A “super strict” mom believes that her stern way of parenting is the best way to “prepare kids for life.”
Elena Leeming’s children are only allowed to watch TV once a week, can’t eat any sweets, and their toys are thrown in the trash when left out.
“I like to see the children learning in everything they do,” Leeming, 39, told South West News Service. “It’s important for them to understand what they need to eat and do.”
The business analyst will do just about anything to discipline her children so they learn not to do “silly things.”
“My daughter tied a knot on her rucksack that was really hard to untie, so I made her untie it standing outside in the rain so she wouldn’t do it again,” she said.
She added, “We have reward charts and they lose stars if they don’t go to the toilet before leaving the house and then need it while we’re out.”
When Clive, 6, and Violet, 5, are doing an activity, using their toys or playing a game, they’re not allowed to go upstairs or move onto their next activity until they clean up the first one.
If they don’t clean up, the strict mom will toss the toys as a form of punishment — no matter what.
“One time I was on a call and they turned the house inside out. I gave them five minutes to tidy up and they didn’t get it done in time. So I put the toys in a black bag and took them to the charity shop the next day regardless of how new or expensive they were,” she shared.
“For the weeks after, the books were on the shelf and the toys were tidied up — they learned from it and I never had to do that again.”
But she said thanks to her parenting methods, her kids are “healthy, happy, and have a good sleep routine.”
“I think parents become a bit loose and don’t really discipline their children now — but this way I’m preparing them for life.”
Elena and her husband Darren Leeming, 54, both grew up without learning certain life skills such as cooking and housework — and they didn’t want their kids to experience the same.
Clive and Violet have been doing chores around the house since they were 3 years old, including loading the washing machine, doing the gardening and setting up breakfast before their mom comes down in the mornings.
“Rather than sitting there screaming waiting for breakfast, they can do it themselves,” Elena explained.
Sugary snacks are extremely limited in their household, to the point where the children have “never eaten a Haribo in their lives,” the mom admitted.
Fizzy drinks, heavily processed foods and artificially flavored snacks aren’t allowed, and they must eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day, as well as drinking at least a liter of water.
Elena has a list of approved high-sugar foods that her children can choose from once a day, such as yogurt, ice cream and biscuits.
“They’re not allowed to eat foods with no vitamins or nutritional benefits,” she said. “When they’re given sweets they say ‘no thanks, they’re not good for me’ and they put them in the bin.”
Screen time rules are also nonnegotiable in their house.
“With screentime, it’s like an addiction. I don’t want them to develop that addiction.”
TV is only allowed on Sundays, and tablets and iPads are only to be used for educational purposes.
Elena doesn’t find her methods to be overly strict at all — she actually feels it’s the best way to raise her family.
“Everyone is allowed their own opinion and they can raise children how they want,” she said. “But mental health is on the rise, and people have no resilience skills nowadays. I want my children to grow up strong leaders.”
