Ghanaian-British singer Stephanie Benson has revealed the unusual parenting tactic she used while raising her children abroad.
In an interview on Hitz FM, she confessed that she lied to her children she is a witch, to scare them from involving in frivolities.
According to the singer, raising children abroad can be particularly challenging because of the many influences they encounter outside the home, making parenting a demanding task regardless of how much money a parent earns.
She said she therefore adopted a rather unconventional approach to keep her children in check, telling them from a young age that she was a witch and could always tell what they had been up to.
“I told them I a witch, first and foremost. Caucasian kids are very easy to be lied to. I told them as a witch, I know everything. Anything you do, I know before you’ve done it. Because they’ll come home and I say, ‘you did this’ and I was always right. It’s only intuition.”
Stephanie Benson said the story became so convincing that her children believed it for years.
“For a very long time, up until they were like 20, they believed it,” she said.
She explained that what her children interpreted as supernatural knowledge was, in reality, largely her understanding of them and their character.
The tactic, she added, helped create a close relationship between her and her children, even though they eventually realized she was not actually a witch.
Beyond the playful confession, Stephanie Benson said her approach to parenting was shaped by her determination to remain a best friend to her children, which she still is, despite their ages.
