While appearing on the “Today” show on Thursday morning, Joanna Gaines revealed the “house rule” she has for her children regarding their phones, and cohost Hoda Kotb called it “brilliant.”
Joanna and her husband Chip have five children: Drake, 16, Ella, 14, Duke, 13, Emmie, 11, and Crew, 3.
“I did love a little bit of advice, I think, Jo, that you have,” said Kotb, 56, who is a mother to two young daughters under the age of 5 herself. “A lot of kids are on their devices, and your son was on his a lot and every time he felt a buzz he checked his pocket. And you had a solution.”
“We have this little station where everyone charges their phones, and finally we decided we don’t like how our kids — they almost look like robots, I mean all of us, when it buzzes you gotta check it, and when they’re reading they’re checking it,” Joanna said.
“It just became a house rule, when you’re at home, that all the phones go in one spot, so if you want to check a text, if you want to check an email, you go to that spot, but it’s not on your bodies,” she continued. “So it’s like ‘no phones on body,’ that’s the rule at home.”
“They’re developing, they’re growing. And as they’re growing at 14, 15, 16, I don’t want [constantly checking their phones] to be part of who they become, you know?” Joanna stated. Kotb could not agree more, calling the house rule “brilliant.”
We’re catching up with @chipgaines and @joannagaines about launching their biggest project yet, their family, what Twitter thinks of Chip’s long hair, and much more! pic.twitter.com/rmusXb8Vzy
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 15, 2021
Back in 2016, Joanna talked to Entertainment Tonight about holding off on giving her children smartphones, and why she felt that this was important.
“I tell the kids that you are probably not going to get a cell phone. We want to teach our kids that life happens outside of these devices,” she said at the time. “It’s just a simple thing to go outside and connect with nature, play with your friends and get dirty. It’s the simple things.”
Last year, Joanna told People Magazine that her kids make her feel young, particularly her youngest son Crew.
“I feel younger than ever because I now see the world like Crew sees it,” Joanna explained. “I’m very thankful. When your kids get older, you start adjusting the way you parent. But when you have a toddler, it’s so different. You almost have to see the world in the way that they do.”
“When Crew is in the car with me,” she continued, “it’s always, ‘I see a sun, I see a tractor, I see a boat.’ He’s finding the simplest things, and in his mind it’s an amazing discovery, but to us it’s just stuff. When you look at things through the eyes of your children, it brings you back to that place of awe and wonder.”
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.