Pink, graces the cover of People Magazine’s Most Beautiful issue. I’m a fan of Pink so I was fine with this choice. Kaiser mentioned that the issue seems to focus mainly on moms, which must be why the new quotes are heavy on kid-rearing. I always like the way Pink discusses motherhood because she sounds like the moms I know. She’s just telling stories about her kids, she’s not pushing the mom-goddess narrative some Hollywood moms spew. According to Pink, not only is she a tough mom, she tells it like it is to her daughter Willow, who is six, and son Jameson, who is one.
When it comes to raising her kids, Pink has learned a thing or two about the importance of rules.
Having grown up in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, the singer insists her father Jim “was really strict,” she tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. “He’s military, so it’s just a certain way that you’re brought up. But I’m glad. It gave me a lot of discipline.”
“I’m a truth-teller,” says Pink, 38. “I tell my daughter the truth. I let her be 6, but I want her to know about fairness and kindness, and that you have to fight for your rights, and that sometimes girls aren’t paid as much as boys for the same job, and girls aren’t treated the same and that they have to work harder for everything.”
As for raising her son in today’s world, Pink wants to ensure that Jameson is “allowed to be sensitive,” she says. “There’s a documentary called The Mask You Live In that’s incredible and how ‘be a man’ are three of the most detrimental words that can be said to a little boy.”
And while timeouts “don’t really work” for Willow “because she’ll sit there and sing,” Pink makes a point of never “talking down” to her kids while explaining there are rules and consequences.
“I’m a tough mama,” she adds. “I expect a lot. I have a high bar for myself and for others, and it’s not easy to be loved by me. But she gets it and she’s smart, and thoughtful because of it.”
My kids are a little older than Pink’s and I, too, have always been a “truth-teller.” But I generally answer truthfully to questions they pose, not just sit them down and give them State of the World addresses. I don’t have any problem letting kids in on reality, you know if they’re ready or not to hear it. Because this is Pink, my guess is she is teaching Willow to fight for change against social injustices.
Pink seems like a present and engaged mom, ultimately that’s what will benefit the kids the most. I don’t completely understand how she never talks down to her kids about rules – does that mean the language she uses? I don’t think I talk down to my kids, but when they were toddlers I simply said “don’t do that” whereas now I am more likely to explain why. It’s hard for me to comment on most of this because Willow and Jameson are still fairly young. Besides, if kids of rock stars and skateboarders wanted to rebel, they’d have to become accountants or judges or something, right?
Photo credit: People, Getty Images and WENN Photos
I’m a fan of Pink’s and I get that raising kids can be all-consuming and everything, but… I can’t remember the last time I read an interview with her that wasn’t exclusively about her kids. I don’t know if it’s the journos asking the questions or what, but it’s weird when someone has had such a long career – and such fiesty opinions – to only talk about (or be asked about) her kids and husband.
Maybe this is just where she is at mentally for the moment.
Well, then I should also be interviewed since I have four!
Mothering is not a profession.
I could not care less about parenting tips and find it really terrifying that a parent uses the image of kids who could not give consent on a cover of a magazine. I really wonder about these kids who, in the future, will see all their lives spread out in ancient covers and pages of mags.
I used to love Pink and now she is almost there on Goop level with her hastagmetoo to her 6 year old (!). Tiring. That said, I cannot be less interested when people tell me about their parenting skills. It’s usually showing off, bullshit, or just boring to me.
Willow is always going to be known for having really short bangs.