now. In our ultra-savvy, over-marketed world, we feel the need to label everything.
However, I’m calling it.
There are too many labels for parenting styles floating around and I myself refuse to be locked into just one. It belittles everything I do and say and over-simplifies my entire life.
I have no agenda when it comes to raising our kids. Let’s face it, most of us don’t have a real plan. We just take each minute, hour, week and month as it comes, doing our best while ‘experts’ try and label our performance, telling us what’s ‘right’ about it and what’s ‘wrong’.
Off the top of my head, the following parent styles have been discussed in this way. Please let me know if I have missed any. Because there are so many.
Tiger Mums.
Lighthouse Parents (which I think is the same as No-Rescue Parent).
French Parenting.
Helicopter Mums.
Attachment Parent.
Authoritative Parent.
Free-range Mums.
What I want to remind everyone is that WE ARE ALL PARENTING STYLES AT DIFFERENT TIMES OF THE DAY.
I'll give you an example.
Today is a school day, so I Authoritative Parent my kids endlessly. When I say it's time to get up, I expect them to get up. When I tell them to brush their teeth and put their school uniforms on, I expect it done well with no arguments. There is no time for anything else. Our mornings are executed with military precision. Military Parents. Is that a thing yet?
As I drive them to school in the car I am Attachment Parent. (For the 16 things you need to know about attachment parenting, click here.) We spend the entire time talking about school, about their lives, about their likes and dislikes and tell each other how much we love each other a million times. I hold their hands at red lights, stroke their hair and demand kisses and cuddles at school drop off.
While they are at school I am Working Mum. I work from home which means when I take a 'break' from work I am doing housework. There are pros and cons to working from home. I do love that I can hear their school bell from my house. I know exactly when they are having recess and lunch and when they are getting ready to come home.
After they arrive home from school, it's Free-Range time. They wander around the house and backyard entertaining themselves, unwinding from the day and just hanging out. I don't interact with them much at this time. I want them to chill for a couple of hours. They walk in from the school bus on their own (it stops at the end of our driveway) and they free-range their way through the front door and get their own snacks, make their own decisions while I tie up any loose ends.