Jessica Biel opened up to Kelly Ripa about parenthood in a new podcast interview.
Jessica Biel is opening up about raising her boys. In a new interview, the 42-year-old actress issues rare comments about the two sons she shares with husband Justin Timberlake.
Biel sat down with Kelly Ripa for Wednesday's episode of SiriusXM’s Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa and addressed the couple's decision to live with their children outside of the bi-coastal celebrity hot spots like New York City and Los Angeles.
"You get hammered on the East Coast, you kind of get hammered on the West Coast," she said. "That's why we don't really live there anymore. It's just trying to create some normalcy for these kids, and we want to share our family with our loved ones and friends and also, we understand that our job has this major public facing element, so we understand that part of it, but also these kids didn't choose this. I don't want to expose them in a way until they have an ability to make that decision for themself, you know?"
She also explained her thought process behind what she chooses to share of her kids on social media, which includes rare photos of family moments in which their faces are not shown.
"This very social media world is where they exist and where they live, and that will be a very big part of their life and their reality," she said. "I just don't want it to be on my account, so we try to engage in a way that feels authentic, but also just not, you know, blasting them all over the place."
She added, "And no disrespect to anybody who feels comfortable doing that. That's just our family choice."
Biel and Timberlake are parents to sons Silas, 9, and Phineas, 3.
The Candy actress is currently promoting her new book, A Kids Book About Periods.
The book is aimed at children ages five and up, and is meant to serve as a jumping off point for kids and parents to engage in meaningful conversations about menstruation and changing bodies. Speaking with Ripa, Biel explained why she was looking forward to sharing the project with her eldest son.
"I feel really excited to sit down with him because he's such a cool person that I just know he's gonna just be like, 'OK, cool. Well, great. Good for you,'" she said. "We're all, as parents, I think building it up in our brains as to how our children are gonna react and I do feel like we don't give them enough credit for just kind of being able to understand and absorb it and then move on. They're just so in the present moment."
She also said that she's already been candid with Silas about her own period and how he may be experiencing changes within his own body, as well.
"I've definitely told him, 'Hey, I'm not feeling great today. I'm on my period and I'm just really, I'm not really that very patient, so I need you guys to be my best partners and best listening ears today,'" she shared. "And he'll be like, 'Oh, OK, cool.' He hasn't really asked me. We've talked a little bit about tampons. We've talked a little bit about what they are. We haven't gotten into the specifics, but you know, I've said, 'Hey, this is something that I need to use every time. Every month, I use this product at a certain time.'"
For his part, she said that Silas has been experiencing growing pains lately.
"He has a hard time sleeping," she said. "He'll be waking up in the middle of the night. His legs hurt. His back hurts. He's, you know, he looks different, right? He went from this little guy to this kind of more grown-up kid and even Justin and I are like, 'Wow, this kid is looking different all of a sudden.'"
She added, "He's just growing. It's so amazing, so we talk a lot about that. We're talking about deodorant. We're talking about hormones in our bodies and why we smell a different way, and so we're into it and we're on the precipice of all the big conversations I think."
Host Ripa can surely relate, as she's raised three children with husband Mark Consuelos. The couple, who wed in 1996, share son Michael, 26, daughter Lola, 22, and son Joaquin, 21.
In an interview with ET last year, Biel joked that she was "devastatingly nervous" about her sons reaching their teen years.
"God, I mean it's terrifying," she said. "What's going to happen to these kids? What they have to go through with puberty, it's hard being a kid. I tell my eight-year-old that all the time. I'm like, 'Dude, it's hard being eight. I get it.' And then I'm gonna help him see that it's hard being 41. He's just looking at me like, 'What? You don't matter.'"
As for Timberlake, he's currently on the road for his Forget Tomorrow World Tour after dropping his latest studio album, Everything I Thought It Was, earlier this year.
Biel has, of course, been spotted in the audience during his shows. The couple was also recently seen enjoying a glam date night at the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party in Beverly Hills.
According to a source, once inside the exclusive event, the duo -- who have been married since 2012 -- couldn't keep their hands to themselves.
"Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel were adorable together and took pictures in a mirrored room," the source told ET. "Justin was all over Jessica and seemed so happy to be there with her."
In January, a source shared that Timberlake and Biel have gone the extra mile to maintain their years-long romance.
"Things are going well between Justin and Jess," a source told ET. "She is busy with her own projects and he has been there for her. They have each other's back and are each other's biggest fans when it comes to their careers."
The source added, "They make sure to have a good balance and occasionally will see a therapist for a check in," the source adds. "Justin is always making Jessica laugh and is a great husband. He worships her."
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