You don't need a parenting spirit animal

Forget Tiger Mom. Let's celebrate the hybrid parent instead.

A mother and daughter.
(Image credit: Illustrated | fizkes/iStock, Hennadii/iStock, omyos/iStock)

The 2010s was the decade that saw parents around the world align themselves with a variety of wild, weird, and wonderful animals. It started with the Tiger Mom, introduced to the world in 2011 by Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. This paved the way for the Dolphin Mom and the Jellyfish Mom (both coined by Dr. Shimi Kang in her 2014 book The Dolphin Way: A Parent's Guide to Raising Healthy, Happy, and Motivated Kids Without Turning Into a Tiger). But it was far from a three-way race. The parenting playing field was open to all species. Step forward the Elephant Mom, the Sloth Mom, and the Elk Mom. No doubt, there are a dozen more we haven't met yet.

But while parents were taking online quizzes to determine their parenting spirit animal, they were forgetting one crucial thing. Some kids dig tigers, while others feel far more comfortable hanging out in the sloth enclosure at the zoo. For parents with multiple kids, this can present a challenge.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Claire Gillespie

Claire Gillespie is a freelance writer with bylines on Health, SELF, Refinery29, Glamour, The Washington Post, and many more. She likes to write about parenting, health, and culture. She lives in Scotland with her husband and six kids, where she uses every (rare) spare moment to work on her novel.