I love being a father. I think there’s a great lie that we tell kids that pleasure creates happiness. Young people think: “Oh, if I get this, I’ll be happy.” But in a lot of ways it’s meeting your responsibilities that makes you happy. For me, I’ve just found that feeling like I’ve done a good job with the kids is a real source of happiness for me.
Originally asked
Vogue, to one guest at a time, on camera, 73 Questions
Vogue asked close variants of Jennifer Lopez, Alicia Keys, and Nicki Minaj between 2020 and 2023; the same prompt recurs independently in parenting interviews.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Geoff Bennett, PBS NewsHour, Father’s Day interview, 19 June 2022 source ↗
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View all 7 →He says that he has the job of his dreams, which is the greatest joy that I can feel, is to have my child say he has the job of his dreams.
I think it’s more modeling. I never bring in my children and say, “Listen, these are the values you should follow in life.” I think it’s a modeling by my wife and me. I think we give them a good life. They saw how we go through life: a difficult time, a hard time, good time. I am very happy. I think they are good kids. If I have hope, it’s because I look at my children.
Boy, being a parent is a hard job, I think, because in parenting you want your kids to like you. Too much sometimes. It’s a hard line to find between doing what’s necessary to give them the tools to be good kids and make good decisions and all that, versus just completely not giving them a chance to accomplish anything because you do everything for them. I kind of feel like it’s okay if these kids go out and make a few mistakes, because they’re going to learn. The last ten years have been interesting, because I’m a stepparent to three kids, and I’m a father to two kids, an older and a younger. And it’s a real interesting dynamic.
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