Katharine McPhee and her husband David Foster aren't shying away from admitting the fact that they have major differences when it comes to their viewpoints on disciplining their toddler.
In an interview with People magazine, the couple revealed that they're aware of their differences and disagreements in their parenting styles, sharing that it comes largely from them being from different generations. They share 2-year-old son Rennie, who they welcomed in February 2021, a couple years after tying the knot in 2019.
"I want to start disciplining [Rennie] and Kat's not really down with that," David explained, before his wife jumped in and denied his claims. "No, that's not true. I just want to discipline in my own way," she said.
"There's the more old-fashioned way of disciplining which involves time-outs and things like that," the 39-year-old mom continued. "My take is that you can have more mindful parenting opposed to just assuming that a 2- or 3-year-old can have time alone to reflect on what they've done poorly."
More from LittleThings: 68-Year-Old David Foster Opens Up About Relationship With 34-Year-Old Fiancée Katharine McPhee
"I think the more new way of parenting is understanding that with a child, there's only so much that they can intellectually understand," she added. "Saying 'That was really bad, that was really, really bad,' gets into a shaming thing. I think disciplining is something that happens over time."
But for David, who has five adult children, his perspective is pretty different. "David's more results-based. He's like, 'He can't just walk by and swat people,'" Katharine said of her 74-year-old husband. "Of course not. But he's 2 1/2 and he's learning those things."
"It's just a different approach," she explained. "I think his era of parenting is different than mine."
She went on to clarify that despite their individual viewpoints, the couple don't argue about their differences. She hopes that one day they will make it a team effort to discipline their son.
"They learn how to how to have personal space and all those things over time," she said. "They have to have experiences where they have negative reactions from people more than just their parents, from teachers and fellow students. They get to experience it with life. So we'll just wait. Talk to us when he's 3."
People weighed in with their opinions.
"Well, his era of parenting worked better than this era…so maybe…," one person commented.
Another person wrote, "This is the problem with the huge age difference," referring to the couple's 35-year age gap.
