There are a million approaches to parenting. None of them are 100% right or wrong. It's still helpful to learn about different ways parents handle situations with their kids. When it comes to celebrities and hands-on parenting, it's that much more interesting. One famous mom, Alicia Silverstone, is sharing a technique that works for her.
Alicia talked parenting while discussing her Crystal deodorant partnership with People. Alicia is mom to school-aged son Bear Blu, whom she shares with ex-husband Christopher Jarecki. She says that the key to their wonderful relationship is "mutual respect." Throughout the discussion, Alicia explained that her parenting style involves trying to understand and meet her son's needs.
She also credits healthy eating habits for the wonderful relationship between them. Alicia wrote a cookbook called The Kind Diet, which is about the vegan diet that she's adhered to for the last 20+ years. She eats entirely plant-based, with no meat or animal products.
Alicia Silverstone is proud to discuss her methods of parenting. The 46-year-old actress discussed how she parents her son, Bear Blu, during a chat with People. She's proud of the "mutual respect" that they share.
"Because of the healthy lifestyle that we lead, he didn’t go through terrible twos and terrible threes," Alicia noted. "There wasn’t really much of that. When you’re really meeting their needs, and you really understand what they want and need … I didn’t find any of that."
The healthy lifestyle Alicia is referring to is her signature diet, The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide To Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet. Alicia is committed to a plant-based diet. She's lived by it for the past 20 years and is raising Bear to adhere to it.
"There [have been] moments where there were things we had to redirect and correct, of course, but it just wasn’t the fight that you hear about," Alicia continued. "The most I have to say is, ‘No thank you, Bear.’ And he goes, ‘Okay.’ … That’s my reprimanding. And he’s got it. Because he respects me and I respect him."
Alicia also commented on this facet of her parenting when talking to Us Weekly in August. "So much of that is because he’s not … a lot of it is the parenting, but a lot of it is the food. When your kid feels good, they act well," she noted.
She says the diet has also kept Bear from being picky. "I’m imagining that doesn’t count as a picky eater," she laughed. "He eats kale pretty much almost every day. And he eats bok choy, and he eats cabbage and he has brown rice and quinoa."
Alicia says that her relationship with her son is also a constant reminder to be mindful. Bear "reminds [her] to be absolutely present, because I don’t want to miss a moment of him," she said to People. "I don’t want him to feel like anything is more important than him."
That said, Bear, who is now 12, does understand Alicia's life outside of motherhood. "He has the balance of knowing that Mommy has to work, and life is not revolving around him," she explained.
"It’s not some kind of spoiled thing. It’s just that when you love someone, you want to take them in and soak them in. And many of us didn’t get that."
"If he starts to cry, I listen," she continued. Her actions are truly based on meeting his needs. "If he’s upset about something, I stop and I talk to him about it. You’d be surprised [at] how much [you notice] that other people don’t."
Alicia also explained that the realization of the power of mindfulness came when Bear was born. "I had so much going on in my world and in my emotions, and when he was born it was like the whole world stopped," she recalled. "Everything froze, and it was just absolute bliss being with him and breastfeeding, being connected to him."
"Just taking care of him was just such a pleasure," she said of her only child. The fact that she's held that enjoyment all this time isn't a surprise to her at all. "That’s remained the same all along," she noted.
Alicia took her parenting talents to Netflix in 2020. It wasn't about her and Bear, however. Alicia played Elizabeth Thomas-Brewer, mom to Kristy Thomas, head of The Baby-Sitters Club.
The classic children's books were turned into a 10-episode live-action series that took place in the book's fictional Stoneybrook, Connecticut. Alicia starred opposite Mark Feuerstein, who played Watson Brewer, Kristy's stepfather.
It was interesting to see Alicia portraying a mom since she's so well-known for her teen portrayals. As far as real life goes, she's found a method of parenting that works for her and her son. That's all any parent can ask for.
