Why Amal and George Clooney Are Raising Their Children Like Ordinary People, Despite Their Wealth and Popularity.
Amal and George Clooney are seen as perfect role models. Besides being gentle with each other, they are also exemplary parents. The couple rarely reveals details about their personal lives, but they are open about their approach to raising children. We think there is much wisdom in their view.
You must be ready for parenthood.
Before they met, George and Amal had no plans to have children at all. Amal was building a successful career as a human rights lawyer, while George was involved in various relationships with some of Hollywood’s most beautiful women, such as Stacey Keibler and Renee Zellweger, and had no intention of settling down and becoming father of the year. But everything changed when they met.
“We just felt that we were very lucky, both of us, and we should share whatever luck we have.” It would seem selfish if it just belonged to us,” Clooney commented on their decision to become parents. At the time of the twins’ birth, the actor was 56 and his wife was 39. The couple prepared for their new roles as they immediately realized how much responsibility fell on their shoulders. Moreover, one thought kept running through George’s mind: “I hope I don’t screw this up.
Despite her celebrity status and financial wealth, Amal has decided to fully take on all the responsibilities of motherhood and is delighted with the role. According to her, she spent a year looking after her son Alexander and daughter Ella without any help. Like her mother, she did the dishes and laundry herself.
The lawyer went back to work, but even then the couple did not hire full-time help. A nanny comes to the Clooney household four times a week. The rest of the time, parents take care of their children themselves.
“I admire my wife so much because she breastfeeds them and sleeps for about two hours at an interval, and the love they have for her is a sight and it’s beautiful,” the actor enthused in 2017. George and Amal are used to supporting each other in everything, so they with the arrival of children, they simply gained another common interest.
Sharing parenting responsibilities helped the couple balance work and family life. The actor could never have imagined that at any point in his life his main task would be changing diapers. But fate is unpredictable, and, according to his wife, he excelled in this endeavor.
Another characteristic of this family is that their children started learning several languages from an early age. This passion must come from their mother. George jokes about himself: “I’m from Kentucky, English is my second language. Amal, on the other hand, was born in Lebanon. When she was two years old, her family moved to England. He is fluent in English and French, and also speaks Arabic.
During a TV appearance, the actor once revealed that at the age of five, their daughter and son spoke three languages. In addition to English and French, the siblings learn Italian, which, by the way, neither Clooney nor his wife know. This allows the twins to keep their own secrets from their parents.
Amal and George Clooney’s twins are seriously stylish https://t.co/e5Z5bDVfgj pic.twitter.com/NNWRpOW2ZY
— Page Six (@PageSix) December 7, 2018
The Clooneys’ next rule is that even though they are both extremely busy, they try not to be apart for long periods of time. When work forces Amal and George to be apart for a while, they stay in touch via video call. This way, even though their work schedules are busy, the family still spends a lot of time together.
The other side of popularity
While some celebrity parents are happy to share pictures of their children growing up on social media, the Clooneys do their best to avoid it. The actor and lawyer make a point by not having their own social media pages. Moreover, they strongly oppose any outside interference in the lives of their twins. So when the paparazzi climbed over the fence of their home to take some photos of the babies, Clooney decided to punish them to the fullest extent of the law.
The couple openly appealed to the press, urging them not to publish photos of their children. The parents want to enable Alexander and Ella to live a normal life, just like other children. They even chose fairly common names for the twins to add some “normalcy” to the twins’ already unusual lives.
The star couple knows firsthand how this “normality” can sometimes be lacking. George was raised by a beauty queen and a TV host. Amal was also fortunate to be born into a famous family — her father came from a long line of respected ancestry.
That is why they decided to raise their children differently. “The challenge is to remind the children who were born into this cup of fame and money to have empathy for people who are not as fortunate as they are.” This will be Amal’s and my task to teach our children and this is important.”
How children changed the life of George Clooney
George believes that there are people who aim their life at a child. Without parents, they feel incomplete. That was not the case with him. He didn’t feel sad about being alone until he met Amal. Clooney wanted to have children with her.
“[It gave me] a sense of belonging and a sense of home and unconditional love — all the things you hoped you’d get from a really good career and a dog. You understand that this is much more than that,” says the actor.