Gisele Bündchen Says This Simple Yet Impactful Practice Is 'The Most Important Thing' When Parenting Teenagers & Pre-Teens
Gisele Bündchen is dropping some nuggets of wisdom for parents raising teenagers and pre-teens.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Thursday, the supermodel and television host chatted about their kids, who are similar ages. Bündchen shares 14-year-old son Benjamin and 11-year-old daughter Vivian with her ex-husband, Tom Brady, and Fallon is dad to daughters Winnie, 10, and Frances, 9.
After Fallon reminded the former Victoria’s Secret Angel of his girls’ ages, Bündchen teasingly quipped, “You wait.” She continued, “I mean, it’s amazing having teenagers and pre-teens, but…”
“A little different?” Fallon asked, before confessing every parent’s fear when their kids transition from childhood to adolescence. “I don’t want it to change,” he admitted.
Bündchen reassured her former Taxi co-star that “you learn so much” when raising pre-teens and teens. She shared, “The most important thing [is] you have to make time to have conversations, because, I think, you know, they are changing — like every day is a whole new world.” The supermodel continued, “And it’s so important to kind of talk, it’s a huge thing.”
Bündchen also opened up about her “easy” strategy for getting kids to eat vegetables — which inspired her upcoming cookbook, Nourish. “All the playdates were always at my house,” she began. “The moms will come back and they’re like, ‘How did you get my kid to eat vegetables?’ I’m like, ‘It’s so easy; just, like, roast them.'” After the mothers asked for specific instructions on how Bündchen cooks veggies, she started sharing recipes with them.
The mom of two also said that her five sisters, whom she regularly trades recipes with, pushed her to compile her favorite snacks and meals into a book. “One time, my sister said, ‘Why don’t you just make a book? Like I have all of these pieces of paper, they’re like everywhere from the things you share.'”
Bündchen continued, “I love to share. I’m a Cancer, so I’m a big sharer. Anything that is good for me, that feels good, I want everyone to know and everyone to have it. So [the book is] kind of my way of sharing nutritious, delicious, simple stuff because I’m not a chef — I just want to eat good stuff.”
Bündchen also said meal prepping is a key component of both her personal lifestyle and her cookbook — specifically because of her kids. She explained, “I think a lot of stuff that happens with moms [is] they get overwhelmed because they get home and it’s like, ‘I’m starving, my kids are screaming.'”
The Devil Wears Prada actress continued with another family anecdote, telling the Saturday Night Live alum, “So the thing is, if you have meal planning it’s amazing. My mom had six kids. She was a cashier in the bank, and she fed all of us like, great food all the time because she prepped.” Bündchen explained, “We always had food because if you’re prepping, you kind of have things planned ahead of time, so when you come home, you can make a meal in like 10 minutes.”
Bündchen also shared that the name of one recipe in the book is inspired by her daughter Vivian: “Sneeze Be Gone Soup,” which the author says is especially handy for when you’re feeling under the weather.
The supermodel’s debut cookbook is currently available for pre-order and will be released in just a few days on March 26.
These celebrity parents are sharing the struggle — and sweetness — of raising teenagers.