Arnold Schwarzenegger Wasn't The Most Easy-Going Dad With Son Patrick

During an interview with People, Patrick Schwarzenegger once remarked, "I couldn't ask for a better parent duo," and he meant it. The up-and-comer likes to joke about his father, Arnold Schwarzenegger's, acting skills. Still, when Patrick told Arnold that he wanted to follow in his footsteps, the former bodybuilder couldn't have been happier or more supportive. However, things weren't always this peaceful between the father and son duo because Arnold used some harsh parenting tactics to get Patrick in line. 

Many of the "Predator" star's parenting choices boiled down to how he grew up. While his own children were born into privilege, Arnold had a tragic childhood where he often struggled to survive. Until he joined the local gym at 15, Arnold didn't understand what a shower was because his family had no access to clean water and would wash themselves using rags. When he got admitted to the hospital for measles, as a child, Arnold noticed his roommate was eating a banana, something he had never tried. 

So, when he discarded the peel by his bed, Arnold tried it and found it was one of the tastiest things he had ever experienced. The former bodybuilder might've bulked up on protein later, but when he was young, his family barely ever ate meat because it was simply too expensive. As a result, Arnold was disciplined to survive, and he wanted to pass that value on to his kids. In a "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" interview, he shared, "For the way I grew up, I was lenient. But I think for American standards, [I was] probably strict."

When Patrick Schwarzenegger was around nine, he ignored his father, Arnold Schwarzenegger's, pleas to make his own bed and instead got the nanny to tackle it for him. One day, Arnold decided he'd had enough of his son's laziness and decided to give him some tough love. In his "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" interview, the "Terminator" star admitted that he was furious after learning that Patrick used the nanny's services, "So, I grabbed the mattress, opened up the doors, and threw it off the balcony, down into the swimming pool!" 

The former governor continued, "It gives an example. ... So he had to, kind of, drag it up, the mattress and the pillows — I threw everything out there." When Arnold discussed the incident with People, he revealed that he felt even more offended by young Patrick's refusal to do his chores because he taught him how to make the bed. Arnold also acknowledged that he wasn't happy with how long his son took to shower. After several arguments about it, Arnold reached his breaking point and invested in one that timed the hot water dispensed. 

So, when Patrick went over by five minutes, he would be bombarded with cold water. Likewise, Arnold informed Jimmy Kimmel that he warned his son to turn off the lights in his room when he left, and if he forgot, the strict disciplinarian unscrewed a bulb from the chandelier in his room. Eventually, all of them were gone, and young Patrick was left crying alone in the dark. 

Elsewhere in his People interview, Arnold Schwarzenegger recalled that when his daughter, Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt, brought her then-three-year-old daughter, Lyla, to Arnold's house, she warned her to keep her shoes away from the fireplace. When Katherine was growing up, she often made the same mistake, and her father threw her shoes in, which made her cry but taught her a lesson at the same time. Although Arnold's young daughter wasn't a fan of her father's parenting tactics, the older Katherine viewed things differently. 

Arnold shared, "It's the funniest thing when Katherine comes over, she loves bragging to other people about how bossy I was, how tough I was when she grew up, and how she didn't get away with anything." And yet, "Now [she] uses the same methods which she cried over and that she complained about." Katherine shares two daughters with her husband, Chris Pratt, and she undoubtedly took a page from her parents' book when raising them.  

During an appearance on "The Jennifer Hudson Show," Katherine confirmed that she wouldn't change anything about her upbringing, and would happily follow it for her children because it made her into who she is today while also keeping her incredibly close to her folks over the years. Arnold also told People that Katherine had carried that discipline into her adulthood because whenever he went to her house, everything was exactly where it should be.