Children's entertainer and YouTube personality Ms Rachel, real name Rachel Griffin Accurso, has shared one of the best things she has learned since becoming a parent. Known for her videos on early language development, speech milestones, sign language, and gestures for toddlers, her content has billions of views and has spawned a range of toys, books, and an official album.
Calming your own nervous system
In a recent TikTok video, Ms Rachel, a mother of two with her husband Aron Accurso, offered advice on helping children through tantrums and how parents can help themselves. She said: "One of the best things I've learned as parent is to calm my own nervous system when my kid is having big feelings. I sit calmly and take deep breaths."
She continued: "I show my child that even though they feel out of control, I'm calm. I can handle their big emotions. If hitting can say 'it's ok to be mad but it's not ok to hit'."
Giving children words for their feelings
Ms Rachel suggested giving children words they can use, saying: "Give them words they can say: You can say 'I'm so mad!'. I say 'I'm here if you need me'. When they are calm, I might share a time when I was a kid when I got really mad and made a mistake."
She added: "Like 'oh I remember when I hit my sister because I wanted the brush'."
Political stances and nursery rhymes
Ms Rachel has been both criticised and praised for making her political stance on worldwide events clear, including the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. She recently called out Ed Sheeran and supported Macklemore's Free Palestine comment that led to his removal from Ed Sheeran's LOOP Tour.
More recently, on the SubwayTakes Podcast with interviewer Kareem Rahma, she said three nursery rhymes should be banned: "Jimmy Crack Corn, Oh! Susanna, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe."
She explained that Jimmy Crack Corn, from the 1840s, mocks enslaved African Americans, and Oh! Susanna comes from 19th-century blackface minstrel shows. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe is divisive because older versions contained an offensive racial slur in place of "tiger".
Ms Rachel said: "People are like, 'What will we do? What will we do?' when I'm like, you know how many wonderful nursery rhymes and kids' songs exist? And we can make new ones."
