Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos took on the topic of “gentle parenting” on Live with Kelly and Mark on Friday, a parenting approach that the two had some questions about.
As Ripa mentioned the article she read about gentle parenting to Consuelos, she uttered in a hushed tone, “We have to gently parent. You can’t, you know, upset the children in any way.”
She then proceeded to share one of the parenting style’s guidelines.
“But they’re telling us, now — too late for us, we’ve already screwed up our kids,” she quipped, “You should never tell your kids that you’re so proud of them! You’re doing it wrong. You should tell your children that they need to be proud of themselves.”
Ripa continued reading the article, explaining that when parents tell their children that they are proud of them, “then they rely on external validation, according to experts.”
“Who are these people?” she teased. “That’s what I want to know.”
Ripa added that “they turn into praise junkies,” which reminded Consuelos of their younger dog, Lena.
“Our little shih-tzu, she needs my validation 24/7,” he said.
Ripa replied, “To the point if Mark hugs or kisses me in any way, Lena jumps on him, like a much larger dog.”
Nonetheless, after Consuelos expressed his uncertainty about gentle parenting, Ripa joked that they “mistakenly told [their] kids [they] were proud of them.
“I didn’t realize I was making an error,” she continued.
However, she clarified that they did not give this praise “all the time,” but only when they were “genuinely proud” of their children, such as when they received good grades on their report cards.
“I didn’t realize I was setting them up for failure,” she teased. “They don’t seem like praise junkies to me. They don’t seem like they walk around searching for praise, so I don’t know if I agree with this.”
Live with Kelly and Mark airs on weekdays. Check out their website for your local listings.
