As a parent, you want to teach your kids everything. You want them to know all the things you wish you’d known as a kid, whether it’s better money management or stability. But you also don’t want them to miss out on any of the things that you look back on as being so vital to your childhood. For Kevin Costner, 70, it’s important to remember that one size doesn’t fit all.
Perhaps it’s remembering that your extrovert is obsessing over volleyball, while the sensitive introvert is worried about their schoolwork. As the father of seven between the ages of 41 and 15 years old, he’s had decades to figure out this parenthood thing. There’s a lot he’s still learning, but there are a few things he’s got figured out.
Kevin Costner Shares Heartfelt Parenting Advice: ‘You’ve Got to Take Into Consideration Their Differences’
“You love them all the same, but they are all different, so you find ways to do that without treating them all the same,” Costner told People. “You’ve got to take into consideration their differences.”
The “Horizon: An American Saga” star has seven kids in very different stages of life. His oldest three from his marriage to Cindy Silva are Annie, 41, Lily, 38, and Joe, 37. Liam, his son with Bridget Rooney, is 28 years old. And then there’s his youngest three with ex-wife Christine Baumgartner. Cayden, 18, Hayes, 16, and Grace, 15.
Costner has had a lot of time to learn that it’s not always about the kids learning. Being a parent means constantly learning, as well.
“If you just keep coming at them in a certain way, and you’re not getting through, it’s up to you to change a little bit,” the former “Yellowstone” star said. “Maybe your messaging, maybe how you do it. You have to adjust to their individuality.”
Kevin Costner Shares Special Father’s Day Plans
This year, Kevin Costner’s family is gathering to celebrate a significant milestone on Father’s Day. “My son Cayden is graduating, so all the children are coming in to see him graduate,” the actor said. “It’ll be a four or five-day [event], hanging out for as long as we can.”
Costner is proud of his son and also glad that he has a chance to reunite with everyone for the occasion. It doesn’t happen as much as he’d like.
“It’s here and there now,” he admitted. “Trying to gather them all [together at the same time] is very difficult as they all move through the directions of their life.”
The key to getting everyone back together is simple. “You try to provide a place that they’ll want to return to,” he said. “I always design my homes for me and mine â for my children and their children â so that they enjoy coming back.”
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