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Parenting is more than just changing diapers and running school. It's also about teaching children about themselves: who they are and how they feel. Alicia Keys has revealed the special way she makes sure her sons Genesis, 9, and Egypt, 13, with husband Swizz Beatz understand their feelings. And it all starts with her three questions.
communication
“I love conversation. We love conversation. We value communication,” the “Empire State of Mind” singer tells PEOPLE in a new cover interview. “There are certainly parameters to things, but we have to give them the ability to explore and figure out what they like. And I'm really leading them on a lot of fronts. .”
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NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 6: Alicia Keys attends “Giants: Art from the Dean Collection by Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys” at the Brooklyn Museum on February 6, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Sharif Ziyadat/Getty Images)
Sharif Ziyadat/Getty Images
One way she encourages her sons to think independently is by asking questions like: what do you want? What feels right to you? Keyes explained: If you don't know what you're thinking or feeling, you're in trouble. ”
“I feel like I've spent a lot of time not fully understanding or believing what I felt, so I want to teach them to trust their instincts,” she says. added.
This is a great approach. She teaches her children to stop and evaluate their own thoughts and feelings and to be the decision makers in their own lives. That's a skill many adults don't have!
mom and dad time
NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 6: Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys attend “Giants: Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys from the Dean Collection” at the Brooklyn Museum on February 6, 2024 in New York City. Attended “Art”. (Photo by Sharif Ziyadat/Getty Images)
Sharif Ziyadat/Getty Images
She's trying her best to stay open, but it's not always easy. Like when she had to talk to Genesis about letting her and Beatz have some alone time at night.
“I'm like, 'Genesis, you can't just come into bed every night.' You can't do that!” the Grammy winner recalled a conversation with her youngest son. “'But why?' But he's cute,” Keys said with a laugh. She “had to break it out” for him. “I said, 'Listen, if mom and dad are happy, the whole family is happy. Mom and dad aren't happy, and the whole family isn't happy,'” she explained. He'll understand when he gets older!
maternal
NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 11: Son Genesis Ali Dean performs live at the Apollo Theater on SiriusXM and Pandora's Small Stage Series in Harlem on November 11, 2021 in New York City. Alicia Keys co-stars with. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
Dimitrios Cambris/Getty Images, SiriusXM
In a 2019 interview harper's bazaar, The “Girl on Fire” singer talked about how motherhood changed her. “Her motherhood has given me a stronger sense of clarity,” Keyes told the outlet. “I used to be less conscious of how I wanted to spend my time and was influenced by others. After having children, I found my North Star. I felt like I wasted less money. I was able to work more efficiently.”
Keys seems like a great mother, and we know her sons will grow up to be strong, independent, and aware of their own feelings and desires. I will write it down as a record of my child-rearing experience!
Before you go, check out the celebrity parents who took their kids to Taylor Swift's Elas Tour.
