I tend to be pretty critical of parenting “trends” that are popping up among the hipsters these days. There are so many that it can make a person’s head spin. You have helicopter, free range, authoritarian, neglectful, slow, attachment, equalitarian, concerted cultivation…and the list goes on and on.
The latest trendy, screw-with-your-kid strange method is “hypno-parenting.” You read that right. Hypnotizing your child into behaving and following rules is an actual real thing. Mother and professional hypnotist Lisa Machenberg thinks that hypnotism and parenting go hand-in-hand. She says, “Hypnosis and parenting is a natural combination. If we learn hypno-parenting, we learn how to hypnotize our children to be cooperative, peaceful, have containment and have good study habits because they have focus and have more resilience out there in the world.”
Machenberg brags about how she often uses this tactic on her kids and her husband to get them to do her bidding. “I hypnotize my children and my husband to do things for my benefit all the time. We have a household to run. Many times, I exert influence so my children are able to get their chores done, so this house runs efficiently,” she said. One must ask, is this even ethical?
Her husband seems unfazed by her head games saying, “I see no downside to having Lisa hypnotize family members, but maybe that’s because she’s hypnotized me to think so.”
Their 19-year-old son, Jake Ney, doesn’t share the same sentiments as dad, saying, “It could get a little crazy when she tries to hypnotize us at every single possible situation that she can. It could get a little overbearing, she gets in your head.”
This odd form of parenting (if you can call it parenting) comes at a price. Machenberg charges $125 an hour.
Whatever happened to good old fashioned consequences? Grounding, taking things away, extra chores, no allowance, and, dare I even say, a spanking? To me, this is not only bizarre, but extremely lazy—if it even works. So far I am blessed. The old school way works just fine for me!
What are your thoughts on this latest parenting trend? Let me know in the comments section below.
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