Despite Often Leaving His Children Terrified, Arnold Schwarzenegger Believes His Parenting Was “Lenient,” Just Not “For American Standards”

Growing up in a small village, life was not very easy for Arnold Schwarzenegger. ‘The Austrian Oak’ had to struggle for even the basic necessities, like food and electricity, at times. Not to mention, he had only one pair of shoes that he had to clean himself every time he came home. These habits that he imbibed over the years are probably what makes him such a humble personality, even after achieving all the success in the world. Despite all the riches in the world, Schwarzenegger made sure to raise his kids with the utmost care while being strict at times, ensuring that they do their work themselves and don’t depend on others.

Giving instances of the same during an interview, Schwarzenegger opened up in a recent episode of the renowned talk show ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live.’ The bodybuilding legend also disclosed that, by his definition, he was a lenient parent despite his kids believing that Arnold was too hard on them.

Arnold Schwarzenegger gives his two cents on his parenting methods

Since Arnold was born just after World War II, Schwarzenegger’s childhood was not a bed of roses. His father, Gustav Schwarzenegger, was a police chief who served in the war. Due to the aftermath of the war, the Schwarzenegger family had to face a lot of financial trouble. During his time on the ‘Jimmy Kimmel’ show, Arnold was asked whether he thought he was a strict parent himself. Responding to this, he stated that, in comparison to the lifestyle that he lived during his initial years, he would say that he was a ‘lenient’ parent.

Arnold stated, “Well, it depends what your definition is… I think the way I grew up, I was lenient, but I think for American standards, probably strict.” When asked about some of the incidents that he had as a parent, he revealed a story about Patrick as well as Katherine Schwarzenegger’s initial years to give a little insight into his parenting methods.

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The discipline Arnold Schwarzenegger wanted to instill in his kids 

In a recent interview that Schwarzenegger had with People.com, he revealed that he wanted to transfer the habits that he learned over the years to his kids as a parent. In order to ensure they learned things, he sometimes had to be a bit hard on them. Sharing instances of this, he revealed that he always told Katherine to keep her shoes in the mud room, but she would not listen to him and keep them near the fireplace. Teaching her a lesson for this, Arnold once threw her shoes in the fireplace.

Apart from Katherine, Patrick also had the bad habit of not making his bed himself, despite several warnings. To improve Patrick’s habit, Arnold stated what he had to do: “I opened up the door to the balcony, picked up the mattress, and threw it down with the bedsheets, the pillows, everything. I said, don’t ever make someone come in and clean your room, clean your shower, or make your bed,” he shared. “I said, ‘Because I taught you how to make the bed.’”

While Schwarzenegger admits that, according to American standards, he was a strict parent, do you also believe this to be true? Let us know in the comments.

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