John Krasinski on parenting: ‘really intense and emotionally difficult’

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I have spoken of my adoration for John Krasinski before. And it’s awful because I find him really hot but I equally love his wife, Emily Blunt. So I want them together forever but then I can’t have him. All lustful thoughts aside, I always feel like I could have a beer and hang with John. Maybe it’s the Boston bro in him but he really has that Everyman thing down. John recently directed and starred in The Hollars with Anna Kendrick, out now on DVD and Amazon. In it, John plays an expectant father dealing with his sick mother. Appearing on Today, John said he was given the script to read several years ago but is glad the movie wasn’t made until after he had kids. The reason, he said, is because becoming father to Hazel, two and Violet, six months, changed his entire approach to the film. However, the point John wanted to make was not how his life is rainbows and unicorns now that he has kids but rather, why nobody talks about how truly difficult parenting can be.

John Krasinski knows you can’t totally prepare for parenthood.

“You can read all the books you want ― I certainly thought I was prepared because I had such amazing parents growing up,” Krasinski recalled. “I just figured, I’ll just do exactly what they did. And then you realize that moment-to- moment, you don’t know what they did because there is no manual. There’s no exact way to go about things.”

He added, “You’re just trying. There’s no perfection. There’s no school. There’s no defined way to go about it. You’re just learning.”

Krasinski said fatherhood has given him a newfound appreciation for his own parents and their dedication to raising him well. He said having kids has also given him a different perspective on his pre-child life.

“I think the biggest question I have is: what did I do with my life before this?” the actor said. “What did I do with all the time that I had on my hands? I think it’s certainly a full-on job, and something that I enjoy so much, but I really do look back and think, ‘Was I just the dude who ate potato chips and movies all day?’”

Now that he’s in the throes of parenting, Krasinski said he believes it’s important to be honest about the good, bad and ugly sides of taking care of kids.

“I’m a big fan of being open about the truth and how you really feel, and not putting on a pretty face for everybody,” he explained. “No one really tells you that it’s hard and there are sleepless nights. Kids get sick, kids fall down and get hurt, and all these things are really intense and really emotionally difficult ― and you hurt for them more than you hurt for yourself.”

[From Huffington Post]

I can’t add anything to this other than to say THIS^^^!!! It’s not just that parenting is hard, but it seems like everyone candy-coats it. For example, when people mention sleepless nights, it sounds like the all-nighters one pulls for finals but it isn’t. Think more along the lines of sleep-deprivation torture to coerce information from the enemy. But as physically demanding as it is, it’s the emotional involvement that truly takes its toll. And for reasons I cannot understand, no one really talks about that part. As if admitting that raising your kid is really f**king challenging is somehow admitting you don’t like them or something. John also said, “I think there’s a sense of relief hearing that it’s hard for other people because you’re all in this fight together.” Again, yes. Anyone who has ever confided about struggling with parenting knows it opens a floodgate to most of the people they talk to.

Fortunately John has found a true partner to raise his kids. He said what works for him and Emily has been support, “…I think there’s no one I trust more than her, and I think it’s vice versa for her.” Please, please, please 2016 – leave John and Emily alone!

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Photo credit: Fame/Flynet Photos

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21 Responses to “John Krasinski on parenting: ‘really intense and emotionally difficult’”

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  1. nicegirl says:

    No kidding. Parenting is the roughest, toughest, best present ever. I alternate between deeply feeling my blessings to feeling like a total f-up of a mom almost daily. Ah, parenthood. 🙂

  2. Soni says:

    I’ve walked past them here in NYC. They seem to be totally normal, nice people. They were out with there daughter and another couple in a park. I stalked them for a bit but then realized I was being kinda weird- ha!

  3. ab says:

    “As if admitting that raising your kid is really f**king challenging is somehow admitting you don’t like them or something.”

    this is why any complaint is usually prefaced with “I love my kids, but …” because people think that if you have anything negative to say about parenthood that you are some evil child-hating monster who should never have had them in the first place. it definitely does a disservice to those who might not be feeling the rainbows and unicorns 24/7 and feels like they can’t talk to anyone about it.

    • Who ARE These People? says:

      Yup. And when you’ve made your family by adoption, it’s even more of this!

      Also, I wonder if it’s easier for fathers to say it’s hard than for mothers. Are fathers supposed to love it as much as mothers are supposed to love it?

      • ab says:

        in my case, my husband is the one more likely to sugarcoat the beauty of parenthood, the circle of life and whatnot. I think it’s because I’m a SAHM so I get the good, the bad and the ugly, while he works and gets to be fun daddy on the weekends. lol. sometimes when our kids are being complete shits I have to tell him it’s okay to admit that he would rather not be a parent at that moment!

    • Ronnie says:

      Yes, yes, so much yes. To your comment and to what Hecate said. It’s very comforting to know that I’m not alone and that it’s okay to not always love every minute of being a mom. I wouldn’t exchange it for the world but good Jebus it’s hard.

  4. Esmom says:

    Agreed. I once had a therapist who told me that’s it’s been a “dirty little secret” forever that parenting is so effing hard.

    My kids are in their teens and while they have been the greatest joy of my life I also in some ways am a now just shell of my former self. Drained, depleted, neglectful of my marriage and many friendships. I’m not cut out for it, I think, and the worries are constant. Especially when raising a child with special needs. Sigh.

    • nicegirl says:

      Esmom: You kick ass. Fact. 🙂

    • Who ARE These People? says:

      What @nicegirl said.

      Also they do get older and things change. You get some of your life back. Whether you know what you want to do with it by then is a separate issue.

      Dealing with special-needs children is totally under-appreciated by others.

  5. Pam says:

    I am SO Happy I decided to never have kids. I love my my freedom and being able to do cultural things and hike/go to the beach whenever or wherever I like! I am so sorry that many friends decided they wanted to have kids, had them & are miserable. With only a few moments in each day of the feeling of love for their kids is it worth it? I do however Love kids and babies so cute, so fun I love to play and have chats and hang out. Cuddle with my sweet nieces and At the end of the day go home to a quietness that is so peaceful. How lucky to be able to skip out on the arguments, moods, brattiness. I wish all moms could have multiple nannies their work is Too Hard for what they get back.

    • Nur says:

      Thanks for pointing that out. It is just so effin hard, I cry and cry sometimes from the emotional and physical drain.
      And the thing I miss most is not the travel, spontanity etc but the quietness. I used tohave a cup of tea in the evening every day all by myself when it was getting dark listening to the silence. Every day I remember those instances and yearn for them.

      • Who ARE These People? says:

        I remember long solo walks, finishing books (big books), keeping a journal, and more money. But the damned thing is, once they grow up and start to leave, then you miss all the noise and the mess and the need.

    • Claire says:

      Pam, I agree 100%. Somehow, I always just *knew*. And I’m so glad I stuck to my gut feeling because now that I’m in my mid 30s, I’m even more sure than I was in my mid 20s that I made the right choice for me. I travel on a whim, and just would not be able to do that if I were raising kids. Of course, as my maternal Grandmother tells me, I won’t have anyone to take care of me when I’m old.

  6. AC says:

    I was hands on with my nieces and nephews when they were little, and close with friends who had children. I know how hard it is, as much as one can without going through it myself. I chose not to have children in no small part due to the sleep deprivation, and have often considered the torture device aspect! But now in my 40’s, sober, the baby clock has just started going off like CRAZY. WTH, body?

    Hang in there, mamas. I will hold your crying babies for you if you are stuck in public and need a hand. I almost offered this service twice this week but Stranger Danger. We sympathetic childless by choice women need a pin or a logo to wear that says, “I will help you with your tiny terrorist” so if you are in a bind with a little one you know who can help. It does take a village.

  7. Anastasia says:

    I’ve always heard, despite his Jim Halpert everyman vibe, that he’s actually a bit of a snob. Wouldn’t hang out with other members of The Office, etc.

    I hope you’re right, though. I like him.

  8. xo says:

    they really seem to have the “happily ever after” thing down, these two. nice to see.

  9. Emily says:

    I’ve had the same thought many times re: what did I do before? Did I really just spend every weekend watching “Law & Order SVU” reruns and eating snacks? Because my house wasn’t any cleaner, I wasn’t in better shape, I wasn’t sleeping better, I wasn’t off saving the world or enriching myself through exposure to culture, etc. I’ve always said that transitioning from no kids to one kid was easy because I don’t even really remember my former life.

  10. Donna Martin says:

    I really loved Jim in The Office but haven’t felt the same in a long time. I kind of feel while likeable he’s a one tone actor. I like them both separately and every time I see them together I can’t believe he got Emily Blunt. Also ya parenting is hell.

  11. Elian says:

    He’s dropping truth bombs here. Love him.