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Goldie Hawn has plenty of parenting advice, but she’s not in a rush to share it with her adult children — unless they want it, of course.
The actor, 78, opened up about the joys of parenthood in the Nov. 20 episode of Hoda Kotb’s “Making Space” podcast. She also shared some valuable tips to help parents navigate the transition to becoming grandparents.
“It’s an unbelievable weave that starts to happen when your children start to have children. But they’re the parents. And what one has to be careful is that we don’t want to be a horn that’s always saying, ‘Why’d you do that?’ and, ‘They should do this,’ and whatever. So Kurt (Russell, her longtime partner) and I, give them full autonomy,” she said.
Hawn shares two children, Kate and Oliver Hudson, with ex-husband Bill Hudson and a son named Wyatt Russell with Kurt Russell. She’s also a stepmom to Kurt Russell’s son, Boston Russell, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Season Hubley.
Hawn became a grandmother for the first time in 2004 when Kate Hudson welcomed her first child.
“When Ryder was born, Kate’s first, I still had a kid at home,” she recalled, referring to her youngest child, Wyatt Russell, who was a teenager at the time.
When asked how she changed after being promoted to grandmother, Hawn said, “I don’t think I’ve changed at all.”
The actor now has eight grandchildren with a “big, wide range” of ages, from 9 months old to 20 years old.
“Being a go-go, grandmother, I love it,” she said.
Still, Hawn knows that her role has shifted now that she’s a grandparent.
“I do love being a grandmother, but I’m not the boss. I’m just the one that can deliver happiness to them, and also an ear if they need it,” she said.
Now that her kids are adults and have children of their own, Hawn said she does “miss being a mother,” describing it as “the greatest” experience.
“My Wyatt used to say, ‘Mother, may I kiss your royal ring?’ You know, because I always like these big rings. I mean, they love you so much. And that’s the one thing we talk about parenting. Remember that. No one will love you like your children do. And that’s the most important part of your life,” she said.
While reflecting on her journey as a mother, Hawn advised other parents to savor the time they have with their children since they grow up so quickly.