Countering With Confidence: Comedian Chris Distefano Shares Parenting Advice

Published: July 10, 2023

Countering With Confidence: Comedian Chris Distefano Shares Parenting Advice

By Movieguide® Contributor

American comedian Chris Distefano recently shared how he juggles a busy morning with his vibrant family of five.

“A weekday morning, very tough. We got the 12-year-old waking up late; he’s going to miss the bus. We got my 8-year-old waking up right on time.” Distefano said, “She doesn’t want to do anything; she doesn’t want to do her hair, she doesn’t want to eat. Then we have the 2-year-old waking up who’s just being two…Just yelling, screaming, wants to be held, wants to be put on the floor, she bites.”

“How [Distefano] approaches the chaos by responding with calmness has already made a big difference,” Fatherly reported.

“We would just start yelling at each other, yelling at the kids, sprinting to the bus, and always negative, sending them out into the world,” said Distefano

The comedian recognized that not only are brash reactions useless, but they set a bad example. He found that a calm approach helped the mornings go smoothly.

“I said, hey, let’s use these moments of crisis to show the children how you react during a crisis. Because with children, they can’t really communicate. Their behavior is the language. How they’re behaving is what they’re telling you,” Distefano said.

“So I’m like, okay, they’re behaving in a way that maybe they’re hungry, maybe they have to use the bathroom, maybe they’re scared ’cause they have a test, whatever. In these moments of crisis, [the kids] can’t articulate, we can,” said Distefano.

Distefano discovered that when children feel like they accomplished something then their behavior will improve.

“Let’s show them to be calm; let’s give them a confidence-boosting activity before they get on the bus. My older daughter, I’ll have her balance on the curb and have her do it 2 or 3 times,” Distefano said. “She goes into that bus happy. She a challenge. Make her bed, something. Confidence.”

“We get dressed before breakfast. And we do everyone’s hair every morning. Two small things which we find make a big psychological difference to how we face each other and the day,” Movieguide® contributing writer Peirce Baehr shared in his example of a similar family routine.

Movieguide® founder Dr. Ted Baehr also noted how to build confidence in children: “Any time you ask children their opinion; you build their confidence tremendously about participating in the real world.”