Mom reveals why she allows her daughter to color on the kitchen floor, sparking debate

Every parent wants the best for their children. They will do anything and everything to give them the best possible chance at a happy and healthy life. This often entails protecting the children from the downfalls parents notice within themselves. Parents don't want children to suffer through the same vulnerabilities as them and therefore do everything in their power to not let those things happen. Hence, Kira—who goes by @kiraaddison on TikTok—decided to go an unconventional route in her parenting journey and said 'yes' to one of her daughter's demands which raised a lot of eyebrows. She shared her reasoning on social media earning a myriad of responses.

The mother gave a heartwarming caption to the video, "Trying to give her the happiest childhood." It features her kitchen floor all messed up with color pencils and adorned with a variety of shapes and figures. She explained the whole situation in a text overlay that reads, "Healing my inner child is letting my two-year-old color on the kitchen floor while I am cooking. She asked me first and I said yes." Throughout her childhood, Kira has dealt with anxiety. In her interview with TODAY, the mother explained how her childhood experience with rules and unnecessary rejection left her exhausted. She felt shackled up with no freedom. "My dad often said no and my mom was good at saying yes, as long as no one was harmed," said Kira. "Seeing both viewpoints made me realize the benefits of saying yes. I'd rather foster my daughter's creativity and instill confidence while she's safely exploring the world at home — and with the consequence of cleaning up. It's a teachable moment."

In the midst of providing liberty, she did not allow her child to go haywire. She did not agree to her demands which made no sense and caused irreparable damage. In the text overlay, the mother continued, "She tried to ask if she could color on the cabinet and I said no, and she listened. She knows this is only allowed right here. But she had the most fun and it can all be cleaned." Despite this, she got a lot of comments on how such parenting techniques lead to children growing up with a lack of boundaries. As an answer to them, Kira made a follow-up video. 

In the video, she showed her kitchen floor which is now clean. The mother wrote in the text overlay, "For everyone panicking with my last post, the floor is all clean and it took a full minute to mop." She also mentioned how it was her daughter that cleaned the entire thing. The exercise not only gave her freedom but also taught her a lesson that she should take care of her mess. This made her a more responsible individual. Therefore as per her interview, the mother wants to say 'yes' more often. She does not want her daughter to live by her parents but instead to have the strength to figure out her own life.

The comment section found this technique appealing. @picklesgreen8888 came to Kira's defense and wrote, "Ironically the people that are upset at this are the children who weren't given freedom to do things like this. Keep doing you, mama." @locket.13 shared her own experience and commented, "We had a shaving cream 'fight' last night right before I made dinner. We all had fun making the mess and our son helped clean it up."