Kristen Bell was on The Today Show yesterday promoting season 3 of The Good Place. (I’m about halfway through the second season after so many of you recommended it to me via Twitter so thanks! It’s funny and definitely bingeworthy.) She’s much like Chrissy Teigen in that people either find her exhausting or relatable. When celebrities overshare they run this risk of polarizing people, and at least Kristen is owning it. Kristen said her personal Good Place was “so many naps” and that “all I would eat is like croutons and mulberries.” This is part of the reason I still like her. I am also a napper and I didn’t imagine that anyone else loved croutons on their own. (She’s said that before, that her favorite food is croutons. She’s probably said some of the other stuff before too.) Hoda and Savannah asked Kristen questions about her parenting and she ran with it, as I’m sure was preplanned.
On being voted the “most honest celebrity parent in America.
Thank you. Because I’m an oversharer.“Have you ever let your kids wear dirty clothes?”
Of course.On if she’s ever given her kids food that’s dropped outside or on the floor
Of course. I’ll eat it.“Have you ever lied to your kids about what time it is?”
Yes because they can’t tell time yet. I’ve also lied to them about when their birthday is. Well, like, if it’s a Wednesday, and we can’t celebrate and we’re both working late, then guess what? Your birthday is Saturday. They don’t know.
Kristen did say that she won’t leave her kids in dirty diapers because “when it comes to their comfort I’m definitely on top of that,” but “sometimes I’ll try to convince her [to take off her diaper] and grab a new one.” She and her husband, Dax Shepard, also limit TV and screen time and try to have their daughters watch nature shows from PBS. “Once they watch TV for over an hour they’re so grumpy.”
Kristen will speak at the UN today as “the first global advocate for the women’s peace and humanitarian fund.” So props for that. She explained it as partnership between the UN and local NGOs in a way that strives to empower women to find solutions to problems in their communities.
As for lying to her kids about the time and about their birthdays I’ve never done that. I only have the one kid though and it never occurred to me. I also am not as strict with technology as she is. We all have our own parenting styles and she’s not out there telling anyone that her way is the right way.
Here’s her interview:
Kristen is dressing like a fancy Ariana Grande now:
photos credit: Backgrid and WENN
She looks ridiculous in that outfit.
I kind of like it on her. It Looks totally comfortable.
Don’t have a problem with the outfit, but those sunglasses are completely hideous.
I had to come back late in the day to look at fluffier pieces, like a mind vacation, and that outfit totally makes me happy. I understand why others would not feel the same. It’s like the JLo jean over-the-knee boots and over-sized white shirt-dress. Loved it! But, I can tell you that many of my friends would call me loony and whatever the opposite of a fashionista is. But, luckily they’d still go out with me if I wore either outfit.
Totally lied to my kids about their birthdays when they were little. You can only do they for so long, once they are in school they figure it out. Good for her for being honest.
I assume it’s about the telling them its the date celebrating not being the actual date, right? My daughter’s turning 1 so has no idea in general what a birthday is lol, but we’re celebrating the weekend before as it’s on a weekday.
Yeah she said if they’re birthday was on a Wednesday she told them it was Saturday,the day of the party.
Yes, I’d lie about little stuff like that, until they understood. I’m a screen time restricter too.
She looks like she got fashion advice from Ariana Grande.
I think that’s a beautiful sweater, and it would look fantastic with black leggings. But this way? No.
Yes who told her to wear it that way,and what did she wear underneath like bike shorts-what the heck would you do?Black leggings please,and the sweater is very pretty and so is she,just whaaat is going on to make her think that this outfit would photograph well or be easy to maneuver in w/o flashing 🤣
If we couldn’t have a celebration on the exact date then they knew it was on the weekend before or after – depending on what was going on. Everyone does what they want and that’s okay. Now we have Grandma’s special pancakes on the grandkiddo’s birthday – Chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream and M&M’s. The birthday boy/girl gets their pancakes made as their initials.
That seriously looks like a Halloween costume.
I’ve lied about Christmas and Thanksgiving and Easter lol. Working as a nurse i couldn’t get those off so when my skin was toddler-preschool age? Whatever day mom is home was the holiday. Luckily now have a job with all holidays off because the boy was getting hard to fool.
My grandmother lied about her own birthday haha. For the same “it’s more convenient to celebrate on x day” type thing. I only found out her ACTUAL birthday because it’s the same day as my now-husbands and she was like “OH. The best people were born on November 7th”
@Erinn,
Your grandmother was right! The best people were born on November 7th 🙂
I’ve never paid attention to her before but just binged the first two seasons of The Good Place and it’s super cute. I really like her in it.
I just watched the first 2 episodes…perfect casting. The first episode stands alone as a very funny piece.
“Why the fork can’t I say fork?”
Yeah,I’m going to forking binge watch this show after reading so many positive comments on here,plus my husband was watching it the other night and said it was funny.She overshares IMO,but is wierdly growing on me.
All of this sharing…nobody cares.
I’m clapping. If we had to celebrate on different days, we just told them what we were doing and why. If a toddler doesn’t know then why lie lmao. Presents and cake are the number one thing here.
I’ve never lied to my kids about their birthdays, but we often do the parties on weekends after. But they always get their bday scavenger hunt and at least a cheap from-a-box cake on their actual birthdays.
Hooray for from a box cake 🎂
Sometimes I’ll bake up a mess of croutons for myself just to eat as a snack. When you can get them just right, a slow bake so the olive oil goes through the whole crouton and the whole thing gets toasty… Mmm!
I’m going to wax poetic about good croutons. A salad/sandwich place near where I used to work would make their croutons out of their leftover day-old rosemary focaccia. They toasted them just enough to be crunchy on the outside, but still have a slight chewy focaccia texture on the inside. Damn, they were good. I’m not a caesar salad person, but sometimes I’d order it just for the croutons.
I should have done this more often. We had my daughter’s 4th birthday party before her birthday and then celebrated on her actual birthday as well and I feel like we had 84 conversations about the difference. It would have saved me a lot of trouble to just go with one day….
I am SO EXCITED for the return of the Good Place. It’s such a great show, and there’s also a good podcast too.
I never got the big deal about birthdays, and celebrating on the exact day. In my family we just pick a weekend close to the person’s birthday and go out for dinner, and as kids it was the same for parties and stuff. A few times as a teenager we celebrated like a month early so I could have a little party at the swim club.
Can she stop? Nobody cares about her life, yet she still gets interviewed every 2 weeks or so, I’m so tired of her!
Same!!
Being born smack in the middle of summer, my childhood birthday parties were always scheduled for the weekend prior to school starting since folks were away on vacation and not available to attend on my actual birthday. My BFF always thought my birthday was in late August rather than mid-July until we were in our late teens and she saw my driver’s license. To add to the confusion, I am adopted and my immediate family also celebrated the day I was picked up from the adoption agency, which was a few days before Christmas. As long as presents are involved, her kids won’t care. LOL
That is hilarious.
If I had little kids, you bet yor ass I’d do the same.
Back in the day when my kids were little, the NYC new years eve celebration was on at 9 pacific time. My younger kids thought that by watching the show, they were staying up till midnight. We’ve had a good laugh since about it.
I didn’t lie about birthdays but I did lie about the time when my son was little and I wanted to get him to bed earlier. Unfortunately he was able to read a clock at a really young age, so sometimes I would actually change the clocks to make it look like it was later when he really need to go down to sleep, and I needed my sanity.