A mom admitted to raising her 2 children in a rural lifestyle but has now faced criticism from other parents…
As she won’t let them wear shoes or teach them how to swim.
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Alex Tucker and her boyfriend, Paul, admitted that their parenting techniques are far from conventional.
The pair have been criticized for many of their decisions about bringing up Berkley, 2, and Freya, 1.
According to The Mirror, the couple doesn’t use prams or high chairs…
And they won’t let their children wear shoes.
The couple also confessed that they have decided not to teach their kids how to swim, even though they live by the water.
However, they claim their controversial choices do fit in with their rural lives and have even urged people not to judge their lifestyle.
As per reports, Alex’s children don’t go to daycare, but instead, she takes them to work with her…
Sometimes the couple even sack off going to work to look after the little ones.
After Alex shared her rules online, she received plenty of criticism from other parents…
With one person even commenting that social services should be called.
But it doesn’t seem to have bothered the mom of 2, who despite the backlash, has defended her position and claimed shoes distort feet shape and prams and high chairs are not essential to their way of living.
She also defended her choice not to give them swimming lessons and said they would encourage her water-fearful kids to get into dangerous water to swim.
Alex, who works in the fishing industry, and lives on the Hawkesbury river in New South Wales, said: “I’m not bothered by people who don’t agree with my ‘controversial’ rules. Mothers are criticized no matter what they do, especially online.”
She added: “That’s why it’s important to share the ‘controversial’ things.”
“I’m opening the conversation for everyone to start thinking outside the box before straight up criticizing someone’s parenting when they don’t know how different someone’s lifestyle can be. I’m not preaching ‘my ways’ — this isn’t a ‘how to’ manual. This is what works for our family,” she said.
According to reports, the kids roam barefoot across the beach, and on pavements and even go shoeless when the family embarks on 8km hikes, which the mom thinks is better for them.
She said it “shocked her” that so many people saw it as a big issue, as she claimed it’s “pretty normal” not to wear shoes in Australia.
Alex continued: “Even then, if you are from a coastal town like us, it’s normal to not wear shoes at the shops and working on boats, it’s also common to not wear shoes. Shoes serve the purpose, like if the ground is too hot or too cold, or if snakes and wildlife is a valid threat, or if something hurts to walk on.”
She said when you don’t wear shoes it can cause your feet to toughen, which enables you to learn how to walk on rough surfaces, and added it’s just a part of the family’s “way of life.”
What do you think?