Featured Image Credit: SWNS
Topics: Parenting
Callum Jones
Growing up, your parents or guardians would often encourage you to share, particularly with children your age.
However, one mum refuses to force her kids to share, and even has a separate 'personal' and 'community' toys for them to play together with.
Emily Feret, 30, has two children - Hannah, four, and Levi, two - both of whom are not exactly encouraged to share any toys with their peers.
The mum is certainly not the strictest when it comes to her children, and says that she treats them 'like people'.
While a lot of parents will discipline their children with a bit of shouting and yelling, Feret avoids that and would usually just take a toy away that her kids are fighting over.
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Emily, from Chicago, Illinois, said: “As an adult if I didn’t want to share something no one would force me to.
“So I give my kids the same respect.
“I ask them if any toys they don’t want to share and put them away if guests are coming over.
“I have toys which are just individually theirs and toys which I call community toys which are everybody’s.
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“I treat my children like people.”
Feret added that she takes a calmer approach to when her children are squabbling, described as a correlated or natural consequence.
"If they are fighting over a community toy, I’ll offer a solution such as a timer so they each have a bit of time with the toy," she said.
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“If they are still fighting, I’ll then take the toy away.
“I try and make the consequence make sense to the situation.
“If my kids are running and I tell them to stop because they may fall and they don’t listen and then fall that’s a natural consequence.”
The mum said that she always speaks to her kids calmly and tries to avoid raising her voice. But on the odd occasion that she does, Feret apologises and explains her reasoning for shouting.
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And say that her two little ones were jumping on the furniture, for example, Feret would offer an alternative for them to jump on.
"I let them be upset and frustrated and tell them the names for these emotions.” she said.
The mum is also a bit more lenient with her older child Hannah, letting her stand up at the dinner table and pick her own outfits.
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She said: "She’s so bouncy all the time.
“She has a hard time sitting still to eat dinner so I let her move around.
“She stands to eat a meal at home.
“There are no societal expectations in the comfort of our home.”
Feret added: "“She has been picking out her outfits since she was two.
“She has a blast doing it.
“I still have rules and boundaries in place.
“But I want my kids to have a say and express themselves as long as it’s not harming themselves or anyone else.”
You can follow the life of Feret on TikTok under the username @emilyjeanne333.