Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds take pride in being hands-on parents who don't spend thousands on nannies. Even with baby number four on the way, the couple plans on doing it on their own, or maybe with a little help from their three daughters: James, 7, Inez, 6, and Betty, 3.
The Deadpool actor previously said that he shares parenting "labor" with the Gossip Girl alum — who also makes a conscious effort in policing gendered language around the kids. Here's how they do it together.
Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds Avoid Gendered Language Around Their Children
In a 2017 interview with Glamour, Lively said that she and Reynolds are mindful of selecting gendered pronouns around their kids.
"So [Ryan will] pick up, like a caterpillar, and instead of saying, 'What's his name?' he'll say, 'What's her name?'" she explained. They're also careful with certain adjectives that have sexist undertones. "We've joked that my daughter is bossy. But my husband said, 'I don't ever want to use that word again. You've never heard a man called bossy,'" said the actress.
"There would never be any negative connotation for a man being a boss, so to add a negative on a women being bossy? It's belittling," she continued. "And it doesn't encourage them to be a boss." Lively is still learning a lot about motherhood, but she's sure about one thing: she wants her daughters to be strong, empowered women. "So do I know how to be the best parent for a daughter? No, I have no idea. All I can do is share what I'm thinking — and learn from others," confessed the feature film director.
The actress also discussed her work with Child Rescue Coalition in the same interview. "I so appreciate the purity of my own childhood, and the idea that a child doesn't have the opportunity to be a child is devastating," she said of bringing awareness to child exploitation issues. "With Child Rescue Coalition, I asked a law enforcement agent, 'How young are kids in child pornography?' He said the youngest he'd seen still had the umbilical cord attached."
How Ryan Reynolds Shares Parenting 'Labor' With Blake Lively
Speaking to David Letterman in a teaser for Netflix's My Guest Needs No Introduction, Reynolds admitted that Lively helped him become the amazing father he is now.
"Blake, full disclosure, really showed me how to do all this," he said. "Blake runs the show. I would kind of really phone things in if it wasn't for her. She has higher standards." When asked if he gets anxious when left alone with their kids, he jokingly answered: "I would, first off, never let her go visit her family. No, yeah, that is illegal. That's kidnapping."
The "girl dad" added that being left alone with the kids is "pretty exciting at first" but that "division of labor is very important." The actor has previously taken a break from acting to focus on his children. "We all want to be together during this time. Our kids are still quite young, and I don't want to miss it," he told People in 2021, later telling Access Hollywood: "My kids, they're growing up faster than time and space would have suggested, so I want to be there."
He and Lively also take their kids with them whenever they travel for work. "I just try to be as present as possible," Reynolds told Access Hollywood in 2020. "We don't split up. Like, I shoot movies and my wife shoots movies and we go travel all over the place, and we just all go together. I think that’s been the best part of it is that we really don't spend a lot of time apart. I get to spend a lot of time with my girls."
Blake Lively Called Out Paparazzi For Stalking Her During The Fourth Pregnancy
In a recent Instagram post, Lively slammed the 11 photographers stalking her house for a shot of her baby bump. "Here are photos of me pregnant in real life so the 11 guys waiting outside my home for a 🦄 sighting will leave me alone. You freak me and my kids out," she wrote alongside the carousel post below.
She continued: "Thanks to everyone else for all the love and respect and for continuing to unfollow accounts and publications who share photos of children. You have all the power against them. And thank you to the media who have a 'No Kids Policy'. You all make all the difference 🙏♥️. Much love! Xxb"
Lively's fans and fellow celebrities, like Gigi Hadid and Salma Hayek, took to the comments to congratulate the actress on her fourth pregnancy.