health

Dr Ginni has one hard and fast lifestyle rule when it comes to raising six kids.

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GP Ginni Mansberg has six kids living under her roof.

Well, if you can call a 24-year-old a kid.

Can you imagine if you had to buy six iPads? Yikes.

The popular TV doctor gave birth to three of her clan and then welcomed another trio of cherubs into her nest after she married their father, Daniel Rubenstein.

So that’s three kids, three step-kids, plus a partner of one of her kids who also lives in the house. Oh, and two dogs.

In case you were wondering – no, she doesn’t sleep.

As the matriarch of a house of nine, you’ve got to set some guidelines. Lay down the gadgetless law. All while navigating the treacherous terrain of step-motherhood.

That’s why Dr Ginni instigated the ‘Mansberg philosophy.’

What is the Mansberg Philosophy? Dr Ginni explains on the I Don’t Know How She Does It podcast:

It’s all about setting out the things they are entitled to, and the things they’re not entitled to.

And as Dr Ginni warns, that’s a hard one for some parents to swallow.

So what can the kids claim as their god-given right in this world? Surely if not an iPad, then at least an iPhone, right?

“What they come into this world being entitled to is the best medical care you can afford, the best food you can afford, shelter and protection,” the 49-year-old said.

Straightforward. Essential. Priceless.

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Podcast host Alissa Warren with GP Ginni Mansberg. Image supplied.

And what's struck off the essentials list as a big NO?

"X Boxes, dates with friends, iPads, extra funky clothing that's expensive, spray tans, nail do's," Dr Ginni listed.

"I think as as parents we should always give our children opportunities to earn those, but they're not entitlements."

"Once you have that philosophy, you're never removing things, you're never punishing kids."

So it's time to stop showing your offspring in things. You don't owe them that new pair of Air Yeezy shoes, or whatever it is the kids are wearing these days.

"You empower them to make really good decisions... they have the opportunity to earn things," Dr Ginni said.

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Since there are no snazzy devices or computer games up for grabs, the Sydney mum is now working on debunking the evil stepmother myth.

"No good stepmother has ever been written about," she said.

But to be honest, life in Dr Ginni's household sounds pretty cruisey.

"The rental terms in our household are extraordinary. Not only do we supply rent, but for free we throw in internet, electricity, water, use of the washing machine," the parenting expert said.

But don't be fooled - it doesn't come cheap.

"If you have to put an occasional load of washing on the line, I don't think that's too hard.

"Everybody has to pull their weight. We don't pay pocket money, we think you do stuff around the house because it's your house," Dr Ginni said.

Yep, make them work for to earn their keep. Cinderella-style.

Listen to the full episode here:

 

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