Mother to seven children and lifestyle influencer, Liv Owen turns “parenting chaos into comedy”, but one recent video posted on her YouTube channel was more heartwarming than laugh-out-loud.
In it, she advocates “gentle parenting”: no shouting, no hard disciplining, no tantrums. And the result has got her fans beaming with admiration for her method.
Mom’s ‘gentle parenting’ methods praised by followers
Parenting influencer Liv Owen posted a YouTube Short recently. In it, she resolves a minor conflict between two of her young sons.
The video’s label is “disciplining my toddler after physical confrontation”, and Owen accompanies each stage of the video with a caption to explain in more formal, heightened language what she’s doing. They contain phrases such as “validate emotions with physical love” and “verify he understood consequence”.
She runs through the disciplinary process by first crouching down to the level of the two young kids. Owen speaks to them quietly, telling the elder of the two, who appears to have pushed the younger, that it’s wrong to push people down. She then tells him to say sorry and sit on his bed “for a little bit”.
Owen validates her younger son’s feelings; checks the elder understands why she sent him to his room; and ultimately encourages him to make amends with his brother.
Two sentences in the whole video are particularly moving
After speaking to his mother a second time, and opting to play in his room for a while, Roman approaches his little brother, who is lying on the sofa under a blanket.
“Sorry Huddy,” he says. His name is Hudson.
“It’s OK,” Hudson replies.
This exchange – voluntary apology, forgiveness and an earnest, loving embrace – has struck many commenters as a particularly poignant parenting moment.
“Those 2 sentences took me out,” wrote one user, on the video. “They are so precious.”
The praise has been coming in thick and fast over the last few days. One user writes: “What a great mother she is. No yelling, no hitting. You’re raising your children well. Congratulations!”
Find the full video below, and Owen’s Instagram page here.
‘Firm, but soft and understanding’
Some more comments are worth repeating for the way they highlight specific parenting techniques.
One Internet user said they love how Owen gets “down to their level” and is “respectful and empathetic” towards her two young children.
Another celebrates her ability to be “firm, but soft and understanding” – for setting clear boundaries and being a figure of authority while also being absolutely clear that she is a source of unconditional love.
“I also appreciated the mother’s tone of voice,” writes another. “It let the child know that this was serious and Mom’s not joking around.”
Meanwhile, yet another says it’s “moments like these that will change her children’s lives forever.” Why? Because it teaches them to “check themselves,” says the fan. “Not enough of this going on in parenting.”
