Parenting, in all its forms, is the focus of the new reality series, Parental Guidance, and it’s said to be unlike anything that’s been seen on television before.
WATCH BELOW: Parental Guidance, the groundbreaking new TV show about parenting styles is coming!
Today show host Ally Langdon and Australian parenting expert Dr. Justin Coulson have teamed up with 10 sets of parents with very different parenting styles for Parental Guidance.
Each family will put their methods to the ultimate test to determine who has Australia’s best parenting style.
To get to that conclusion, the families will complete tasks and later sit down with Ally and Justin to assess and reflect, with couples weighing in on everyone else’s methods.
From helicopter parents to tiger parents, free-range and routine parents to extreme authoritarians, get to know all the families and their different parenting styles here.
Parents: Andrew (39) and Miriam (41)
Children: Luke (12), Grace (10), Tim (5)
Hometown: NSW
Parenting style: Strict
Andrew, who is a Christian pastor, and Miriam, who works part-time and is the primary home keeper, are a parent-led household.
The couple and their three children have strong faith and enjoy holding traditional gender roles in the home and in life.
Andrew and Miriam grew up happily in the country with strict parents, the parenting style they have continued with their own family.
Parents: Liadhan (45) and Richard (67)
Children: Miriam (12), Hannah (11), Esther (9), Eva (7), Danny (5)
Hometown: SA
Parenting style: Nature
Liadhan and Richard have five children together. Liadhan also has two adult children from a previous relationship, and Richard, who is a former teacher, has four adult children from a previous relationship.
They both parented their children who are now adults in a strict style and are now against strict parenting, so they practise the nature parenting style.
Liadhan home-birthed all five of their children and is a voracious reader of philosophy on parenting.
Parents: Lara (42) and Andrew (39)
Children: Raphael (7), Chaya (5)
Hometown: Victoria
Parenting style: Attachment
Lara is a stay-at-home mum, a former dancer, dance journalist and drama teacher. Andrew is a performing arts physio, and they’ve been married for 15 years.
Their parenting style is attachment, and they raise their children using the circle of security. They play with the kids constantly and particularly love to perform with them.
Parents: Brett (50) and Tony (49)
Children: Ajay (9), Gyan (9), Taz (9), Jagan (9)
Hometown: Victoria
Parenting style: Routine
Brett, a primary school teacher, and Tony, a social worker, have two sets of twins who live by their routine parenting style.
Brett and Tony were born and bred in Bendigo, a town that really accepts them. They both had a great childhood and upbringing.
Parents: Yann (43) and Donna (40)
Child: Harper (7)
Hometown: NSW
Parenting style: French
Yann, a project manager, and Donna, a general manager, live a European lifestyle with their daughter Harper.
Yann grew up in Paris and was raised in a classic French style, whereas Donna was raised in a Tiger style and now finds the Tiger style very triggering.
They call their style Nouveau French, being different from classical French in that it is not as strict and more affectionate.
Parents: Kevin (44) and Debbie (41)
Children: Mimi (12), Leo (10)
Hometown: NSW
Parenting style: Tiger
Kevin is in technology and Debbie, who is currently a stay-at-home mum, was an accountant before she quit her job a year ago to help Mimi prepare for her scholarship exams.
The couple met in Australia after moving here independently from Taiwan in their late teens, and Debbie says she adopted the Tiger style because she was Tiger-parented.
They believe they are at the moderate end of the Tiger spectrum, giving their children a lot of love and affection.
Parent: Deb (46)
Children: Jess (16), AJ (15), Ty (13), Cooper (11), Fletcher (9), Lulu (7)
Hometown: Queensland
Parenting style: Home School
Deb home-schools all six of her children. She is a huge advocate for home schooling, and heavily involved in the online home-school community.
Parents: Penny (35) and Daniel (37)
Children: Sebastian (9), Julian (6), Zahra (2)
Hometown: NSW
Parenting style: Free Range
Penny works part-time and Daniel is in sales. Both are from Newcastle in NSW and have good relationships with their parents.
They say you need a tribe to be a free-range parent because they always forget things and other parents help them out.
Penny had a similar upbringing to the one she’s giving her kids and Daniel had the opposite. His parents gave him very little freedom and said no to all opportunities and adventures.
Parents: Rachel (35) and Sam (35)
Children: Gracie (7), Ellsie (5)
Hometown: Queensland
Parenting style: Helicopter
Rachel is a full-time mum, personal trainer and parenting podcaster, whereas Sam is a former NRL player for the Brisbane Broncos and also a podcaster.
While Sam and Rachel enjoyed some fame during his NRL career, they find parenting is the great equaliser, saying, “You still have to wipe bums and clean up vomit.”
Parents: Rob (42) and Sioux (42)
Children: Hudson (9), Fletcher (7)
Hometown: SA
Parenting style: Disciplined
Rob teaches high school and Sioux teaches primary, and they’re a very active and energetic family.
Rob and Sioux have built a home gym in the backyard and the boys are heavily involved in sport. Rob plays cricket with them every day, mornings and after school.
Rob and Sioux set the rules and what they say goes. ‘Consequences’ is a massive word for them.
Parental Guidance premieres on Monday, November 1 at 7.30 pm on Nine and 9Now.
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