This Mother Hypnotizes Her Kids Into Behaving, Thinks We Should All Try It
(Via Giphy)
Kids are difficult. Even the best of kids is going to be difficult at least some of the time. I was difficult sometimes. You were difficult sometimes. Even tiny baby Michelle Obama was difficult sometimes. When parenting through one of those difficult instances, all parents have probably wished they could just hypnotize their kids into being docile and logical, but now one mother is saying she’s actually doing that, and promoting it as a new parenting style.
According to ABC News, a hypnotherapist named Lisa Machenberg says she’s been using hypnosis to influence her children, and she thinks we should all try her new “hypno-parenting” style of raising children.
”Hypnosis and parenting is a natural solution,” Machenberg said. “You naturally influence your child anyway, let’s learn how to do it with intention.”
That sounds a bit out there, but therapists use hypnosis in treatment, and it can be a useful tool. Maybe it could be a useful way to help children manage stress and anxiety. But then again, maybe unlicensed amateurs should not be attempting to hypnotize their children without knowing what they’re doing. This sounds like one of those situations where a little bit of knowledge could do more harm than none at all.
According to Scary Mommy, Machenberg has even said that her hypnosis goes beyond just helping her kids deal with things like test anxiety or an ability manage teenage stress. Machenberg told The Parent Herald that she’s actually used hypnosis to get her children and husband to do their chores.
With that comment she instantly goes from “maybe this is not as crazy as it sounds?” to “This can’t be real, right?” A hypnotherapist hypnotizing her kids into doing their chores sounds like one of the fake parenting styles we used to write about here on Mommyish, like Game of Thrones parenting and Oregon Trail parenting. Just because there isn’t a chapter in Dr. Spock called “Don’t try to mind-control your children” doesn’t mean that it’s OK to try to mind-control children, it just means that it never occurred to anyone that a parent would actually do that.
Hypnotizing your kids into doing their chores is a terrible idea, especially if you have no idea what the hell you’re doing with that old-timey pocketwatch you bought on Etsy for just this purpose. If you happen to be a real-life X-Man with mind-control powers, using your psychic powers on your kids is also a terrible idea. There are some things a parent just can’t get around. Kids don’t come with cheat codes.
