Celebrity parents are just like every other parent. Or so they say! The next time you have to set the rules, take heart in knowing that you’re not alone.
In fact, not even the rich and famous are immune to the less joyful parts of parenting. Find out which stars have spoken out about disciplining their kids and not giving in to their every whim.
10. Denzel Washington
Instagram post by Denzel Washington * Jul 9, 2012 at 4:24am UTC
5,900 Likes, 523 Comments – Denzel Washington (@officialdenzel) on Instagram
The Academy Award-winning actor sums up the effects of his and his wife, Pauletta’s disciplinary style like this: “They really say, ‘Yes, Sir’ or ‘No, Sir’ or ‘Yes, Ma’am’ or ‘No, Ma’am.’ You know, I put my foot in their behind if they act wrong, and they know it. So, it’s not that complicated.”
9. Gwyneth Paltrow
Instagram post by Gwyneth Paltrow * Feb 7, 2016 at 4:12am UTC
97.1k Likes, 2,302 Comments – Gwyneth Paltrow (@gwynethpaltrow) on Instagram
Unlike the title of her latest cookbook, it’s not all easy for Gwyneth Paltrow’s kids, Apple and Moses. The actress and lifestyle guru enforces a strict low-carb, gluten-free diet for the whole fam. “Every single nutritionist, doctor and health-conscious person I have ever come across … seems to concur that [gluten] is tough on the system and many of us are at best intolerant of it and at worst allergic to it,” Us Weekly excerpted from her cookbook, It’s All Good. “Sometimes when my family is not eating pasta, bread, or processed grains like white rice, we’re left with that specific hunger that comes with avoiding carbs.”
8. Jessica Alba
Hey #NYC I missed ya
167.9k Likes, 1,177 Comments – Jessica Alba (@jessicaalba) on Instagram: “Hey #NYC I missed ya”
Timeouts aren’t just for us regular folks. “My kids are constantly snatching things out of the other one’s hand,” Jessica Alba told People. “So now it’s, ‘Stand in the corner and put your nose against the wall!’ My 2-year-old can last 15 seconds before she’s like, ‘Okay, I’m done!’ and then I’m like, ‘Wait, it’s not up to you!’ My 5-year-old can go for some time, like a minute or two.”
7. Candace and Cameron Bure
There’s nothing like being with my man. Sunday morning hockey game 🏒 before I head to NY. Back on The View tomorrow! #hockeymom #everyminutecounts #20years #travelingmama
57.3k Likes, 245 Comments – Candace Cameron Bure (@candacecbure) on Instagram: “There’s nothing like being with my man. Sunday morning hockey game 🏒 before I head to NY. Back on…”
The Fuller House star was criticized when she shared in a Christian Women Online article that she and her husband use spanking as punishment. “I’m not afraid to admit it: We do spank our children. We get much of our parenting information from the Bible—that’s my heart source. There are several passages that refer to disciplining your child.” Kate Gosselin has received similar backlash for her decision to spank.
6.Victoria and David Beckham
Kisses from us 🇬🇧 @unaidsglobal
567.4k Likes, 2,446 Comments – Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on Instagram: “Kisses from us 🇬🇧 @unaidsglobal”
Being raised in the spotlight doesn’t mean the four Beckham kids have no rules. “We’ve always been strict with the children,” Victoria explained to E!. “They have great manners. They always say ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ and I think that’s very important … At the same time, they’re still fun. They still run around the house and they’re crazy and they’re singing and they’re dancing and they’re kicking footballs around, which I don’t allow them to do but that seems to be the one area that I can’t discipline them in,” she laughs. “They will not stop playing football in the house.”
5. Barack and Michelle Obama
Happy Anniversary. 💕
1.2m Likes, 29.2k Comments – Barack Obama (@barackobama) on Instagram: “Happy Anniversary. 💕”
Even while running the country, the former POTUS and FLOTUS managed to monitor Sasha and Malia’s screen time. “We have rules about it,” Michelle said to The Stir. “The girls have limited television and screen time—none during the week unless it’s school-related because now kids are doing these … video-chat study groups. And when they’re doing that, I always go in their room to make sure they’re actually talking about school.”
4. Julie Bowen
So excited for LGBT Center event tonight! Thanks to @neutrogena and @jillcrosbyhair @heathercurriebeauty for making me feel pretty #makeup #hair #glam #lgbt 🌈
22.2k Likes, 179 Comments – Julie Bowen (@itsjuliebowen) on Instagram: “So excited for LGBT Center event tonight! Thanks to @neutrogena and @jillcrosbyhair…”
It turns out, playing a mom on Modern Family taught Julie Bowen a thing or two about being one in real life to her three kids with Scott Phillips. Namely, “being your kids’ best friend is not always the best parenting choice,” the actress told Working Mother. “It’s not about everybody being happy all the time. It’s about setting limits. In my house that makes my kids very unhappy, like tantrums-on-the-ground-twice-a-day unhappy. But the limits are set.”
3. Madonna
Right this way Sailor!⛵️⚓️⛵️⚓️! Follow me in my vintage Galliano!! @harpersbazaarus @luigiandiango😂🎉💘😂🎉💘😂🎉💘😜
101.5k Likes, 1,315 Comments – Madonna (@madonna) on Instagram: “Right this way Sailor!⛵️⚓️⛵️⚓️! Follow me in my vintage Galliano!! @harpersbazaarus…”
In a 2005 interview with the British magazine Harpers & Queen, the icon revealed that she runs a tight ship: “My kids don’t watch TV . . . TV is trash,” she said. “I was raised without it. I didn’t miss anything. TV is poison. No one even talks about it around here. We have televisions, but they’re not hooked up to anything but movies. We don’t have magazines or newspapers in the house, either.”
2. Cate Blanchett
In honor of Valentine’s Day!
2,472 Likes, 67 Comments – Cate Blanchett (@cateblanchett) on Instagram: “In honor of Valentine’s Day!”
The Oscar-winning actress has to play the role of strict parent to her four kids with husband Andrew Upton. “I don’t enjoy being the bad cop, but sometimes I have to be,” Blanchett has reportedly said. “My husband and I worry about our generation trying to be friends with their children rather than parents of their children. If you’re going to try and make your children like you, you’re in dangerous waters I think. … I think I’m pretty loving, but what I do know is that you have to let them talk and you have to listen. I hope that when they’re 15, they’re still talking as freely to us as now.”
1. Chip and Joanna Gaines
Watch an all new #fixerupper tonight!! 9/8c @hgtv
191.4k Likes, 1,417 Comments – Joanna Stevens Gaines (@joannagaines) on Instagram: “Watch an all new #fixerupper tonight!! 9/8c @hgtv”
Chip’s parents were a bit more laissez-faire about his upbringing, so the Fixer Upper star told People he expected to be a “wild parent” himself. “When I got to be a parent, I don’t know what it is about it … I feel a little bit like a drill sergeant sometimes. Some elements of my personality, as a parent, I’m not real crazy about.” Chip is particularly strict about video games and TV time, while Joanna is the more laid-back one. But they both agree on one thing: “We keep telling our kids they don’t get a phone until they go off to college,” Joanna says.
