Former Love Island star Montana Brown resorted to reading a parenting book to get prepared for her son, Jude, becoming a “threenager”, but was taken aback by her son’s reaction to one method
ITV Love Island star Montana Brown tried giving her toddler “the look” after reading a parenting book, and his reaction was priceless.
The reality TV star, 30, who shares Jude, 2, and her almost one-year-old daughter, Miley, with fiancé Mark O’Connor, often shares her parenting wins and loses online.
On Thursday, January 15, she shared a video with her TikTok followers after trying a parenting tip from a New York Time bestselling book called Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us about the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans.
She explained that she was trying to “get ahead” with parenting tips and advice before June turns three and was looking towards books for help.
Toddlers are known for their sass, stubbornness, and strong desire for independence typical of a teenager, which often gives them the nickname “threenagers”.
Their big emotions and boundary testing can make parenting a difficult task to navigate.
But after reading the book, Montana decided to give one of the methods a try when trying to get Jude out of the bath, something he normally hates doing.
She said: “There’s a really interesting part of the book where it says ‘learn the look’. It’s something that kids can’t argue with, so shoot them a look that says get out the bath, I’m not going to tell you again.
“And I just thought, you know what? Let me just give it a go. It’s probably not going to work, he probably won’t even pick up on it. It’s supposed to cause less conflict because you’re not telling them to do something, you’re not using the word don’t or stop.”
Montana then shared the look and gesture she used when trying to get Jude out of the bath, which saw her lean her head back and to one side while also raising her eyebrows to widen her eyes.
She said: “So I went [gave him the look] and he looks at me and he’s still playing in the bath, and I do it again [gave him the look] and then he just gets up and gets out of the bath.
“I was like ‘OH MY GOD, that was so easy’. I mean, knowing him tomorrow it won’t work but it was just really powerful, and I wanted to share that piece of parenting wisdom from this amazing book.”
Parents took Montana’s advice on board and tried giving their children “a look”, before sharing their results in the comments section.
One parent said: “I did this today and I felt like it was such a win! My toddler likes to change the settings on the washing machine while it’s running. Today I just turned my head and glared and he took his hand off an walked away!”
