She Called Out Her Sister’s Free-Range Parenting Style At A Family Barbecue And Claimed Her Sister Was Just Letting Her Kids Run Wild
This 28-year-old woman attended a family barbecue last weekend, and she couldn’t stop herself from saying something about her sister’s unique parenting style.
Her sister is 30-years-old and has two kids, who are 7 and 5. She also understands that it’s good to “let kids be kids,” but her sister’s unconventional approach to caregiving was mind-blogging for her.
“My sister believes in ‘free-range parenting,’ which sounds great in theory, but in practice, it’s just chaos,” she explained.
As soon as she arrived at the event, she watched as her sister allowed the children to run wild, claiming that they needed to “explore” and “learn independence.” At the same time, her sister just sat there, scrolling on her phone.
The kids proceeded to start running into the street, climbing trees, and even making mud pies.
She also tried to keep an eye on them. Yet, once her niece nearly fell off a swing set, she’d had enough.
She decided to approach her sister and tell her to pay more attention to the kids since they kept putting themselves in dangerous situations. Well, her sister just rolled her eyes in response to that and accused her of being “overprotective.”
That was her last straw, and she blew up on her sister.
“You might want to consider that you’re not raising tiny adventurers; you’re just letting them run wild,” she said.
Gorodenkoff – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual people
This made the family gathering quite awkward, and her sister ended up storming off. Meanwhile, the rest of her relatives looked really shocked.
Everyone’s reactions have left her feeling pretty guilty, too. She never intended to spark a fight.
“But I can’t help but think that there’s a fine line between allowing freedom and just being neglectful. I just wanted to protect her kids!” she vented.
Nonetheless, she’s been left wondering if calling her sister out like that actually was a jerky move.
Do you agree with free-range parenting or not? Are there times when it’s okay to comment on how other parents manage their children, or is it always best to keep your mouth shut?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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