A mom named Laura (AKA @lauralove5514) has been sharing many of the gentle parenting practices she uses on TikTok for a while now. But one recent clip she shared is just starting to go viral for showing how she taught her 17-month-old toddler to make his own snacks — and parents everywhere are watching it in stunned disbelief.
In the clip, Laura says she's posted videos of her son making his own snacks before
And, each time, she gets a flurry of messages and comments from other moms asking how it all got started.
So, she decided to post a special TikTok devoted to tips on "getting little ones started in the kitchen," by showing how she approached things.
To explain how she goes about it, Laura starts with a simple snack
She hands her son a banana and begins to demonstrate how she encourages him to peel it himself — holding it still at one end as he begins to rip the outer layer off with his small hands.
Then, as he watches closely, she models how to spread some Nutella on a slice of bread using a plastic knife.
With each and every step, her little boy watches intently
Then, he takes matters into his own hands, and tries to mirror his mom's movements.
As you might imagine, the little boy doesn't get it all perfect on the first shot. (He is, after all, barely 2 years old!) But the important thing is, he tries — and his mom encourages him throughout the process.
"If he's having difficulty with something, I will model [it] for him or use hand over hand one time, so he can see how it's done," she explains.
But after that, she lets him do "his thing"
Sometimes, that means watching them make a bit of a mess, or being okay with them not completely finishing each task.
"It's important to try and not 'fix' what they're doing," says Laura, "If I were to go in and add more hummus, or spread it out more, that would give him the idea that his job wasn't good enough."
According to Laura, it's all about giving kids "self-confidence and independence"
Interrupting them to "correct" things might defeat the purpose, she argues. In fact, this is why she doesn't tell her son to add more banana slices to his snack (even though he only added two of the ones that he sliced).
Another pro-tip is to give them "toddler-sized tools"
When kids are taught with utensils and other items they can easily handle, the job becomes that much easier, Laura says.
And last (but certainly not least), the mom shares, is to remember an age-old addage: Practice makes perfect.
"Over time, he will practice this more and he'll get better," she assures.
@lauralove5514 Some tips on getting your little ones started in the kitchen♥️ ##FriendsReunion ##ConjuringHorror ##montessori ##toddler ##fyp ##babiesoftiktok ##foryou
♬ Memories (In the Style of Maroon 5) [Karaoke Version] – Instrumental King
Parents have been applauding the mom's TikTok for weeks now
“This is how you prepare a child for life,” wrote one TikToker. “Good mama.”
“Too many people rush to help their children without giving them a chance to solve problems on their own,” said another. “I think that you are doing an amazing job!”
“You’re teaching them to be independent and that’s a wonderful thing,” wrote one mom. “I did the same with my boys.”
Of course, not *everyone* was so supportive
Several people found the mom's video to be kind of eye-rolly.
"Let them be babies," wrote one mom. "It’s not a race.”
“I get that there are these different ways of parenting, but correction isn’t telling him that his job wasn’t good enough,” said another. “Some kids need special attention.”
(Though to that, Laura did chime in to say that she always steps in when there’s any sort of unsafe or “destructive behavior” going on.)
Meanwhile, other commenters didn't seem to care much about the actual content of the video — they were more fixated on the fact that Laura described her son's age in "months" versus years.
(Can't please 'em all, apparently.)
Still, the crux of this mama's message certainly has merit
Even if you're a bit of a skeptic, Laura encourages other parents to give it a try sometime.
"Every time you do a task for your child, just stop and ask yourself: 'Is my child able to do this on their own?" she suggests. "More often than not, they're capable, so you should let them try."
