Radio host Jackie O’s parenting methods copped a wave of backlash from shock jock co-host Kyle Sandilands when she shared an audio clip from a normal night in her household on their breakfast show earlier this week.
In the clip in question, daughter Kitty, six, can be heard whining in a “distressed” manner, complaining she’s hungry after refusing to finish her dinner.
“Mum, I actually am that hungry,” the youngster says as Jackie tries to read her a story before bedtime.
“Well, you had your chance to eat your dinner and you didn’t,” she replied calmly.
“I’m starving,” moaned back Kitty, to which Jackie said: “You can eat in the morning.”
After saying she’s going to cry, the 42-year-old said assertively, “No, you’ve washed your teeth and that’s it.”
In her defence
Explaining her decision to Kyle and their listeners, the mother-of-one said: “Listen they don’t eat their dinner. You spend all this time making this healthy meal and they eat two bites then want dessert.”
“You have to teach a lesson, if you don’t eat your dinner you go to bed hungry.”
Parents weigh in
While a handful of callers and Kyle, who is not a father himself, clearly disagreed with the host’s judgement call to send her daughter to bed without supper, fellow parents were on hand to back her up.
“Jackie is educating her child. Kitty will benefit from not getting everything she asks for, too many kids are spoilt,” commented on fan on Twitter, with another adding: “With you Jackie! Nothing wrong with sending a child to bed hungry. They won’t do it again!”
“Jackie you did the right thing, no child should be able to put on the sooks to get what they want when they haven’t eaten their main meal,” agreed another.
So, what should you do?
“This is a dilemma that every parent has faced when it comes to dinner time,” says Mother & Baby editor and parenting extraordinaire, Erin Mayo.
“Missing dinner on one night wouldn’t have done Kitty any harm, but sets the tone for the future that there are consequences for not eating dinner when it’s dinner time –
that the kitchen isn’t open 24-7 when they feel like it.”
“Dinner time is often a battle of wills in most households. The best way to ensure your little one eats something that’s on their plate is to limit snacks before dinner time, and to ensure that one food item you know your child likes is on the plate,” Erin advises.
“Some stubborn toddlers and kids are also more likely to eat a bigger variety of food if it’s served buffet style (for example: a side salad or bowl of veggies in the middle of the table) and they can choose for themselves what and how much they eat.”
What do you think? Weigh in by taking part in the poll below.
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