I came across this article in The Sun, about a Brisbane Mum who “cancelled” Christmas because her kids were misbehaving.
I also came across another article on More FM about how the letter “caused an outrage amongst parents“.
The Brisbane Mum of 3 was apparently slammed by online parents for being cruel. I thought I’d add my two cents worth in on it, because well … I can.
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I personally do not give two hoots how another parent parents; it’s completely and utterly up to them. When I told my husband about this article, he laughed – specifically at the thought people were outraged.
He said “it’s up to the parent what they do with the child – it’s their children. And it can’t be all happy all the time – you have to discipline your kids and if this is how they do it then so-be-it.”
We both agreed that whilst it’s not something we would personally do, we understand there are loads of things we do as parents that others don’t do.
That’s how parenting works – we all do things differently.
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I always think Christmas time is a particularly difficult time for EVERYONE in the family. Christmas brings out a lot of stresses for families – from Mum and Dad busy with work, getting ready for Christmas, the traffic is worse, the public are a bit grumpier and then the kids.
It’s really good to remember that at this time of the year, kids are REALLY tired. I mean I get it, there’s no excuse for bad behaviour really, but it does pay to keep it in your mind that after a year of activities and going to school / daycare / kindergarten, with minimal break, it can start to take it’s toll on a child.
I know when my kids are tired, they wear their emotions on their sleeve and sometimes act out a bit more than usual. Or listen even less … it’s a really wonderful thing *sarcasm*.
Whether you agree with this Mum or not, about cancelling Christmas, just remember that every single one of us is different.
Also, she hasn’t actually cancelled Christmas yet – she used it as a threat to get her children to listen to her.
I’ve done many things as a parent that I’m sure people would be like “WTF MARIA”, but I do what I do to get my kids to listen and take me seriously.
If this works for her, then who am I to judge!
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