Arnold Schwarzenegger's Ultra-Strict Parenting Style Used To Leave His Kids In Tears
Arnold Schwarzenegger went to great lengths to ensure his kids stayed in line. During a 2023 appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Arnold explained that Americans might think he was authoritarian based on their standards, but according to his own upbringing and tragic childhood, the action star was a relatively laidback dad. However, Arnold recalled a story that proved he wasn't the most easy-going father with his son, Patrick Schwarzenegger. He prefaced by sharing that his five kids were all entrusted with the responsibility of doing basic chores like making their beds, tidying up their bathrooms, and doing their laundry.
But once, he noticed that Patrick's bed seemed too well-made to have been done by him. When the "Terminator" star asked if he had gone against the rules and enlisted the nanny's help, Patrick caved and quickly admitted his wrongdoing. Arnold revealed in an interview with People that he taught his son a lesson by chucking his mattress and pillows off the balcony. "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.'"
It didn't end there either. The former governor informed Kimmel that, because he grew up in post-World War II Austria, electricity was scarce. So, he taught his children to conserve energy as much as possible. But Patrick often forgot to turn off their lights when he headed out. Naturally, Arnold couldn't let that slide and taught him a lesson, which left the youngster sobbing.
Arnold Schwarzenegger taught his son energy conservation the hard way
After Arnold Schwarzenegger's requests to his eldest son, Patrick Schwarzenegger, to turn off his lights repeatedly fell on deaf ears, the former bodybuilder warned him that he would unscrew a lightbulb from the chandelier in his room every time he left them on. On "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Arnold acknowledged that the then-5-year-old wasn't too concerned about it at first because he had seven lightbulbs in the chandelier. But after Patrick failed to respect his father's wishes for the seventh time, he was left completely in the dark.
As he was tearing up, Arnold asked his son how he could prevent future re-occurrences of the situation, and the young boy vowed to switch his lights off whenever he wasn't using the room. The action star managed to get through to him, and Patrick never repeated his mistake. As Arnold told People, he also had a problem with Patrick's long showers and told him to reduce them to five minutes, but his complaints weren't taken seriously once again. So, the actor resorted to his tried-and-tested method of experience-based teaching and installed a shower timer to turn the water frigid after five minutes.
"The Expendables" star recalled how it all played out: "So when he got the shower on and he was whistling and singing in there and thinking Daddy's not around, all [of a] sudden the ice-cold shower came on." He continued, "And all of a sudden, we heard downstairs, the scream." Arnold didn't bestow any special treatment on his daughters either but they happily wore their tough upbringing as a badge of honor.
His children thanked him for raising them tough
During his "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" interview, Arnold Schwarzenegger confessed to feeling miffed by his daughter, Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt, constantly leaving her shoes around the house instead of in their designated spot. After three warnings, he decided it was time for some action and threw her precious shoes in the fireplace, which left Katherine in tears. However, the proud papa clarified to People that his children bore no ill will towards him as a result.
"Funny enough, those kinds of things are what they bring up all the time with tremendous laughter and tell other people as a joke," he confirmed. "When Katherine comes over, she loves bragging to other people about how bossy I was, how tough I was when she grew up, and how she didn't get away with anything." The "Predator" star also boasted that his daughter used his parenting tactics on her own kids. While visiting Arnold's home, Katherine's daughter, Lyla Schwarzenegger, quite literally followed in her mother's footsteps and placed her shoes by the fireplace.
Arnold remembered how Katherine told then-3-year-old Lyla that her precious shoes would wind up in the fireplace if she didn't stow them where they belonged. Speaking on "The Rich Roll Podcast," Arnold also noted that his daughter even thanked him for her highly disciplined upbringing. Additionally, when his kids were young, they felt irritated when he wouldn't let them drink hot chocolate before skiing a couple of rounds, but after growing up, they praised him for making them phenomenal skiers so clearly they learned something valuable in the end.