Arnold Schwarzenegger's Shocking Parenting Move: Plunging Son's Mattress into the Pool as Strict Punishment
Arnold Schwarzenegger, known for his strict parenting style, once used unconventional punishments for his children He revealed throwing his son's mattress in the pool and his daughter's shoes in the fire as means of discipline
Arnold Schwarzenegger Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
Arnold Schwarzenegger, aged 76, discussed his approach to parenting on the October 2nd episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! He was not hesitant to impart valuable lessons to his children, although at times his disciplinary actions may have been disproportionate to their transgressions.
Schwarzenegger explained that in terms of the way he was raised, he was more lenient. However, he acknowledged that by American standards, his upbringing was likely considered strict. The Terminator actor also humorously mentioned that his children often bring up certain anecdotes from their childhoods.
Schwarzenegger recalled that his son, for example, didn't take the responsibility of making his bed and instead relied on the nanny, which was against the rules. He emphasized that he had set the expectation for all of his children to make their own beds, clean their own bathrooms, and do their own laundry.
On one particular morning, Schwarzenegger noticed that his son Patrick's bed was meticulously made to perfection. In response, he took drastic action by opening the doors, grabbing the mattress, and hurling it off the balcony into the swimming pool.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jimmy Kimmel YouTube/Jimmy Kimmel Live
"He had to struggle to lift up the mattress and pillows - I threw everything out there," Schwarzenegger chuckled, delighting the audience and host Jimmy Kimmel.
Another incident involved one of Schwarzenegger's daughters. "My daughter had a habit of kicking off her tennis shoes and leaving them right by the fireplace," he disclosed. "I told her, 'I refuse to be a servant in this house.'"
Continuing, he chuckled and shared, "On the third occasion, I firmly said, 'Listen, I've already informed you three times, I clearly mentioned that I will burn those shoes' ... and so, I proceeded to place the shoes into the fireplace."
Concluding his anecdotes, Schwarzenegger mentioned another instance involving his son who had a habit of frequently leaving the lights on within their home.
“I grew up where there was a shortage of electricity after the Second World War in Austria so I said we had to always turn off the lights,” he explained.
Schwarzenegger noticed his son's habit and warned him that he would remove a light bulb from the chandelier each time he found the lights left on.
On the seventh day, when it was already dark, and he was just five years old, he found himself feeling terrified to enter his room alone at night. This prompted Schwarzenegger to ponder on a solution, asking, "What should we do now? How can we resolve this?"
In response, his son made a promise to take charge of turning off the lights from then on. With that assurance, Schwarzenegger reinstalled the light bulbs, and true to his word, his son consistently turned off the lights thereafter.
"It's a valuable lesson," Kimmel added, eliciting laughter and applause from the audience.
Schwarzenegger has four children - Katherine, aged 33, Christina, aged 32, Patrick, aged 30, and Christopher, aged 26 - with his ex-wife Maria Shriver. The former couple were married from 1986 to 2021. Additionally, Schwarzenegger is the father of Joseph, aged 26, whom he had with his former housekeeper Mildred Baena. Furthermore, his family has grown with the addition of granddaughters Lyla Maria, aged 3, and Eloise Christina, aged 16 months, who are Katherine's children with her husband Chris Pratt.
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