Why do we turn into our mum or dad when we have children — and should we try to fight it?

That we turn into our own parents when we become parents ourselves is practically inevitable, says psychotherapist Bethan O’Riordan who specialises in parenting support

Pre-parenthood, you never thought you'd channel your parents' gestures and facial expressions and use phrases straight out of their parental script book

YOU hear it in the ultimatum you just issued: ‘No ice-cream ‘til you eat those vegetables’. It’s in your tone of voice as you tell your child, ‘How lucky you are…in my day.' Pre-parenthood, you never thought you'd channel your parents' gestures and facial expressions and use phrases straight out of their parental script book.

That we turn into our own parents when we become parents ourselves is practically inevitable, says psychotherapist Bethan O’Riordan (bethanoriordan.com), who specialises in parenting support.