Sep 14, 2026 · 28 min · 8 segments
Parenting hot takes + having hobbies as a mom? Yep, we’re doing both. In this episode, I’m answering your questions about unpopular parenting beliefs, including why I think **learning the easy way is…
Ashleigh SurrattHost
If I'm looking at all of the parenting questions I've gotten in this question box and I were to try to consolidate it down to one question, it would be very easy because it would just be, "What is an unpopular parenting belief that you have?" That's essentially what they all are in just different wording.
And after putting a touch of thought into it, I have three very, what I think are lukewarm.
I think that after listening to this you'll be like, "Oh yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure." Maybe I'm just being silly.
When it comes to parenting, I feel like I should give a little sprinkle of background, a little context.
I went to school for music education, and you will see that in these answers.
You'll be like, "This girl has taken some classes on brains [laughs] and child learning styles, and this girl loves to sing." Um, side note, has anybody ever seen New Girl and how Jessica Day always has those little, like, jingles or, like, she'll, like, sing to herself? You'll feel a little bit of that in this, and I just wanted to let you know.
Number one unpopular parenting belief that I hold is learning things the easy way is still learning.
I do see a bit of a glorification of hard, doing things the hard way, things being hard.
Maybe taking it to maybe a more deeper spiritual level, hard being e- the same as holy.
You're not con- setting your child up for success if they're always learning things the easy way.
I mean, that's, [laughs] that's the art of parenting, right? Is sometimes they, they put themselves in situations or they make choices where a natural consequence is the teacher, right? And, like, maybe they are learning that the hard way.
And there are three major ways that I find to teach kids lessons that I would put in the category of not the hard way.
If I'm looking at all of the parenting questions I've gotten in this question box and I were to try to consolidate it down to one question, it would be very easy because it would just be, "What is an unpopular parenting belief that you have?" That's essentially what they all are in just different wording.
And after putting a touch of thought into it, I have three very, what I think are lukewarm.
I think that after listening to this you'll be like, "Oh yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure." Maybe I'm just being silly.
When it comes to parenting, I feel like I should give a little sprinkle of background, a little context.
I went to school for music education, and you will see that in these answers.
You'll be like, "This girl has taken some classes on brains [laughs] and child learning styles, and this girl loves to sing." Um, side note, has anybody ever seen New Girl and how Jessica Day always has those little, like, jingles or, like, she'll, like, sing to herself? You'll feel a little bit of that in this, and I just wanted to let you know.
Number one unpopular parenting belief that I hold is learning things the easy way is still learning.
I do see a bit of a glorification of hard, doing things the hard way, things being hard.
Maybe taking it to maybe a more deeper spiritual level, hard being e- the same as holy.
You're not con- setting your child up for success if they're always learning things the easy way.
I mean, that's, [laughs] that's the art of parenting, right? Is sometimes they, they put themselves in situations or they make choices where a natural consequence is the teacher, right? And, like, maybe they are learning that the hard way.
And there are three major ways that I find to teach kids lessons that I would put in the category of not the hard way.
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