With each stage of parenting comes new challenges, and the tween and teen years can be particularly tricky to navigate. Establishing boundaries and enforcing rules can feel like an insurmountable task when kids continually push for independence. Parents are often faced with toeing the line of allowing teens to spread their wings and ensuring they don't make life-altering mistakes.
On April 23, 2024, Lottie Weaver took to TikTok with a video outlining six rules her daughters must follow. Her three girls are currently 4, 8, and 11, reports Newsweek. However, Lottie already knows how she's approaching things like dating, hanging out with friends, and smartphones. And the internet was divided about her "strict" philosophy.
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Lottie Weaver's first rule for her daughters had to do with dating.
"We're not there yet. But I will not let my girls get in a car and go on a date with someone if I have not met them already," Lottie explained. "So they need to like, walk up to the door, knock, knock, 'Hi, my name is Joe, and I'm taking your daughter on a date.'"
Rules No. 2 and No. 3 had to do with talking to strangers on the internet and having access to her kids' phones.
Second on her list was talking to strangers on the internet, even if they are kids.
"You know like the Roblox games, how you can like message back and forth? Uh, no b—-, you will not be talking to any strangers," Lottie said. "And how will I know? Well, luckily, I'm a pretty observant parent. You know, check in on those babies. That's our job as parents, you know, check in on our kids. Check their phones, OK? They may not want you to, but we check their phones. So you ain't messaging no strangers."
Rule No. 3 was that her daughters must give her the password to their phones. "I'm your parent," she said. "I can have access to your phone at any time."
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Lottie's other rules involved friends, school, and pets.
"You cannot be out with your friends like all day, all night, all weekend, all whatever," Lottie explained for rule No. 4. "So like, if you go out all day on Saturday and you want to go out on Saturday night, you have to come home, spend an hour, say hello, check in, and then leave."
Her fifth rule is that there will be no missing school assignments. "I don't necessarily care for the grades," she clarified. "… Everything must be turned in."
Finally, she has banned "little animals" from her home. "No guinea pigs, no hamsters, no fishies, whatever," she stressed. "We've tried that before. It ended terribly. So when you move out, you can get all the animals you want."
Many TikTok users thought the mom was way too strict.
As of writing, Lottie's video has attracted more than 409,000 likes and over 3 million views. TikTok users sounded off in the comments, too, with many expressing disagreement over her parenting philosophy.
One person wrote, "Strict parents make sneaky kidsss."
Another TikTok user declared, "I'm gonna go hug my mom," while someone else snarked, "'why don't my kids visit me?'"
Yet another person wrote, "The phone one was crazy, that's my privacy."
Meanwhile, someone else declared, "Well aren't u just a bundle of joy!"
Still, others felt her rules were completely reasonable.
Not everyone criticized Lottie.
One person shared: "These are all so valid tbh. my parents always had my password but never checked my phone bc they didn't have a reason to. i think regular checks are overbearing but knowing the password totally!"
Another TikTok user echoed, "My parents were exactly like this, this ain't strict this is normal parenting to protect your kids," while someone else commented, "These aren't even that bad.. they are so reasonable."
Yet another person wrote, "All these kids in the comments are talking about 'STRICT' this isn't strict whatsoever. This is actually a normal parent, parenting and caring for her kids."
