I’ve been gentle parenting and not disciplining and all the bad millennial parent stuff. I never once instructed my kid to say please and thank you and yet since I set an example of doing those things and I conduct myself in a manner that is prosocial my kid also does those things and has never been described as a little monster. They’re almost 3 and I’ve not experienced this “terrible twos” thing.

Not that they’d deserve to be called a monster or anything similar if they were the most misbehaved little kid ever since, you know, they’re a kid.

People say you can’t reason with a toddler but they (all toddlers not just mine) understand a lot more than people give them credit for. They understand when you’re talking about them as if they aren’t there and will respond accordingly. They are people with a different set of priorities to yours that’s it.

My friends are teachers and they constantly rant about how atrocious their student’s behavior is and they blame millenial “gentle parenting” which always rubs me the wrong way but idk what to say to them about it. Well, it’s rather that they’re saying people are trying to do gentle parenting but getting it wrong and doing “permissive parenting” instead. But like, I’m pretty sure their behavior is a result of deteriorating economic/social conditions, not because they’re “iPad kids”. But they’re the ones with direct experience so I don’t feel right arguing about it with them. I don’t spend time with kids all day and talk to their parents.

Also I have a lot of school trauma from being undiagnosed neurodivergent so I never know if it’s just me being triggered by their teacher-like behavior or if it’s a legit annoyance with the way they talk about children.