What is parenting like a Brit? Lisa Williams flies the flag for homegrown parenting

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A recent Spectator story discussed Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's divorce, and the cult of ‘parenting’. It noted how a stack of books teaching us how to parent like the Danes, the Dutch and the French are available on the market.

‘It goes without saying,’ she wrote, ‘that hardly anyone wants to parent like a Brit.’

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to banish this expression from my mind. I am British and I am surrounded by brilliant parents: imaginative and energetic mothers, caring and fun fathers; the lot.

Read Lisa Williams's piece about Parenting Like A Brit in the Daily Telegraph

But what would parenting specifically like a Brit look like? To wonder that is to wonder what makes us British: We've moved on from Mary Poppins and corporal punishment, but booze, history and manners feature heavily, as does diversity, a dry sense of humour and wet weather. This is a rich and fertile land for parenting, and we found plenty of examples to prove it.

Below are some ‘Parenting like a Brit’ moments. If you’re a parent living in Britain or a Brit parenting abroad, please send us your own by email or on social media using the hashtag #ParentingLikeABrit and tagging @tantrumXYZ on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. We're also interested in other nationalities, so please tag us in your #ParentingLikeAnAmerican, #ParentingLikeAnItalian posts etc.

Toodle pip!

1. A well-earned pint!

2. 'What do you mean, 'Your legs are tired'?'

3. Birthday outing to Stonehenge.

4. Nightcaps for all.

5. Roast dinner and all the trimmings...

6. ...followed by a 99.

7. Day trip to the Imperial War Museum, Duxford.

8. Fancy dress as an excuse to get pregnant.

9. Of course it's warm enough for a dip.

10. When you can't push both a buggy and a trolley in Tesco's...

11. English breakfast, and breastfeeding (bonus points for the patriotic babygrow).

12. 'No such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes'

13. The 'circle of neglect'

14. Beer garden picnic tables make perfect baby change units.

15. Never too early to prep...

16. Perfect Saturday on the canal...

17. Hide 'n' Seek on the rec'

18. Dalek fancy dress

19. Shaun of the Dead fancy dress

20. Chips with everything.

21. We don't get sun very often, so when we do...

22. Classic English garden, rain + wellies, out in all weather, featuring Leonora of My Baba + her crew!

Think you can do better? Join the commuity and send your submissions to info@tantrum.xyz

MORLEY

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