At last, my lazy-faire attitude to parenting has been vindicated

DOUBLE TROUBLE FOR A FIRST TIME DAD OF TWINS

- RICHARD IRVINE

For a little while now, I've been experimenting with the laissez-faire approach to parenting.

French for ‘leave alone’, it means I do nothing, and Thomas and Emma take responsibility for their lives. For example, instead of bellowing, ‘brush your teeth so we can go out’, I do nothing.

Naturally, they don't do anything either, but it is far less stressful, and everyone seems happier.

When Victoria went away for the weekend, we lived like flatmates with very little intervention from myself, and it was a revelation how little friction there was and how happy we were.

Obviously, their mother returned to unkempt children living in squalor, so you might say it was a partial success, but not a sustainable approach.

And this is why I was intrigued to read about ‘good enough parenting’ at the weekend.