Hilaria Baldwin looks back at awkward parenting moment
Hilaria Baldwin is a proud mom-of-seven and raising them is not an easy task.
The author, in his upcoming memoir Manual Not Included, noted a moment that turned awkward involving her daughter Carmen and an actress she did not name.
She said it happened years ago, as Us Weekly obtained exclusive excerpts, when a famous celebrity “undermined” her while she was parenting her kid, Carmen.
“On this particular afternoon Carmen was wearing a black and-white-striped bathing suit, white sun hat, and pink sandals. She was gleefully running around the low outdoor coffee table, grabbing slice after slice of French baguette,” the actress writes.
She continues, “When it got to slice five or so, I said to her in Spanish, “Carmen, would it be OK to stop eating bread until after dinner? Then, if you’re still hungry, you can have more.”
“She got upset with me, and the people nearby took notice. I repeated it in English because I was insecure and I didn’t want people to think I was being mean.”
“She was getting visibly madder and madder. I was in that all-too-familiar place of trying to parent in public while my toddler very loudly let me know that she was pissed,” Hilaria recalls.
“Then a very famous actress interjected with “Oh, gosh! Children just know what they should eat and are very in tune with their bodies, so trust their wisdom and let her eat bread!” Alec Baldwn’s wife remembers.
“She had spoken with such loftiness that she might as well have been Marie Antoinette talking about cake,” the 41-year-old adds.
“Then she picked up the breadbasket and offered Carmen another piece. I became very quiet, stunned at being undermined in front of my daughter at the very moment I was trying to parent,” the mum-of-seven pens.
“Carmen slowly took a piece and ate it. I said nothing, heart pounding, feeling that if I put a stop to it, I would be seen as the bad guy by my child. After Carmen finished that piece, the actress, waiting nearby, said, “Carmen, would you like another piece of bread?”
The yoga instructor adds, “By this point, my toes were digging into Alec’s legs, my just-given-birth hormones roiling, and I whispered to him, “Will you please take Carmen inside, and I’ll bring Rafa?”
“As I walked away, I defensively said to the actress, “I don’t have a problem with her eating bread; I just want her to eat other things, too. I don’t want her to feel sick.”
However, looking back, Hilaria writes, “But over the years I realized that the real problem wasn’t the bread or the potential tummy ache. The problem wasn’t even that she’d gotten involved in a private mom-and-child moment.”
“The problem was that I didn’t have the confidence or know-how to stand up for what I felt was right. I gave my power away to her because I saw her as having a higher status.”
Hilaria notes, “She was famous and beautiful and older than I was, with older children, and therefore more experienced. But besides that, I didn’t have the confidence that my children would love me even if my choice was less fun than what someone else was offering.”
“I should have looked the actress in the eye and thanked her for her experience, then removed my kids from her presence.”
“But I was young and easily intimidated, and I honor where I was back then. I acted politely and maneuvered through a tough situation without throwing her off the balcony! Kidding,” the podcaster adds.
Hilaria’s book will be out on May 6.