I’m trolled for being a ‘controlling’ parent because of the rules my kids abide by, but I have set punishments too

A TRAVELLER has found herself labelled a "controlling" and an "oppressive" parent by trolls after revealing the strict rules her kids have to live by.

Heidi is mum to a six-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son, both of whom are "half and half" as she's an Irish traveller while their dad is an English gypsy.

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And while their upbringing may vary slightly given the different ways their parents were brought up, both children will have some definite rules to stick to.

In a video on her TikTok page, Heidi explained that one of the main rules for daughter is that she's not allowed to drink alcohol until she's someone's wife.

"Now I know some English girls, and some travellers, do drink," she said.

"It's up to them, each to their own, but I never did drink before I was married, so she will not be allowed to.

"I don't really care about the circumstances, who she's with, what she's doing, no drink before marriage. That's it."

Likewise, there won't be any sleepovers at friends' houses in her daughter's future.

"She can stay over at her grandparents and her aunts and uncles," Heidi continued.

"But to be going over to her friends and staying away the night? No, absolutely not."

Other rules include the fact Heidi and her husband have "final say" on who she mixes with, as well as getting full access to her phone anytime they want.

Heidi concluded by adding: "These rules here, they don't feel particularly big.

"This is just normal. This is how I was reared!"

"Are these rules or is it control?" one person wrote in the comments section.

To which Heidi responded: "Protection and culture".

"Yeah. that rebellion is gonna be a thing," another mused.

"I don't condone this! It sounds so harsh, and controlling," a third commented.

"What a fun upbringing," someone else said sarcastically.

"Yeah completely safe loved protected and made a priority, so she can have a lot of fun," Heidi hit back.

"That’s crazy," another said.

As Heidi responded: "Crazy how you can't understand culture differences!"

Someone else asked Heidi how she "punishes" her children if they break the rules.

And she said that while people want to hear something "completely ridiculous" and along the line of an "oppressive narrative", like her daughter being "shunned from society or completely disowned" if she drank alcohol before marrying, Heidi insisted she just grounds her, like many other parents.

"In actual fact, if she broke some of the rules - or one of them or whatever, she'd probably just get grounded," she said.

"If I heard that my son or my daughter was out and about and acting a certain way in a way that I didn't think was right or respectable… acting a certain way that would make me stop and go, 'You know better than to do that'.

"Then I would bar them - I'd say if you can't be mature enough to go out and behave in polite society like a decent human being, which you have been reared, then you can't go.

"I would just ground them.

"Travellers just expect their children to act a certain way - to behave and to be respectful to themselves and everyone around them.

"That seems to be completely blowing some people's minds!"

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