Of men’s health
If you are familiar with the Facebook web series Red Table TalkYou know Jada Pinkett-Smith has had a lot of honest and emotional conversations on a wide variety of topics, but the latest installment may have been the crudest episode yet. For the first time, Jada invited her husband, Will, to an individual conversation in honor of Father’s Day.
“Since I was 6 I wanted to be a father,” Smith started the conversation about his evolution as a father. “I loved how my family was, but there were massive and critical deficiencies in my father’s upbringing that he wanted to correct.”
He described his father, whom he referred to as Daddy-O, as a strict disciplinarian, implying that he sometimes abused his mother. Smith admitted that he caused a rift between them when he was younger. But, he appreciated some of his father’s wisdom and was able to get what he wanted to replicate and what he didn’t do.
“I learned that school is everywhere. That whatever you do, you have to do it well. Getting good grades is not above cleaning the kitchen.” Bad boy said the actor.
Then, at 24, he had his initial taste for parenthood, with his first child, Willard Carroll “Trey” Smith III, whom he had with his now ex-wife Sheree Zampino. Smith burst into tears talking about the experience.
When Trey was born, Will told Jada that his first thought was, “I can’t do it, I’m not the type.”
Smith and Zampino separated two years later and described the divorce as the “final failure” of their adult life.
And while the Smiths didn’t delve into their own marriage in this episode, they did address the criticism they received for raising Trey, along with their two other children together, Jaden and Willow, particularly the fact that they left their children to work.
“Our family has been under a public microscope for a long time. I think people did not understand why we both value that idea … that children go to work,” Jada said. “People thought we were forcing our children to work,” added Will.
“And that it was part of educating life for them in many ways,” said the 48-year-old mother of two.
To make up for the time he spent away from his children due to Will’s acting journey, the Smiths opted for homeschooling. “My children, being with me is of greater value than sitting in a classroom.”
And when it comes to your children’s personal and professional activities, it’s no surprise that they inherited the combined stellar talent from their parents. Smith’s parenting style, which he inherited from his own father, influenced his children and their career achievements, he explains. For the most part, he said his contributions worked. He described Jaden working tirelessly for his role in Karate kid, Remembering that Jaden refused to stop working until he was finally able to dominate a division. But when it came to her latest son, and her only daughter, Willow, she fiercely rejected her father’s hopes of continuing her music career after its release. Beat my hair in 2010 at age nine.
“I saw how much she was doing, forcing and pushing the things she wanted, and at that moment I saw that I was starting to hurt her,” said the 51-year-old man when Willow and his dream for her achieve a number one record: “My desire for her was nullifying his desire for her. “
Willow took a musical break until she was a teenager. And, when she finally returned, built her career how she wanted, Jada continued explaining.
Her parenting style changed to accommodate her children’s feelings: With Trey, it was her decision to stop playing soccer after high school, despite receiving multiple college offers. With Jaden, it was during her experience working on the film. After Earth where Smith promised not to “push” him, and with Willow, it was his musical career after his single. “
The episode ended with each of the Smith children giving a personalized Happy Father’s Day video message to their father.
“There are no rules,” Will told Jada about parenting. “It’s more art than science, and, you know, I love what we paint.”
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