- I'm Kristen Bell, onset with Romper,
and this is how I try to handle the big parenting questions.
My kids have definitely tried cursing,
and they know all the curse words.
I remember the first time
when my oldest daughter was probably three,
and she was sitting on the toilet and she slipped a little,
she went, oh, shit. (laughs)
And I kind of froze.
It was the first time I heard her swear and I didn't react.
And then subsequently, we've had many conversations
about swearing.
And what we told them was,
look, there are certain things you're not allowed to do
till you're older.
You can't drive my car,
you can't try alcohol.
It's just the way it is, you know,
taken up with society.
And they've somehow accepted that answer.
I have one daughter who's much more prone to anxiety.
And I talk very candidly to her
about the fact that I experience anxiety.
So I've gotten like a series of books.
I think it's called, "A Tale for Little Worriers"
and it talks about when you experience anxiety, that's okay,
everyone experiences it,
even mommies and daddies.
And we also have this great series of books
called, "The Spot,"
and it's a peaceful spot,
a happiness spot,
a love spot.
It talks to you about how to keep your anger spot small
and your peaceful spot large,
and how you can grow your spot.
Cause sometimes I'm like, I just don't know what to say.
You're built like me,
you're gonna worry about a lot of stuff.
So turning to a book with an educated author
is always helpful.
Climate change.
Well, we watch a lot of nature shows.
So I didn't need to do anything in that department.
They've seen those ice caps melting,
they're in love with David Attenborough.
And then I just relate it to the fact that,
if we wanna make sure that those birds are safe,
we gotta recycle everything in the house,
we gotta use out of reusable water bottles.
You know, the younger generations are simply more in tune
with being environmentally friendly.
COVID-19.
They, I feel like very much understand it.
You know, we've went through,
brace yourself,
a real big, long, pinworm stage.
So they understand the concept of washing their hands
because we had had this pinworm episode.
I said, you know what?
Everyone in the world is having to participate in this.
And we talk about,
we don't wanna get it, but it's actually not about us.
Grandparents are really vulnerable,
people who aren't as healthy,
and it is our job, like superheroes to protect them.
When either of them says someone else's being mean,
my first response is,
well, then get away from her.
Before we talk about your victimhood here,
I wanna tell you, you have agency,
over where you stand in the house,
over who you speak to.
You can leave the room.
If your sister's being a jerk, then get away from her.
Come hang out with me.
So I try to simplify it like that
to make them feel empowered.
Oh, I also have said to them since they were very young,
to give them a sense of identity,
we're kind girls.
I was like,
oh, I actually want them to know their category
right off the bat.
We're kind girls,
that's our gang and you're in it.
So Santa.
First of all, I love Santa.
I think Christmas is so fun.
Holidays are so fun,
but my three-year-old asked me a couple of years ago.
She's seven now.
And she said, you know what?
Is Santa real?
And I paused and I thought,
this is that moment.
You can choose to lie to her,
or you can choose to tell her the truth,
and there's reasons for doing both.
And I just felt like I had no choice,
but to be honest with her
because I actually believe if you don't find that instinct,
especially in young women and honor it, and cultivate it,
you are breeding someone who will deny their gut instincts
for almost the rest of their life,
because that was their baseline.
So I don't want her to be in the workplace and go,
something about what my boss did made me feel funny,
but you know what?
It's probably fine.
Like I don't ever want that situation.
Cause I'm like, bitch, if something stinks to you,
you talk about it,
you ask questions.
You say, I'm so sorry, I need more information here.
And yes, I understand that's controversial,
and anyone who wants to say Santa is real.
Great. I'd love it if it works for your family,
but for my family,
I want my kids to take what I say seriously
and know that I'm always being honest with them.
I think that's my job.
That's my parenting in a nutshell.
I guess they're my guinea pigs, right?
We'll see how they turn out. (laughs)