Seth Meyers says he gets ‘no results’ from parenting his kids gently

• Seth Meyers said his kids think it’s funny when he “drops the hammer.”

• The father of three added that he had tried to parent gently and got “no results”.

• Gentle parenting is a parenting method that emphasizes communication rather than punishment.

Seth Meyers tried gentle parenting and concluded it didn’t work.

In an interview with NBC’s Today show Monday, the “Late Night” host said his children aren’t afraid of him.

Meyers, 50, said he was afraid of his father, who was a “drop the hammer” father. But when he drops the hammer, his children find it funny, he says.

He recalled an incident where he was frustrated with his child, and they told him, “Look, my dad is about to lose his mind. This is hilarious.”

“I think they know it, they say, ‘It’s a different time,'” Meyers said, adding that his children “walk around like they have diplomatic immunity.”

Meyers shares two sons, Ashe, 8, and Axel, 5, and a daughter, Addie, 2, with his wife, Alexi Ashe.

When asked what he thought about gentle parenting, Meyers replied, “I just don’t get any results from my gentle parenting.” But his kids love it, he says. “They would give high marks.”

On one occasion, his wife told his son he was having a “strike,” he recalled. “I’m like, ‘Do you have a strike?’ He says, “Yeah, I think it’s the fifth shot?”

“They are good children,” concluded the actor. “I’m probably not a good parent.”

How to Make Gentle Parenting Work

Unlike the traditional approach of authoritarian parenting, where parents punish a child for misbehavior, gentle parenting emphasizes empathy and understanding of the child’s feelings.

Chrissy Horton, a former preschool teacher, previously wrote for Business Insider: “It focuses more on the need or problem their behavior is rooted in, instead of ignoring their perspective.”

The parenting style took off on TikTok last year, with parents sharing their method for correcting a child by communicating with them rationally instead of punishing or disciplining them. The hashtag #gentleparenting has 7.5 billion views on TikTok.

However, gentle parenting has received its share of criticism. In July, Christine Carrig, who runs a preschool, wrote for BI that she had observed how following gentle parenting scripts could reduce parents’ engagement with their children.

“I worry that some parents buy into the idea that they can optimize the parent-child relationship by becoming less their authentic self and more of an “ideal” parent presented to them in a normative way by an expert whose interaction style can differ greatly from parents,” she wrote.

This notion aligns with what millennial mom Hannah Nwoko previously told BI. “I felt like I was walking on eggshells all the time. The pressure of being a perfect, patient parent was wearing me down,” she said. Nwoko noticed that gentle parenting enabled bad behavior.

Lauren Salles Gumpert, a speech therapist and mom, quit gentle parenting after it emotionally drained her. “I want my daughters to see me as a whole person, and I don’t want to resent them for allowing me to become their emotional (or physical) punching bag,” she wrote.

However, there are ways to make gentle parenting work.

Mary Benedetti, a social worker and psychotherapist in Toronto, said gentle parenting works when parents set ground rules about what constitutes acceptable behavior. “Clear, kind but firm boundaries are needed,” she told BI.

Amber Adrian, a parent and former teacher, said she sets expectations for behavior up front and advises parents that while not all bad behavior requires punishment, it should be handled appropriately.

Ultimately, Adrian said building a strong relationship with your child is most important.

“Good relationships can withstand the tensions and conflicts that arise when children fail to meet expectations because there is a foundation of trust and unconditional love,” she wrote.

A representative for Meyers did not immediately respond to a BI request for comment sent outside of normal business hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider