I’m a ‘Gentle Parent’ — I Won’t Make my Kid Say Sorry Because it’s ‘Disingenuous

New York Post ^ | Feb. 10, 2025

[nickcarraway]

A ‘gentle parent’ says she doesn’t force her five-year-old son to say sorry as it is “disingenuous” – and says it’s taught him to “hold empathy” and communicate his feelings.

Kelly Medina Enos, 34, turned to gentle parenting when she was struggling with her son, George, then 18 months old, hitting her. The mom turned to TikTok to share her worries and a stranger recommended she looked into gentle parenting – a style that focuses on empathy, respect, and understanding.

Kelly found it “ridiculous” at first but after researching she started to try it out – dropping “don’t” from her vocabulary and telling George what she’d like him to do instead.

[BobL]

“I’m a ‘Gentle Parent’ — I Won’t Make my Kid Say Sorry Because it’s ‘Disingenuous”

I was a ‘gentle parent’...until my kids misbehaved and got WHACKED.

[Allegra]

Cool. Foisting assh0les onto society. Isn’t she hip?

[TalBlack]

“…a style that focuses on empathy, respect, and understanding.“

This kid is being raised by a weakling and her kid knows it. Not gonna end well.

[Glad2bnuts]

I’ve met this Mother in many homes. If the only boundary is the childs feelings, it is highly likely he will be a bully. Teachers, and even Police are taught to be nice to a fault. Cameras took them away from being “rough enough” to deter criminals.

[21twelve]

Every so often as a kid (2nd grade?) my dad would have to watch me but also had to go out to the job sites. He had me scour the area for lone bricks in the dirt that a worker might drop. “Those are 25 cents, if you saw a quarter on the ground you’d pick it up - right?” I recall making some pretty good piles of the forgotten bricks.

It wasn’t until I was older that I figured out that straightening out the bent nails was just to keep me busy!

[Albion Wilde]