Kids can ask some seriously uncomfortable questions, from where babies come from to whether there’s a God to why we poop. But Kristen Bell’s kids with husband Dax Shepard aren’t batting an eye at sharing the realities of the world, including the most difficult subjects.
Delta, 8, and Lincoln, 9, were the focus of much of her conversation in Real Simple’s “Game Changers” feature recently, in which Bell explained that “taboo” is her least favorite word — no topics should be off the table when it comes to open dialogue with anyone, especially kids.
“I find at our core that we have made all these rules for ourselves and everyone else,” she says, talking about therapy, in particular, being “taboo.”
“I know it’s shocking but I talk to my kids about drugs, and the fact that their dad is an addict, and he’s in recovery,” she says. “And we talk about sex. All of these hard topics don’t have to be if you give the person on the other end your vulnerability and a little bit of credit.”
Related: Kristen Bell, Dax Shepard share the best viewpoint on raising siblings
Bell is referencing her husband’s substance abuse addiction. After being sober for 16-years, he relapsed in 2021 after he took prescribed opioids due to an ATV accident. And the parents were honest with their kids then too — “We explained ‘Well, daddy was on these pills for his surgery, and then daddy was a bad boy, and he started getting his own pills.’ We tell them the whole thing,” he told Chelsea Clinton on her podcast at the time.
They’ve said before that lying to their kids about anything just isn’t an option, which goes for the tough stuff but also for Santa — they know the truth.
It’s not the first time Bell has reminded us to just keep it real in our journey parenting. In October 2020, while we were all in the trenches of pandemic working and parenting, she was reminding us that our kids’ mental health is so much more important than conquering distance learning. She showed parents by example that a couple of days or five minutes is perfectly acceptable and necessary.
Related: How to have “the talk” about sex with your kids
Her stunning maroon gown on her Instagram cover with her recent coverage was not the only thing that fans praised. One parent says, “Great interview! That’s how we raise our kids too! We think honesty is key…it has helped me to create very smart, open-minded, creative thinking children who are not afraid to ask questions because they know they’ll get the real answer.”
Experts recommend talking to kids early and often about drug addiction, especially if there’s a family history of it, as kids in this situation are more likely to have substance abuse issues themselves. Here are some suggestions from University of Rochester Medical Center to help you bring this up.
- Seek out natural teaching moments, such as when you have wine with your dinner.
- Begin at an early age and use language and content that is developmentally appropriate
- Your views should be clear and supported by reasoning
- Learn more about the top drugs children try first. This includes alcohol, marijuana, nicotine and inhalants.
- Make sure they are well-informed about the potential health effects of drugs.
The next time your children ask you one of these questions, channel Kristen and do it.
