People readily agree that there’s no manual for raising children, and that we all just have to do the best we can. Many might even admit to the fact that there is not one way to do it. Still, that doesn’t stop them from criticizing a parenting philosophy or practice that they don’t agree with.
As this current generation of parents — and perhaps the next, too — seeks to do things differently, and in a way that's more healthy for our children, there are plenty of critics who believe a more gentle approach to parenting will inevitably make the kids “too soft.”
KC Davis is tired of the gentle parenting critics.
KC Davis, a TikToker and licensed professional therapist, shared her issue with those who have a problem with gentle parenting in a recent video.
In an impassioned speech delivered from her car, Davis begins her video on fire, saying, “I am so sick of people s—-ing on gentle parenting.”
Davis argues that what is actually "fragile," the "softest" being in existence are “fully grown adults that cannot regulate their behavior in the face of something a literal child has done.”
Davis says gentle parenting is just 'regulated parenting.'
In a calmer tone, Davis explains how gentle parenting is more about the adults than it is the children. “Gentle parenting is literally just regulated parenting,” she explains.
“It is 'I want to learn how to regulate my own emotions. How to manage my own nervous system activation before deciding what to do in response to my child so I don’t just s— all over them.'"
Davis says there are certain things regulated parents just don't do.
Clapping in between each word and leaning into the camera, Davis finishes the video by saying, “Parents who are regulated don’t hit and scream at their children.”
Whew! Facts. Acknowledging our own poor behavior as we’re trying to correct our children can be a humbling and even embarrassing experience, and that might actually be the reason for so many critics.
Gentle parenting is not taking the easy way out.
But Davis acknowledges that while she is a proponent of gentle parenting, it is not easy. In the caption for the video she writes, “It’s hard work & we all make mistakes but seems like what is really making people soft is whatever parenting these people got.”
Her comment section is full of cosigners.
“IN learning how to help my youngest regulate himself, I have learned how to regulate myself,” one user wrote. "And it’s all through gentle parenting."
Another shared that taking this parenting approach was the “hardest thing I’ve ever done! Def not the ‘easy way out.’”
