"It's my job as a parent to cheerlead for my kids - I refuse to be their friend, it won't teach them to be resilient"
A mum says it's her "job" as a parent to be her kids' "cheerleader" and refuses to be their friend or a 'helicopter parent' as she says it won't teach them to be "resilient".
Meredith Masony, 43, doesn’t put a label on her parenting style and treats all of her children – aged 13, 15, and 17 – differently.
The mum-of-three has always wanted to take a seat back and 'sittervise' her children so they can play independently and "use their imagination".
Sittervising is a new trend in which parents supervise their children from a seated position while they play – and while Meredith says it’s has been around for decades she agrees with the principles.
She believes parents who “dote” on their children are not going to teach them “how to be resilient or get a job done”.
Meredith, a content creator and comic, from Jacksonville, Florida, US, said: “If you’re your child’s playmate it detracts from the child’s ability to be resilient.
“This new term sittervising – I just call it parenting.
“Parents who dote on their kids. They will grow up with a feeling of entitlement.
“My job as a mum is to be that cheerleader.”
Having grown up in the 80s, Meredith takes a lot of her parenting style from her childhood.
She said: “I think growing up in the way we did in the 80s your parents were not there.
“You weren’t making your parents play with you.
“We were out roaming.
“You can’t parent like you did in the 80s.
“But there are quite a lot of strong parenting principles to give kids the freedom to go out and do things.
“For me personally my job as a parent is to let them use their imagination and play.”
Although her brood are now older, Meredith always let her children play independently rather than getting involved.
She “worries” about kids who are parented by a helicopter parent – a style of parenting where the mum or dad is are highly involved in the child’s life and play.
Meredith said: “Parents who want to helicopter – it’s not going to teach them how to be resilient or get a job done.
“You have to raise them to be self-sufficient.
“If you give them everything they want, they are going to have obstacles in the future.”
Meredith also refuses to be mates with her children.
She said: “The last thing I want is to be a child’s friend.
“I’m a parent.
“I make sure they are safe. I’m there to help.
“I can’t be friends with a 16-year-old. We have nothing in common.
“When these parents becomes best friends with their kid, I think ‘are you really sure?’
“Your best friend is someone you can share all that you are going through.”
Meredith says she parents her three children differently.
She said: “You treat your kids differently.
“They are three different people you can’t treat them the same.
“My first child potty-trained himself.
“My second child – she turned my life upside down.
“My youngest son – he was even more different – my little chameleon.
“Nothing about parenting is one size fits all.”
Meredith has been sharing comical and relatable videos about parenting for the last 10 years.
She said: “Trends make me laugh when they have been going on 50 plus years.
“Motherhood is very isolating and lonely.
“That’s why I started this.
“We’re doing the hardest thing in the planet."
Meredith Masony, 43, doesn’t put a label on her parenting style and treats all of her children – aged 13, 15, and 17 – differently.
The mum-of-three has always wanted to take a seat back and 'sittervise' her children so they can play independently and "use their imagination".
Sittervising is a new trend in which parents supervise their children from a seated position while they play – and while Meredith says it’s has been around for decades she agrees with the principles.
She believes parents who “dote” on their children are not going to teach them “how to be resilient or get a job done”.
Meredith, a content creator and comic, from Jacksonville, Florida, US, said: “If you’re your child’s playmate it detracts from the child’s ability to be resilient.
“This new term sittervising – I just call it parenting.
“Parents who dote on their kids. They will grow up with a feeling of entitlement.
“My job as a mum is to be that cheerleader.”
Having grown up in the 80s, Meredith takes a lot of her parenting style from her childhood.
She said: “I think growing up in the way we did in the 80s your parents were not there.
“You weren’t making your parents play with you.
“We were out roaming.
“You can’t parent like you did in the 80s.
“But there are quite a lot of strong parenting principles to give kids the freedom to go out and do things.
“For me personally my job as a parent is to let them use their imagination and play.”
Although her brood are now older, Meredith always let her children play independently rather than getting involved.
She “worries” about kids who are parented by a helicopter parent – a style of parenting where the mum or dad is are highly involved in the child’s life and play.
Meredith said: “Parents who want to helicopter – it’s not going to teach them how to be resilient or get a job done.
“You have to raise them to be self-sufficient.
“If you give them everything they want, they are going to have obstacles in the future.”
Meredith also refuses to be mates with her children.
She said: “The last thing I want is to be a child’s friend.
“I’m a parent.
“I make sure they are safe. I’m there to help.
“I can’t be friends with a 16-year-old. We have nothing in common.
“When these parents becomes best friends with their kid, I think ‘are you really sure?’
“Your best friend is someone you can share all that you are going through.”
Meredith says she parents her three children differently.
She said: “You treat your kids differently.
“They are three different people you can’t treat them the same.
“My first child potty-trained himself.
“My second child – she turned my life upside down.
“My youngest son – he was even more different – my little chameleon.
“Nothing about parenting is one size fits all.”
Meredith has been sharing comical and relatable videos about parenting for the last 10 years.
She said: “Trends make me laugh when they have been going on 50 plus years.
“Motherhood is very isolating and lonely.
“That’s why I started this.
“We’re doing the hardest thing in the planet."
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FunTranscript
00:00 So apparently there's a term that's going around on the internet right now
00:04 called "sittervising" which is where as a parent you sit in one spot and
00:11 supervise your child's activity. You don't play with the child, you don't
00:15 interact with the child, you just sit and watch and make sure that like everything's
00:20 okay. And I audibly laughed when I heard this because well I've been doing that
00:26 for all of my parenting and I didn't know honestly that other parents thought
00:33 that that was like a thing that they shouldn't be doing. I have to be a hundred
00:38 percent honest here. I know that I've been called a lazy parent and all of
00:44 those other things here on the internet which is fine I really don't care but
00:47 people are now realizing that it's much easier to just hand the child the
00:52 popsicle and let them sit and watch TV so that they can take some time for
00:57 themselves and it doesn't make you a bad person. And I gotta say I'm here for it
01:01 okay? I'm so glad that you guys are seeing that this is something that not
01:05 only you should be doing but it's totally 100% acceptable. And I guess
01:09 that's because you're younger than me and maybe your parents were more
01:14 involved but like my parents weren't. I was a latchkey kid nobody was ever home
01:18 everybody was always at work we entertained ourselves all of the time.
01:22 And I think that it's necessary for kids to entertain themselves because they
01:27 need to they need to know how to do this. That's how they learn social skills and
01:32 all sorts of things. So please parents out there you younger parents it's
01:37 totally cool to sit on the couch and let them play with the Play-Doh, eat the
01:41 popsicles, watch the cartoons, do the things and when they say why aren't you
01:47 playing with me? Say figure it out go play on your own cuz you're gonna be
01:53 alright okay? Go on and do it and you just sit. It's amazing I love sitting.
02:00 Sitting is like my favorite thing ever and you're allowed to sittervise if
02:04 that's what it's called. I just called it parenting but I'm old and I understand
02:08 that I'm old. So you youngins who are raising these youngsters these little
02:12 four, five, six year olds sit down. That doesn't make you lazy. It makes you smart.
02:18 You got to preserve the power energy you know you got to reserve that source of
02:22 power. Relax it's fine they're gonna be fine you're gonna be fine okay? You're
02:27 not a lazy terrible parent for sitting there and handing them the lollipop okay?
02:32 You got to buy your time. You have to and they need to learn to be on their own. It
02:38 really and truly and 100% is fine. They're fine. You're gonna be fine.
02:44 They're gonna be fine. Let them sit. Let them do. Let them play. You don't have to
02:48 be involved. I promise you you don't have to be involved 24 hours a day, seven days
02:53 a week. They have to figure things out. They have to figure it out. Let them
02:57 figure it out. Sittervise apparently that's a thing.
02:59 Sittervise. I love it. Fully endorse sittervising.