68. I stopped negotiating with my toddler - FAFO Parenting

You’re told to stay calm. Keep explaining. Offer choices. Negotiate gently. But what happens when you’ve repeated yourself ten times and nothing changes?

In this episode of The Mama Circle Podcast, Nat shares a shift she’s been experimenting with during the toddler years: stepping away from endless negotiation and allowing safe, natural consequences to do the teaching instead with FAFO (F*ck Around, Find Out) parenting.

This isn’t about abandoning gentle parenting or becoming stricter. It’s about recognising that much of modern parenting advice assumes unlimited patience, time and emotional capacity, conditions most parents simply don’t have.

Because parenting doesn’t happen in ideal circumstances. It happens when you’re tired, running late, overstimulated, and trying to hold an entire household together at the same time.

Drawing from real-life toddler moments, Nat explores what changed when she stopped trying to control every outcome and started getting curious instead of exhausted.

Inside this episode:

• why negotiation stops working with some toddlers

• parenting strong-willed children without constant conflict

• the exhaustion of endless repetition

• boundaries versus “being soft” in modern parenting culture

• letting go of control without becoming harsh or reactive

• why toddlers often learn through experience rather than explanation

If you’ve ever felt like you’re failing because parenting feels harder than it’s supposed to, this episode offers a different perspective.

You’re not doing it wrong. You’re parenting inside real constraints.

If this resonates, you can download my free audio guide, The 5 Villages Every Mum Needs, where I talk more about the support structures modern mothers are navigating.

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