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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Ariane Sohrabi-Shiraz

'I'm a strict mum – I made my son sleep outside in freezing cold to teach him lesson'

A single mum with a strict parenting technique has admitted some parents might "disapprove" of her approach, but that it's her job to "equip them with the tools to cope when things go wrong".

Mum Louise Parker goes against "namby-pamby modern parenting" and is a believer of "tough love" when it comes to raising her three children Michael, 15, Christian, 13, and Heather, 12.

Part of that is not "mollycoddling" them and "passionately in letting them learn life lessons the hard way".

Speaking to The Daily Mail, the mum explained of one particular time when her son Michael, who was 14 at the time, forgot his sleeping bag at home after he was taken to scout camp – so she made him sleep outside in the freezing cold.

The mum is proud of her kids (stock image) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Louise said: "Did I jump in the car and do the hour-long round trip to fetch it for him? No, I did not. I simply blew him a kiss and drove away.

"I was fully aware that he would spend the night shivering, with nothing but the tarpaulin of the tent shielding him from the elements. But I felt no guilt at all."

According to the mum, her son was old enough to take responsibility for this himself, and she was convinced he would benefit from the experience, despite knowing that he would be sleeping outside without a sleeping bag.

Michael added that his mum is the only parent he knows that would let their kid sleep without a sleeping bag in "freezing temperatures", but that he hasn't forgotten an important piece of equipment since.

She believes in tough love (stock image) (Getty Images/Image Source)

Another time, her son Christian had been off school ill, and by the weekend he was still feeling rough and achy, but she still made him "push through" and play in a rugby match.

In addition, her kids didn't have any electronic devices until they turned 13, and only once homework and chores are done, are they allowed to play video games.

She's "proud" that her children have the resilience to cope with life's challenges, especially after she separated from their dad in 2012, who sadly passed away from a heart attack five years later.

When it comes to school, Louise didn't want her children to receive any special treatment, so she asked the school not to give them praise or stickers for anything they hadn't excelled in.

Louise is aware her technique isn't for everyone and even thinks a fellow parent reported her to Social Services six years ago for not allowing her kids to watch TV. At that time, the kids were only allowed to watch a film two Saturday evenings a month.

Because of this she had a home visit from Social Services and had to speak to the school, but it was soon sorted out and she "never heard from them again".

Louise says parents are too soft nowadays and thinks her parenting technique has made her children "share mutual respect and great communication as well as a lot of fun".

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