That's my parenting style - 'Go watch the TV.' I'm one of 11 children, and my mother's parenting style was, 'There's the TV. Go watch it. Mommy's got 10 other people to take care of.'
I had the blood and fire rule when my boys were young. You know, unless it's blood or fire, don't bother me.
My mom was proud but very hands off. She didn't really know enough about the model industry, and she didn't have the time to stop her life to go chaperone me. I think she trusted me.
My mom has never been a big meddler and isn't, like, extremely opinionated or at least just doesn't voice it to me. She's sort of let me come into my own by myself, and I think that's just a testament to what my parents did in terms of raising us.
Mothering is just so different now from the way it was before. Especially with my mom. She was like the anti-helicopter mom. She was like an inflatable-tube, blow-up-flamingo-in-the-pool mom. Her philosophy was, the situation will declare itself.
Obviously I was well aware that I had what people consider a privileged upbringing. My mom was never a bake-cookies sort of mom. I really had no reins whatsoever.
I try to stay out of my kids' way and kind of just let them discover things for themselves. Our job as parents is more to keep other people out of their way, so they're free to discover what works for them on their own.
She believed in letting children have a certain amount of rope, and only intervened at the last moment, in order to prevent their hanging themselves by it.
