When it comes to dealing with teenagers, "Big Little Lies" actress Reese Witherspoon has an uncanny parenting style. The 41-year-old mom, who has two teens Ava, 17 and Deacon, 13 with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, confessed she's the weird parent.
Witherspoon revealed on Conan O'Brien's talk show that she constantly communicates with her teen kids on the medium they are most used to — social media. She shared she uses Snapshots and sends them goofy photos of herself on a regular basis, sometimes all day long.
"I'll send [Deacon] pictures of disgusting animals and be like, 'I'm feeling like this today,'" the actress said, as per People. "I'll put #mondayfeels' or something like that ... I just try to gross him out."
Witherspoon also shared she tries to be a strict parent in some ways. Born and raised in Tennessee, the "Legally Blonde" icon said she's a very Southern mom.
"If I get kind of mad, I'll give you a 'sit to,' which just means you have to sit down and listen to everything I have to say," she told the late night host. "If you really make me mad, then I give you 'what for,' which is a whole 'nother thing you don't want to get involved in."
The actress said she's developing a different kind of relationship with Ava and Deacon as they are becoming more like adults; she treats them like friends. Ava, in an Instagram post, described her mom as "one of my best friends."
happy birthday to one of my best friends.
A post shared by Ava Phillippe (@avaphillippe) on Mar 22, 2017 at 7:48am PDT
Witherspoon, who also has a 4-year-old-boy Tennessee with husband Jim Toth, use a different parenting approach with a preschooler altogether. Recently, the "Walk the Line" star revealed on Instagram that Tennessee had "preschool problems." Turned out, the little one had a difficult time spelling and writing his name.
Tennessee as a 2-years-old was a picky eater and only wanted white bread, ketchup and milk. So, his mom learned to garnish his meals with food art to encourage him to eat what's served on the table and get used to a variety, as per Mom.Me.
