TV shepherdess who is 46-year-old mother of NINE blames parents for today’s ‘snowflake generation’ of children who cannot look after themselves
Parents are to blame for today’s ‘snowflake generation’ of children who have ‘no sense of independence’ or work ethic, our Yorkshire Farm star Amanda Owen.
The 46-year-old mother of nine stars in the popular TV series following her life as a shepherdess with her husband on a remote farm in the Yorkshire Dales.
Owen, who revealed she gave birth to her eighth child on her own after deciding she could handle the task on her own, said she has instilled a sense of independence in their children.
But looking at childrens’ upbringings in other families, she says that parents need to stop mollycoddling their children.
‘I thought sod it, I’ll do it myself’: Our Yorkshire Farm star Amanda Owen revealed she gave birth to her eighth child at home on the floor while her husband was asleep upstairs
Full brood: The TV farmer, 45, who has become famous because of the Channel 5 show about her family’s life in rural Yorkshire, shares nine children with her husband Clive
‘The snowflake generation, they can’t do anything,’ Owen told the Radio Times.
‘They don’t know anything about how to look after themselves, or a work ethic, all of that has gone out of the window. It’s our fault as parents.
‘If you put your child on a pedestal, with no sense of independence, and think you have got to entertain them the whole time, what can you expect?
Free spirits! The mother-of-nine said she has instilled on that same sense of independence in their children (Amanda is pictured with some of her children on the Moors)
‘I rebuff swaddling children, because I want to see them go on and do well and be themselves, whatever that is. I feel like it is their life and all I do is prepare them.
‘What we do on the farm, hopefully, is preparation for the big world. The lessons they get here will stand them in good stead.’
Out now: The full interview with Amanda Owens is available in the latest edition of Radio Times
The Channel 5 star said she had wanted her children to make the most of the independence she has allowed, including when it comes to home-schooling.
She added: ‘We logged in for about a week. Then I threw it back to them.
‘Children have to be independent. I can’t be a helicopter parent. We read the papers and they show me some of their projects, but I have yet to be at a single parents’ evening. I did pretty poorly at my exams, but look at what I have achieved since then.’
Owen also revealed that she did not wake her husband Clive up when she went into labour and gave birth to her eighth child at home on the floor with her dog for company.
By the time she came to deliver daughter Clemmy, now five, she had already decided she could handle the incredible task on her own.
‘Our local maternity hospital is in Middlesbrough, which is 69 miles away, and on these roads, that takes a long time. So by baby number eight, I thought sod it, I’ll do it myself.’
‘I knew the baby was in the right position, so when I felt the familiar feelings I went downstairs and had the baby in front of the fire with my terrier as a birthing partner.’
Amanda added: ‘Clive wasn’t desperate to be at the birth, he was asleep upstairs. I went and woke him up with the baby.’
Our Yorkshire Farm has been a runaway hit since it was first broadcast in 2018, attracting an average three million viewers throughout the series.
The full interview is in Radio Times, out now.