This mom’s not monkeying around — and she sure isn’t swinging on the monkey bars, either.
Amanda, a mom of three who goes by @free.as.amother on Instagram, has the internet in a tizzy after posting a reel of herself sitting peacefully on a park bench, coffee in hand, watching her kids play — but not playing with them, originally reported on by Parents.com.
Her stance? A one-word zinger: “No.”
The recent clip was a direct response to another video urging parents to get off their butts and into the sandbox with their kids.
Amanda wasn’t having it.
“I’m not saying to never intervene, play with, or support your kiddo,” she clarified in the caption. “I’m just highlighting here that it’s okay if you don’t want to be the adult scaling the playground.”
Translation? She’s a mom, not a jungle gym.
The take has sparked a tug-of-war in the parenting arena, with some calling Amanda a champion of boundaries — and others labeling her an absentee at recess.
Amanda sees the playground as “a space where they get to experience some freedom, explore, interact and engage with other children without their parents breathing down their neck.”
And many moms are backing her up.
“I play every day all day. The park is the ONE TIME they are there to play independently and with others their age lol,” one wrote.
“Let them be bored. Let them get creative. Let them make new friends. Their parent is not their court jester. The playground is meant for kids to play, not parents,” chimed in someone else.
Another preschool pro added, “Kids need to come up with their own creativity sometimes. It’s my job to have objects for them to play with, but it’s their job to figure out what they want to do with that said object.”
Still, some spectators warned against zoning out completely — especially when wild kids go full “Lord of the Flies” on the slide.
“You don’t need to play with the kids, but you do need to watch them,” one commenter snapped. “I can’t stand parents who sit on the bench staring at their phone while their kid is terrorizing other children.”
This is the latest flashpoint in the modern parenting wars — much like Chelsea Lensing’s wild viral hack to stop car seat whining by asking her kids, “Did you bring a snack?”
The economist mom went viral last month for turning backseat complaints into toddler teachable moments.
The goal isn’t starvation — it’s self-awareness.
“She got really upset because she wanted a doll too,” Lensing recalled. “I said, ‘Did you bring one?’ and she said, ‘No. Next time, I’m going to bring a doll, too.’”
Her method sparked a firestorm of its own, with critics calling it “insane” for kids under 5, while teachers applauded it for building accountability.
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