My mom and my step-mom are really good friends is something I often say. Most people do a double and glance and reply with a stunned face. Yes, my mom and my step-mom get along. They go out breakfast, talk on the phone and even go out clubbing with each other. They are both over 40 so that fact that they go clubbing is a stunning statement in itself. My dad and my mom were no longer a couple for years before my dad and his new wife got together, and although my mom and my step-mom weren’t instant BFF’s, there never really was any beef between them. Maybe my mom could have been jealous of my dad’s new, younger wife but there wasn’t any room for that since my mom had a new, younger husband herself. However, now that I think about it, perhaps my mom and dad were the ones competing! Against each other! The whole situation reminds me of a comedy.
A comedy like “DADDY’S HOME” starring Will Ferrell, Linda and Mark Wahlberg. The movie follows a mild-mannered radio executive (Ferrell) who strives to become the best stepdad to his wife’s two children, but complications ensue when their freewheeling and freeloading real father (Wahlberg) arrives, forcing him to compete for the affection of the kids.
Talk about competition!
I had the opportunity to interview stars Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, and Linda Cardellini—and they gave me the scoop on their style of parenting, their advice for future step-parents and their funny parent mishaps.
There are a lot of parenting mishaps (in the movie), can you talk about any parenting mishaps that you’ve experienced?
MW: I’ve had quite a few… But I’ve got a good one! I keep showing my kids stuff that I think is appropriate, and my wife quickly corrects me.
WF: I drop my oldest son off at soccer practice for about two hours …
MW: On the wrong field?
WF: On the wrong field.
MW: My dad took me to the wrong school, and I’m like, “Dad, that’s not my school.” He was like, “get in there that’s your school!”
LC: I’m a first-time mother, so you’re scared you’re making some kind of mistake. I do, and she corrects me, and it’s fine. She’s 3-1/2, and she already knows better than I do.
WF: I think that’s what the movie is pointing out and celebrating. The fact that as parents you really don’t know what you are doing and you are making it up as you go along. Some days you lay in bed going “today was a good day. We had some teachable moments and these are moments our children our going to remember.” Other nights you are like “oh, I totally blew it. That was not good.”
As a parent have you discovered something about yourself that you didn’t know before?
WF: I’m probably the opposite, in the sense that I thought I would have it all figured out, and I’d probably be pretty easygoing. I found that I’m the one who’s like, “Please put it down. Please put it down. PUT IT DOWN NOW!!!” I have to sometimes just relax, and just have patience.
Do you guys have any advice for anyone who is going to become a step-parent?
MW: Good luck.
Blended families are a new norm. Some get along, and some don’t. I’m lucky that I never had to deal with any step-mommy or step-daddy drama. All I have is a funny story to tell about how my mom and my step-mom go clubbing together.
Do you have any funny stories or pictures of your blended family? I would love to see them! Head on over to Instagram and use the hashtags #iamLAmamacita along with #daddyshome for a chance to win a family four pack to see DADDY’S HOME!
Contest runs today through Saturday, December 12th. The winner will be announced on Saturday, 12/12 at 6PM Pacific Time. Open to Los Angeles and surrounding cities residents only.
DADDY’S HOME will be in a theatre near you on Christmas Day 2015
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