Kate Middleton Says She Needs Advice on ‘Toddler Tantrums’ In New Video
Rich or poor, royal or common, there’s nothing easy about dealing with a fussy toddler. Even Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, just implied that she struggles to handle her three young children in the middle of a tantrum.
In a video posted to the Kensington Royal Instagram page on November 28 thanking everyone who filled out the “5 Big Questions on the Under Fives”–her new research survey on early childhood development–Middleton answered a few questions from the public about her involvement in early childhood health and her own experiences as a mother.
When asked “How do you manage toddler tantrums in your household? Especially with multiple children,” she let out a sigh, laughed, and responded, “Yes, that’s a hard one. I’d also like to ask the experts myself.”
The answer the expert gave, by the way, was to calmly and gently try to put into words how the child might be feeling—which is exactly the type of strategy we can imagine Middleton using.
In July 2017, the duchess’s parenting skills went viral when Princess Charlotte, then two years old, had a mini meltdown while touring an Airbus facility in Germany. When she started to stamp her feet, her mother came down to her level, then picked her up and talked to her comfortingly. (This was the same day that Prince George, in a much better mood, gave us those iconic photos of him being gleeful on the helicopter.)
Kate Middleton, who in 2016 wrote a column for The Huffington Post about the importance of mental health in young children, reportedly uses a “chat sofa” when talking to her kids about consequences and discipline.
One of the issues that might merit a trip to the supposed sofa? Jealousy over homework. In May of 2020, the Duchess of Cambridge revealed that the family had hit a snag in their home schooling when Prince George saw how much more fun Princess Charlotte’s “work” was. “George gets very upset because he just wants to do all of Charlotte’s projects,” she explained at the time. “Making spider sandwiches is far cooler than doing literacy work.”
Honestly, not getting to make spider sandwiches—whatever those are—sounds like something worth throwing a tantrum over.
Originally Appeared on Glamour
