Now, here’s a parenting tip moms and dads oughta “No!.”
Emily Perkins, 28, a kindergarten teacher from Kentucky, is schooling parents on the art of saying “uh-uh” before their little rascal’s first day of school.
“Tell your child ‘No,’” said the kiddo pro in a buzzy bulletin with over 326,000 TikTok views.
Perkins virally scolded “gentle” moms and dads who refuse to tell their kids “No” for fear of triggering negative emotions. Krakenimages.com – stock.adobe.com“Tell them ‘No’ as a complete sentence,” she urged, insisting that a homespun lesson in denial is the best way to prepare a tot for the classroom. “Do not teach them that telling them ‘No’ invites them to argue with you.”
Perkins assures that issuing a veto isn’t about being repressive. Instead, it’s about teaching tikes respect.
“If I can’t tell your child ‘No’ as an adult, and they don’t respect the ‘No,’” she said, “they’re basically unteachable.”
It’s a piercing word-to-the-wise aimed directly at mothers and fathers of the “gentle parenting” persuasion. The folks who’d rather let their kids run amok than reprimand them with tough love.
Gentle parenting emphasizes a child’s thoughts, needs and feelings over rules, restrictions and punishments. JenkoAtaman – stock.adobe.com
Perkins says kids who aren’t taught to respect an adult’s instructions are virtually “unteachable” at school. Getty Images
Gentle parents often avoid yelling, giving time outs and spankings. pikselstock – stock.adobe.comGentle parenting is bringing-up-baby style that prioritizes empathy, understanding, independence and boundaries. It’s an ultramodern form of child-rearing that comes in stark contrast to the more traditional punishment-and-reward, “spare the rod, spoil the child” ideologies of yore.
The little hellions of gentle parents are often permitted to do as they please — scream, holler, hit, terrorize and vandalize — sans repercussion.
Kelly Medina Enos, 34, doesn’t even instruct her five-year-old son, George, to say “sorry,” when he misbehaves. To the millennial mom of two, from the UK, making him apologize — even after he “smacks” her — is “disingenuous.”
Perkins says parents who are opposed to using the word “No” should homeschool their little terrors. Krakenimages.com – stock.adobe.comTo Perkins, the gentle parenting trend is nothing but a nightmare.
“Congratulations, you’re a pushover,” the teacher and mother of two scoffed in her viral rebuke. “You can validate your child’s feelings without being a pushover.”
“I had a parent tell me that they don’t tell their child ‘No’ because it triggers them,” she said with a deep sigh.
“If you want to have a kid who you can’t tell ‘No,’ and you don’t want to use the word ‘No’ in your vocabulary [and] you want to be able to tell them ‘No’ and then they argue with you immediately — teach your own kids,” Perkins ranted.
“Teach your own kids,” she reiterated.
“If your child’s teacher can’t tell them ‘No,’” said Perkins, “it’s really hard to help them learn.”
