Sunday, June 5, 2011

Parenting Superstar Kids!!!

Thoughts by:  B. Brown (BREG)


Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith are no doubt super-talented artists, actors, producers and directors, but how about being the parents of two rising superstar children! How do you balance that?

The article you are about to read below is an interview with Jada, and it discusses the interesting parts of what Jada and Will go through as parents, but also attempting to be objective and allowing their children to grow naturally and make some mistakes on their own.

I agree with Jada on definitely being there for our children, but at the same time allowing them to learn how to make their own decisions and even letting them fail at an early age so that they understand that there is work and development to be done to progress in life.

There are going to be up's and down's in life, but we have to instill fortitude in our children and have Faith that God will protect, guide and strengthen our children in their life journeys.

Article By:  Kelley L. Carter (Jet Mag. - Entertainment Spotlight; June 13, 2011; pg. 36 - 37)
JetMag.com

Nurturing Hollywood royalty comes naturally for Jada Pinkett Smith. The 39 year old actress/producer/director stars in her own TV show (Hawthorne, which starts its third season June 14) and essentially reigns - with husband Will Smith - over one of the most powerful African-American families in show business.

But the couple - especially Jada - has been ripped by critics for stage managing their kids' careers in Hollywood. Some question whether Jaden (star of the hit film Karate Kid) and Willow (the voice behind last fall's breakout hit, "Whip My Hair") have been allowed to do too much too soon.

But Jada is confident that she and Will are more than capable of keeping the young royals in check.

"We're not new at this," Jada states. "I understand the in's and out's and all the complications that come with (this life)," she says. "I've lost people I deeply love in this game and I know how and why."

WHAT JADA HAS TO SAY:

Q: How do you and Will parent?
A: We're courageous. We treat our children like little adults. [When] I came into the world, it was hard. I didn't really have much of a childhood. That might be why I don't know how to relate to my children as children. But people who live in the 'hood understand - that ain't nothing new. When you've got to send your kids out in the world every day, you hope and pray, but you don't have a choice.

Q: Have you ever tried to shield them?
A: You can't. What I do? I trust the Higher One. That's the one thing about motherhood: You learn that you are not in control. Your kids do not belong to you. At the end of the day, I just trust.

Q: Has seeing Jaden's and Willow's early success changed how you operate?
A: Their success makes me understand how close I need to be with them. I need to be by their side. Power attracts nonsense. With the type of success they have, there could be a lot of nonsense around them, but there is not because both are shielded by not just me but Jay-Z, Beyonce, Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez - good friends, people who love them. I have a village.

Q: Did it trip you out to see how Willow was received when "Whip My Hair" came out?
A: Will went to the club with Jay-Z. - He came home and said, 'Whip My Hair came on, and do you know what it feels like to hear your 10 year old daughter in the club? Jokers straight getting busy to your 10 year old daughter?' He said it was surreal.

Q: Because she's a girl, do you parent Willow differently?
A: What I do is let it be. What Will does is let it be. What her Village does is let it be. We didn't go, 'no, no, don't do that, quiet that down.' Live! You know? She's gonna have her challenges, we all do. People think that a perfect child is a child that doesn't make mistakes. I look at the Britney Spearses, the Lindsay Lohans and all these poor young women out here who are going through it and, you know what, that's part of it. Some of us survive, some of us don't. If I had a magnifying glass on me when I was their age ... Those chicks ain't doing half the stuff I was doing. If it's meant to be, my kids are gonna be OK. At the end of the day, some of us make it and some of us don't, and that's life.

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