Dina Lohan is, without a doubt, one of the most disliked celebrity parents of the 21st century. Seriously, she has been in the tabloids for countless negative instances to do with her children; primarily her most famous daughter, Lindsay Lohan. Although, it should be mentioned that she also had three other children with her equally disliked ex-husband, Micheal; after Lindsay, she had Michael Jr., Ali, and Dakota.
We've seen Dina Lohan try to explain some of her parenting choices as well as glom onto the spotlight in reality shows such as Big Brother in order to achieve some vindication. But we haven't spent too much time thinking about the specific parenting lessons that are unique to Dina. This list includes an array of pretty interesting parenting lessons and styles that we'd really only see from this celebrity mother. But it also contains one or two valuable styles of parenting that Dina had. Without further ado, here are 20 parenting styles we'd only see from Dina Lohan.
20 Pretend To Be A Child's Assistant Rather Than Their Parent
One of the oddest parenting styles that we've seen from Dina Lohan is that she pretended to be Lindsay's assistant rather than just saying that she was her mother. This seems like a conflict of interest in so many ways. And yet, this was how the pair seemed so close during a part of their lives. It was also a way that Dina could get close to people around Lindsay without them putting their guard up because she is the mom.
19 When In Doubt, Focus On The Boys
Without a doubt, Lindsay Lohan was one of the most troubled starlets of our lifetime. She was everywhere in the news thanks to her antics that definitely put her work on the backburner. However, Dina has been open about focusing on her boy's choice instead, saying that they were always more mischievous than Lindsay and they were more challenging to parent. Although this may have been true, it's a hard thing to accept while seeing just how bad things got with Lindsay.
18 Make The Friends Out To Be The Baddies
After a while, it became clear to Dina that her daughter was in a bad situation. This made Dian part ways with Lindsay's famous and troubled friends, like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, and make them out to be the bad guys. In many ways, Dina was correct about this. Many of the people that Lindsay had surrounded herself with just enabled her behavior and bad habits.
17 Profit Off Of The Kids As Much As Possible
Any way you cut it, Dina Lohan definitely profited off of her most famous child. Although it may not be probable that she actually took her daughter's money as some critics like to claim, she definitely did do her best to push Lindsay into scenarios where she could take her manager's profit percentage. After all, Dina Lohan was Kris Jenner before the Kardashians were even a thing; in short, she was the ultimate momager.
16 Always Find Ways Of Getting A Child Help
It's arguable that Dina Lohan didn't always try and find ways of helping her daughter when she was going through her most challenging of times. However, Dina has said that she had always been there to find ways of getting her daughter the help that she needed. No matter what Lindsay was going through, Dina says that she was there to encourage her to seek proper medical attention and make the right choices.
15 Teach Them Whatever You Have To Teach Them
This particular parenting style kind of gives us a bit more understanding of Dina Lohan. She says that all a parent can do is teach their children whatever they know themselves. This certainly can explain some of Lindsay's choices. After all, she was just taking what Dina knew herself. And then there are the people who Dina learned from. Perhaps she wasn't taught anything different herself? Then again, there is such a thing as personal responsibility.
14 When In Doubt, Home-School
Lindsay wasn't the only daughter that Dina Lohan was criticized for putting on the wrong path. Many said that her younger daughter, Ali, was socializing instead of going to school. But Dina defended this as she had chosen to home-school her daughter instead. This was the same homeschool program that Lindsay was in. So, clearly, Dina way preferred to educate her kids this way.
13 Be Besties With The Popular Child
Another parenting style that Dina Lohan clearly had was being friends with her most popular daughter. Many claim that Dina acted more like her daughter's friend than her parent. This is why she was the target for a lot of the reasons why Lindsay turned out the way she did. But maybe Dina's style here was to step back and let her daughter figure things out for herself.
12 Use A Child As Your Rock And Therapist
Having a close connection with your children is certainly important, but using them as a sounding board for all of your problems may not be a smart choice. Well, this is what Dina Lohan said that she did when Lindsay was just 23. She said that she was her caretaker while she dealt with some tough situations. It should be said that Dina does regret putting her child through this.
11 Wear A Child's Hand-Me-Ups
Some daughters like to raid their mother's closet in order to take her more sophisticated clothing. But in the case of Dina Lohan, it was the other way around. Dina would happily wear Lindsay's Prada jacket of her old Jimmy Choo boots. Basically, she would take all of her daughter's hand-me-downs. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just a parenting style that's pretty unique to Dina Lohan.
10 Allow Kids To Play Match-Maker
Apparently, Dina Lohan let Lindsay set her up with an assortment of men. This makes sense since Lindsay would constantly meet eligible bachelors that were suitable for her mother. But it is a bit odd that a mother would let her daughter meddle in her love-life like this. At first, Dina was against this, but then she warmed up to the idea of dating a movie producer.
9 Partying With The Kids To Find The "Baddies"
Dina Lohan says that she only partied with her daughter in order to find the bad influences amongst Lindsay' friend group. This came about after she was criticized for being out with her daughter at clubs while Lindsay was going through her challenging times. Of course, this seems like an excuse but it may also be a parenting style. Although, it doesn't seem like it worked.
8 Make Besties With A Child's Friends And Their Parents
A good way to make sure your child is in good hands is to get to know their friends. This is a smart parenting tactic, but Dina Lohan took it a step further. She claims that, for a time, she was actually quite friendly with some of Lindsay's friends, such as Paris Hilton. She would even get close to Paris' mother as well, whom she looked up to.
7 Send A Kid To Hollywood Alone
Dina Lohan has admitted that she was in the wrong to send Lindsay to Hollywood with nothing but a few pieces of luggage and a chaperone. By this point, Lindsay was already coming up the ranks in Hollywood, but her family lived in New York. Instead of moving the whole family out there to help Lindsay's work, Dina stayed with her other children while Lindsay got to run around Hollywood while she was still a teenager.
6 Taking Responsibility For A Child's Choices
It took a long time for Dina Lohan, as well as her equally disliked ex-husband, Michael, to admit that they were responsible for much of their daughter's behavior. This happened when they were on The Steve Harvey Show. Although this realization came a tad late and does contradict some of the other entries on this list, it is a massive step in the right direction.
5 Defend A Child's Lack of Professionalism
While Lindsay Lohan was filming Georgia Rule, she was consistently absent from set as she was feeling the results of her excessive partying. The press had a field day with this but Dina came to her daughter's defense. This parenting style saw Dina making excuses for her daughter's lack of professionalism by claiming that Lindsay was sick.
4 Text Until Typing The Word "Text" Becomes Impossible
One parenting tactic that Dina Lohan used that many moms of this age can probably relate to is the fact that she constantly texted her daughter. Apparently, the pair would communicate via text thousands of times a day to make sure they were both in the know about their activities. However, they could have been speaking about practically anything.
3 Pick The Favorite Child
There's no way that we can definitively prove that Dina played favorites with her children, but her actions, as well as some of her comments, do sort of back up this claim. When asked about her kids, she would always talk them up but end by saying that Lindsay was the one who would win an Academy Award. We wonder how her other children feel about this.
2 Love Children Unconditionally But Don't Be Delusional About Them
As Dina Lohan grew up as a parent, she did come to the realization that she will always love her children unconditionally. But just because she loves them doesn't mean that they're perfect. She has recently been open about the fact that she knows that every child goes through their problems. Regardless, she believes that a parents' job is to stand by their children and love them no matter what.
1 Every Child Is Going To Go Through Challenging Times
The spotlight was certainly on Lindsay Lohan's problems as she was growing up. But Dina certainly makes a good point when she says that every child will go through their fair share of issues, no matter what they are exactly. No child is perfect and they will always find a way of messing up. That's just life. Believe it or not, this is a very smart realization that Dina has amalgamated into her parenting style.
Sources: Too Fab, Hollywood News, Daily Mail, The Talko, People, Mom.me, Harpers Bazaar, CTV News, Chicago Tribune
