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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Why Type C Parenting Might Be the Secret to Better Family Vacations
One mom explains why embracing the chaos made her family vacation much more enjoyable. I had all the hallmarks of a Type A parent, particularly when it came to vacationing with my family. I spent the morning baking frittatas that conveniently wouldn't require refrigeration on the flight. I created bespoke travel packs for our children, individually wrapped 'lucky dips' to relieve moments of boredom, and, naturally, prepared an iron-clad itinerary. I also insisted the cab driver take us to the airport four hours early. Yes, I had everything a mom could need for a first family trip abroad, along with steadfast determination to keep things on track. The only thing missing was the wriggle room. I'm not talking about legroom in economy (clearly airlines weren't designed with parents' comfort in mind). I mean the type of emotional wriggle room needed to not only facilitate a quick pivot when life doesn't go to plan, but to embrace it. What I needed was to tap into a Type C parenting mentality. A Much-Needed Balance in Parenting Labeling parenting archetypes isn't a new phenomenon. Over the years, we've been introduced to koala moms, helicopter parents, and free-range caregivers. But one of the latest to join the social cohort is the Type C parent, and this might just be the sweet spot we all need—especially on vacation. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Type C follows two already established parenting personalities, Type A and Type B. Where As are rigid in structure and routine, Bs are laid-back, spontaneous, and often disorganized. Cs are somewhere in the middle. Type C parenting has come under the spotlight lately thanks to social media creator Ashleigh Surratt. In her videos, Surratt shows how Type Cs are offering their children clean rooms and learning opportunities, among the chaos they're not bothered by. This type of parenting is having a moment. In a new Skylight survey of over 3,000 parents, 35% of them say they embrace Type C tactics, including loosening up on screen time limits, using shortcuts and bribery, and winging it. On my month-long trip away, it's inadvertently where I ended up—among a mess I'd learned to love, or at least feel less bothered by. How Type C Parenting Saved My Vacation The cracks began to show early. Somewhere about 35,000 feet above the Atlantic, I looked over at my 4-year-old son. He sat cross-legged on his seat with a pair of earphones cushioned against the side of his head, giggling at a tablet we rarely let him hold, let alone operate. Every now and then he would enjoy a peek at the pillowy clouds beside his window and smile. In between toddler marathons up and down the aisle, my 18-month-old daughter would climb across us for her own view. The look on her face was pure joy. Meanwhile, the bespoke backpack I had filled with coloring sheets, stickers, Lego, magnetic tiles, and precut crafts lay neatly under their seat. They weren't exactly untouched, but they weren't—dare I say it—essential. The "lucky dips" had provided a five-minute distraction, while the fridge-free frittatas were licked once, and squashed back inside their snack bag. This was my first aha moment. Sure, it was great to be prepared and know that I had all kinds of backups for every mess, mishap, and meltdown. But even before our plane had landed, I was starting to realize that so much detail wasn't going to be necessary. Working myself up over it was going to ruin the magic. As the vacation progressed, I noticed more of this Type C approach taking hold. A couple of nights in, we managed to get the kids down at a respectably early bedtime considering their lingering jet lag. Both slept solidly until 4 a.m, but after a few drowsy bed snuggles, they were ready to start their day. 'Go back to sleep,' I initially said. But they had other plans. Instead, they asked: 'What's for breakfast mom?' Now a Type A parent would insist that they go back to sleep, or they'd prepare sugar-free blueberry pancakes with a linen apron wrapped around their waist. A Type B might tell the kids to shuffle off to the next room and 'figure it out.' But I wasn't about to do either. It was time to reintroduce Type C parenting. I reached for the local chips I'd bought the night before and poured them into a bowl. We snuggled back in bed having a 'chip party' talking about all the fun things we had planned for the day. A few days later, rain foiled our plans for an outdoor beach walk with friends we hadn't seen in years. After a few sleepless nights, the Type A mom inside me wanted to shed some serious tears. Clothes were strewn across the floor, washing was already overflowing and our cupboards were bare. Nevertheless, we invited everyone to our beachside apartment, popped down to the local shops for some crackers and dips, and decided to focus on people rather than plans. The laundry was shoved in a corner, and the once-carefully rolled clothes were dumped on top of our suitcases. And when the kids were done with Netflix and still up past their bedtimes, they curled up next to us and joined in the final moments of our conversations. Having no plan worked like a charm."It's great to have a schedule but there will always be time for routine back home. Rigid rules don't need to be part of your vacation survival kit if you don't need them to be."What My New Approach Taught Me There's an overwhelm that comes with planning a family vacation. We can get so caught up in the idea of serenity and sunshine that, when we're away, we almost force ourselves to relax the way we imagined we would. Type C parenting welcomes a plan, but it gives us permission to break it, and to mindfully let the story unfold before us. As long as our children are warm, fed, healthy, and happy, we don't need much more. If you're used to a strict routine, or on the flip side, entirely winging it, Type C parenting might feel a bit uncomfortable at first. It's great to have a schedule but there will always be time for routine back home. Rigid rules don't need to be part of your vacation survival kit if you don't need them to be. By the end of my trip, I was grateful for the head start the weeks of planning had given me, but I was glad that I didn't forget it's also fine to throw out the rule book once in a while. I learned traveling with kids requires both preparation and flexibility and that's perfectly OK. In some ways, anything goes if it gets you safely and happily from A to C. Read the original article on Parents Solve the daily Crossword
News24
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News24
5 Celeb moms we're crushing over this Mother's Day
From time to time, we gush over a picture or video of mommies on social media. Whether they're sharing their children's biggest milestones or wishing their children a happy birthday, you can tell how much it means to them to be their children's world. This Mother's Day, Drum celebrates these mommies for their wit, pride, strength and their loud love for their children. Relebogile Mabotja The media mogul is a mom any boy would love to have. From her earlier stages of motherhood, she's been open in sharing her journey - both joys and struggles of being a mother. She's embraced motherhood from day one, going as far as establishing a sit-down podcast titled MomLife on her YouTube channel. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Relebogile Mabotja (@relebogile) Recently, she was celebrating her son, Motlotlegi's 4th birthday. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Relebogile Mabotja (@relebogile) Nandi Madida With her warm energy there was no way she was going to fumble motherhood. In fact, pouring her heart into her children is one of her favourite things to do. The journey of motherhood for her hasn't all been easy though. 'Special' would be the perfect word to describe it. While many shy away from talking about her autistic children, Nandi faced it head on and broke stereotypes around it. In celebration of Mother's Day this year, she is launching her newest podcast, The Motherhood Network where she'll be sitting down with some of the most influential and inspiring women across industries—business moguls, healthcare experts, creatives, policymakers, and everyday heroines—to discuss what it truly means to raise the next generation in a rapidly changing world. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nandi_Madida 🇿🇦 (@nandi_madida) Ratile Mabotja (previously Mabitsela) 2025 wasn't off to a great start for this reality tv star. Introduced to the world of entertainment as one of the most glamorous Joburg mommy on The Mommy Club, the pageant mommy has wormed her way into people's hearts. Though initially misunderstood on the show, she moves with grace, respect and love. With the recent passing of her husband, she's become the sole parent to her children whom she's soldiering on to help through grieving. Her strength as she picks herself up from the loss and heartbreak has been admirably commended on social media. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ratile Boitumelo Mabotja (@ratile_mabitsela) Her Majesty She is one of the mommies of Joburg who've made headlines for their role on The Mommy Club reality tv show alongside the likes of Ratile Mabitsela, Mrs Mops and Nozipho Ntshangase. One could say anything about Her Majesty but her being a bad mother would be a lie. In the recent season of the reality TV show, we saw her go through a whirlwind of trouble to show up for her children even during her ill-health. It is through her that we get to understand how difficult it is to raise a teenage daughter as a single mother, but she does her best, nonetheless. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Happy Simelane (HERMAJESTY) (@_happysimelane) Bontle Modiselle-Moloi Not only does she make you want to fall in love with your best friend, be couple goals, but she also makes you want to have cute babies as soon as yesterday. Though still a mother of one, expecting the second, Bontle's relationship with her daughter is beautiful to watch. On a number of occasions, she has shared how hard it is to be as booked and busy as she is while juggling motherhood but with the bond she has with her daughter, Afrika Moloi, you wouldn't tell. She and Priddy Ugly are proof that young black love is attractive, when done healthily. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bontle MaAfrika Moloi (@
Time of India
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
'I was just a little upset and hurt," Carmella opens up about her unexpected WWE exit
(Image Via WWE) Carmella talks about her WWE exit Carmella aka Leah Van Dale On Post-WWE Life, Snatch For Her, Reality TV, Mom Life, MITB & More Carmella reveals 2017 WWE Women's Money In The Bank was not meant for her FULL MATCH: Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: SmackDown LIVE, June 27, 2017 Also Read Former SmackDown Women's Champion Carmella has finally spoken openly about her exit from WWE. Many fans were confused about her sudden disappearance and some misunderstood her earlier words. Now, Carmella has explained what really happened and also shared a secret about her big Money in the Bank win in talked about all this during her appearance on The Wrestling Classic podcast. Carmella made it clear that she loved her time in WWE, but the way it ended was not easy for her. Carmella said she never meant to say anything bad about WWE. She only felt hurt by how things ended. She explained that the teaser clip from her past interview was taken the wrong way by fans online. On The Wrestling Classic podcast:'A trailer for anything, whether it's a TV show, a podcast, or a movie, is supposed to get people talking and intrigued, and that's what the trailer did,' she said. 'When that little teaser reel dropped, people were just taking the things that were said out of context. If you actually listen to the entire podcast, you know what I was saying.'She wanted to clarify that she still has respect for WWE and is thankful for everything she got from the company.'I wasn't at all saying anything bad about WWE. I'm so grateful for my time at WWE.'But the part that hurt her was how suddenly it all ended. She said she did not get much time or warning before her exit, and that made her feel surprised and sad.'Eventually, I'm going to leave WWE. There's no way I can work there forever,' she said. 'For me personally, I was just a little upset and hurt, I guess, with how it ended… I didn't get a lot of notice. To me, that's what kind of was like, wow…'Some fans also criticized her wrestling skills, but Carmella was not bothered.'…everyone's gonna have their opinion and that's fine.'Carmella also spoke about her big 2017 win in the Women's Money in the Bank match. She said the original plan was for Becky Lynch to win. But that changed after Carmella gave a strong promo on SmackDown. Vince McMahon saw it and liked it a that same night, the segment involving her, Becky, and Charlotte Flair was changed. She was the one getting attacked instead of doing the attack, and that's when she knew something had said Vince's reaction and the change in plans made her realize that she would be winning the may not be in WWE anymore, but her journey left a big mark. From a surprise Money in the Bank win to a sudden goodbye, she has gone through a lot. Even after all the ups and downs, she stays positive and grateful for her time in WWE.
