TikTok content creator Audi Ferrin was raised with gentle parents. She feels her parents’ gentle parenting style set her up to be a successful adult — and a successful parent herself. The now mom of three noted that growing up, she felt very fortunate to have parents who made an effort to be kind and respectful. They were loving but helpful guides on how to be a rational, good member of society.
After her video went viral, Ferrin was often asked by her followers for specific examples of how her parents went about this when they were younger. Ferrin shared one specific example of how her parents went above and beyond to not only stick to their in-house rules but also make their kids feel loved and cared for in an extra special way.
“I was fortunate enough to grow up with a very nurturing mom. She was born to take care of people. She’s so good at taking care of babies, grandmas, teenagers, you name it. She’s really good at seeing a need and then fulfilling the need, whether it’s emotional, physical, spiritual. She’s just very intuitive. She’s an empath, and she just loves taking care of people,” Ferrin prefaces in her video before sharing a special item she found at her mom’s house that brought her back to childhood.
She showed a picture of a small, brass ringing bell.
“Okay, so this is the bell my mom would use when we were sick. She would put it by our bedside with our whole setup, whether it was tea, a little snack, medicine, tissues, whatever we needed. She would set it all up and then she would put the bell where we could reach it easily and we would ring it if we needed her,” she shared. “And I think that is so sweet.”
Of course, this is the sweetest thing ever. My own mom actually did this for me when I was sick as a kid, as well. So, now I need to call her and sob while I thank her for being such a good mom, but I digress.
Ferrin notes that while the bell was a special gesture, it also served a more firm purpose, helping reinforce rules.
She continued, “As you guys know, we didn’t yell in our family. My parents just had a no-yelling policy. They didn’t yell at us, and they expected us to not yell at them. Even if it was to get their attention, I mean obviously for like an emergency or something, they were fine with it. But this was kind of her way of saying, ‘You can get my attention this way if you need me and my nurturing mother services.’
“Isn’t that just so sweet? I need to get a bell for my kids.”
One user wrote, “Let’s recognize that this is a skill that she’s honed overtime. Sometimes I neglect to appreciate how much work goes into to being good at care work.”
Now, my only hope is that someone left out that bell for mom when she was sick!
