When people without kids tell you how to parent.

How do you feel when someone who doesn’t have kids gives you advice about how to raise yours? It can be pretty annoying, which is why I’m surprised that I really like this.

Kitty Flanagan has never had kids, but she does have some strong opinions on the job us parents are doing.

She says that Gen X created the noun ‘parenting’ instead of just being parents. And that we’re not doing a great job… Our kids are fatter than ever and have mental health issues, all because we’re too overprotective of them.

She makes a few good points and softens the blows with humour.

The first part of her lesson involves the ‘fatting’ of our kids.

She basically says that playgrounds these days are boring, kids play too many videos games and shove too much food in ‘their cake holes’, according to Kitty.

She’s probably right. But if she wasn’t so funny, she could have hurt my delicate feelings. It’s not nice to be told we’re doing a rubbish job at bringing up our kids.

I’m looking forward her Part 2, where she addresses the ‘mentalling’ of Gen X’s kids. 

Kitty is a regular on The Project and is never afraid to voice her opinion. She remembers a world where kids grew up making their own toys out of a couple of tin cans and some string. She talks about kids being obsessed with all the latest stuff and how technology is damaging them.

It all sounds pretty heavy, but there are plenty of lols to distract us. She also makes fun of herself and her crazy cat lady status. Here she is talking about the cost of raising kids. These days, raising a child from birth to the age of 24 will costs us $600,000 a pop.

Kitty is excited that by not having three kids, she will effectively make 1.8 million dollars. Cats are much cheaper.

What do you think of Kitty’s views on parenting?