Raising children requires a lot of creativity — just ask Kate Shelton.
She’s a mother, author, and TikToker who’s recently gone viral for sharing that she pays her daughter to read. While some people are fans of this clever learning tactic, some trolls are arguing that it’s just teaching her daughter to skim read AKA cheat.
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Thanks to TikTok, we’ve been introduced to some clever parenting.
Like this mom of two who uses her dishwasher to hide snacks from her children.
This includes bags of chips, brownies, cookies, and Kool-Aid drinks. drools
If you’re thinking the snacks are for her, it’s actually just the opposite.
“I don’t eat any of it. It’s the kids’ snacks. I’m just here for portion control,” she wrote.
Since any type of parenting that strays from the “norm” can be controversial, some people weren’t too keen on the idea.
“All fun and games until the dishwasher accidentally gets turned on…” warned one user.
“That’s cool but the only thing I love more than snacks is not having to hand wash dishes,” added another.
The only thing we have a problem with is her not eating the snacks herself!
Now, another mom’s creative parenting is being put under the microscope.
As an author, TikToker Kate Shelton has high hopes that her six-year-old daughter will inherit her love of books.
But as any parent knows, sometimes kids need a gentle push to get them there.
That’s why Kate has invented a tactic that she calls “the best investment ever.”
She pays her daughter a $2 bill every time she finishes a chapter book.
It’s a good thing it isn’t books like The Da Vinci Code because that would cost her around $100…
She showed how the crafty exchange of goods is done in her viral TikTok video.
“I pay my six-year-old $2 every time she finishes a chapter book,” Kate wrote on the video.
“She thinks she’s ripping me off.”
The video showed her handing her daughter a $2 bill in exchange for her finishing the book, ‘Mermaids to the Rescue: Lana Swims North’.
At first, parents and even teachers alike were all for the idea.
“Love this so much. From a first grade teacher,” one wrote.
“So lovely seeing kids still reading actual books, turning the pages etc & not just on their tablets,” another added.
Some joked that they would’ve caused their parents to go broke if they used this tactic.
“I would have read like 5 books a day,” someone wrote. “My mom did this too and I read so many books Lol,” a second added.
But then, some users began questioning if her daughter was actually reading the books.
“Lol how do you know if she’s actually reading it or flipping through the pages?” one asked.
“Get her to write a book report lol I would do this and skim through it till my mom caught on,” one person advised.
This is a fair point, considering most of us used Spark Notes to write our book reports in school…
Kate eased some people’s minds when she shared that her overall goal is to encourage the love of reading and less on helping her daughter earn cash.
“I promise we also do all,” she replied when one user suggested that she talk to her daughter about what she read, what she liked, and what she learned.
