Don’t underestimate a 4-year-old! Mixed-ish star Tika Sumpter revealed how she gets her little one to listen during a new interview with Us Weekly. Watch the latest episode of Moms Like Us with host Christina Garibaldi and Stroller in the City’s Brianne Manz to see what the actress had to say.
“Their minds are so brilliant, so I would say speak to them like they’re humans because they are,” Sumpter, 40, told Us. “Her whole life, we never really baby talked to her, and we’ve just seen that it has helped her development a little more.”
Sumpter, who shares daughter Ella with fiancé Nick James, said that she’s already seeing the benefits of speaking to her as an adult and not a child.
“Now we’re seeing the fruits of that, which is her being able to put her words to how she feels,” she explained. “If she’s angry with us, instead of saying, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ [I say], ‘I’m upset with you. You made me very mad.’ I love that because that gives them an emotional IQ so that I’m not guessing anymore.”
Sumpter also got real about parenting during the quarantine.
“I have an amazing support system, which is my fiancé, Nick. And he definitely had a little more patience than I did,” she admitted. “Sometimes I just had to tell my child, ‘I don’t want to play anymore, I’m tired.’ And, that’s OK too. I think we’re made to feel guilty in some way about that.”
Sumpter has since learned to take a time out and has partnered with Dunkin’ and Planet Oat to celebrate their Oatmilk Latte and Oatmilk Iced Lattes, and to encourage “pressing pause and giving yourself a nice treat.”
When she gets time for herself, Sumpter said: “I like to meditate. I [watched] documentaries last night. I read a book. Right now, I had to do a 14-day quarantine in Canada because I’m working on Sonic 2, so that was really a time out. I reassessed my eating and how I want my body to function. It was just a moment for myself. So I’m really excited that I got that chance.”
Catch Moms Like Us every Thursday on Us Weekly’s YouTube channel at 3 p.m. ET.
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