To think Kate and Wills are wonderful parents

[plainjane40]

I’ve just been reading this article and am frankly in awe. How do you bring children up to behave so impeccably and be so confident and beautifully mannered? Asking for a friend I’m sure many of us (myself included) in this situation would be resorting to screen time and snacks after half an hour. Kate and Wills seem like such wonderful, happy, hands on parents and their children are a credit to them.

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-11231317/Prince-William-Kate-Middleton-hands-parents-says-parenting-expert.html

Quite frankly, yes!!!

We have lovely kids.

Some of it is down to us, sure - we are clear about our expectations, consistent and loving.

But most of it we can’t take credit for - they’re just lovely kids, and it’s nature, more than nurture.

Not much you can do about that.

This. Besides, George and Charlotte are old enough now to understand the expectations of them in that particular context.

They are wonderful (thanks to a group of nannies).

I am sure they are fine as parents. But I have met many children who have lived in the most appalling circumstances and they have lovely manners, it can be a survival mechanism. Not saying it is for these children, just saying you can't read too much into it.

The Royal family (the heir line) always turn out DC who can behave impeccably when at formal occasions. William and Harry were just the same.

well, they have a lot of help, but are also very good at staying calm. Charlotte had quite a few toddler tantrums and Kate was very adept at using distraction, staying calm.

I don’t think a nine and seven year old sitting quietly during a very somber atmosphere is very unusual though. They knew Louis wouldn’t cope so he wasn’t there.

I think the kids seem entirely normal for their ages. Which I think is a sign that they have good parents. I think parenting kids in the public eye must be so difficult.

I like Louis at the Jubilee, entirely normal for a child of his age and the interaction from other family members who all on that some sort of relationship with the children. Which again is a good sign.

But with all the support they have available to them, it’s not surprise. Like if they are knackered because Louis has been up all night (assuming they don’t have a night nanny, they might) they can get a break at some point by leaving the kids with the nanny. Often the difficulty with parenting is the relentlessness and not being able to get a break.

I am also sure they have moment like the rest of us where we think ‘god I don’t know what I am doing and shit at this’ or ‘I handled that badly’ or ‘oh gheh are so cute when they are asleep….I feel raging guilt for telling them off earlier’

How old are they 9 and 7? Or something. To be honest I'd expect most children of that age to behave at a funeral.

Exactly, at 7 and 9, they're not toddlers. If expect most kids to be able to behave nicely at that age tbh.

Maybe if you get into the habit of distracting them with screens and whatnot from an early age, then they never learn to behave without them?

My two were like that at that age. Combination of firmness, good boundaries from the outset and the luck of the draw in the nature of the children.

It was a heck of a long time - from somewhere around 10:30 when their car would have left Buckingham Palace, then the Abbey service, then car through crowds and then observing the transfer to the hearse, then short drive back to Buckingham Palace. No waving or talking in the car.

That's over 2.5 hours, without any breaks.

I think even DC well accustomed to quiet formal occasions would find that a lot.

Christ.

We would all be calm parents if he had dozens upon dozens of people helping us out every single day with our children. I definitely would be a lot calmer and relaxed if I had zero money worries and I knew that I would never have to worry about mine or my childrens’ future again.

If I had all of this I would be very calm myself, as a parent, and I would be impressed with myself as well.

Same. I think it's admirable that Kate and William spend as much time with their kids as they clearly do. The children automatically reach for their mum (or dad), they speak to them comfortably and do as they're told as if Kate and William are indeed involved parents.
Kate and William are also two of the most famous people in the UK (world, even) with extremely demanding schedules that they cannot get out of. Ever. It's until death, like our late Queen and Phillip.
Every day they have to be pristinely presented, in a constant state of acting. No comfy trackies with a messy bun and no make up for the school run. And when Harry opted to not need to act that way, he had to make a choice to step back as a royal completely. He couldn't be a normal man without half the country accusing him of upsetting the Royal family. I get it. He only resigned from royal duties, not his family. And he still is a Prince.

Private school is also a big factor in behaviour expectations and practice. They likely also go to church weekly, so it would have been familiar to them.

Having money, cooks, housekeepers does not make them well behaved. A firm nanny though would be a big factor, and Kate looks firm enough too (I think she has perfected the Look).

My siblings and I would have behaved as well as that at that age, but we were a bit repressed. I longed to run around with other less-disciplined children. My own DC are a bit more… free spirited (and did not attend their grandpa’s funeral!).

I wouldn’t be calm if the whole world was watching me and judging my children’s behaviour (eg Louis behaving like a normal child), I’d be a nervous wreck.

DD age 4 would have sat through the service perfectly, she is an angel in public, not so much at home though!

Also the Cambridge children are used to being at Church and know how to sit still for a long time during a service.

I'd be a 'wonderful parent' if I had millions in the bank and staff to do the grunt work.
YABU

Just wait til the Cambridge kids grow up and get Instagram and Nazi uniforms to party in. See how great their parents are when they stop treating them as dolls to fool the public that the RF is working

And the faux “oh I couldn’t get my children to behave” especially in the eyes of the world - they don’t understand the pressure or significance ascribed to their family.

As others have said, endless home help and practice through sitting for other occasions. They are accustomed to having to sit and focus on an event, they have been trained to know someone is always watching (and filming) when they are out.

School plays a big part too, when DD started Reception last year at private, I was shocked they had to sit in hall for half hour assembly and listen from the first term. But the expectation is there and over that year, they had twice weekly assemblies which then moved on to theatre trips, concerts - all of which they were expected to sit, focus and listen with no fidgeting. To my surprise, they achieved it with every child in her class

The Royals attend much fancier private schools than DD and I have no doubt expectations on them are much higher there.

The bar is really low for the Royal family. People praise them to the high heavens for things that would be considered normal for ordinary people.

Impossible to say as I’ve never met them and don’t know them in real life.

They have a team of experts training the children.

They have nannies staff a cook a dresser and everything else in between personally you could say that bad parenting because Theyre not really doing much of the parenting themselves
But I am sure that They are good parents And no different from any of us in terms of their parenting style except for the above.
At the Queens Jubilee I found that Kate overfussed With her youngest Even when he was being quiet and constantly spoke to him even when The crowd was singing God save the Queen on the balcony.