Have you ever wondered what the childhood of your favorite celebrity was like? Well, now the world can get some insight into the past of Cuban actress Eva Mendes. While discussing her role as a single mom in the upcoming movie Girl in Progress, Mendes opened up about her relationship with her mother — and it sounds like she has one great Latina mom!
Mendes' praise for her mother is just more (Hollywood-worthy) proof that Latinas make great parents. But actually, it sounds like her mom's parenting methods are note-worthy and relevant to all mothers. Here, four lessons you can learn from Eva Mendes' mom:
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- Don't try to be your kid's best friend. It's important to strike a balance between having a great relationship with your child and being an authority figure. You don't want to just be known as one of the gang and not be taken seriously when it comes to setting ground rules. "I had plenty of friends–that was taken care of," Mendes told the Huffington Post. "But my mom was always my mother, an authority figure, somebody that I couldn't tell everything to."
- Embrace family chaos. Mendes admits that her family (like most Latin families!) was "totally nuts." But she also said that while "it was incredibly loud in the house," her mom was able to be "a pillar" among all of the commotion.
- Be present in your children's lives. Mendes says her mom was "beautiful, dedicated, yet really strict and totally involved," which are all things moms should strive to be. In a typical busy mother's life, it's easy to not pay attention to the little moments you have with your kids. But it's important to cherish the time you spend with them. After all, they grow up so fast!
- It's OK if you can't give your kids everything they want. Mendes says that when she was younger, she was self-conscious about her overbite but her family couldn't afford braces. And though at the time it was a big deal, now Mendes appreciates everything about herself more. "Most of the things you don't like about yourself now physically, you're going to end up loving when you're older," she said.
Do you take the same approach to parenting as Eva's mom? Tell us in the comments below!
Image via Splash News
