The actress says she and her husband try to be as honest and real with their kids as possible.
Keeping it real! Kristen Bell is opening up about how she and husband Dax Shepard try to be as open and honest with their kids as possible.
Bell is the first celeb to cover Real Simple magazine, as part of their "Game Changers" issue, and she spoke with the publication about the importance of open communication with their daughters -- Lincoln, 9, and Delta, 8.
"I hate the word 'taboo.' I think it should be stricken from the dictionary," Bell shares. "There should be no topic that's off the table for people to talk about. I know it's shocking, but I talk to my kids about drugs, and the fact that their daddy is an addict, and he's in recovery, and we talk about sex."
"There are all these 'hard topics' that don't have to be if you give the person on the other end your vulnerability," she adds, "and a little bit of credit."
Shepard has long been candid and open about his past struggles with substance abuse, and the pair has often commented on the impact it's had on their relationship.
"When I met my husband, he’d just recently started to be in recovery. If he found a pill, he’d be gone for three days. He’d miss Christmas and do lots of things that are inarguably bad things," Bell recalls. "I was a goody-goody with a temper. He was vulnerable and communicative. That scrambled my brain, because I was like, 'I’m the one who does things right, OK? 'And he was like, 'But you don’t, because you’re scared to say what you really feel.'"
"It was hard for me to say when something scared me. I realized that when I talked more about my fears, I gained more respect from not just my husband but everyone in my life," she explains.
However, Bell had nothing but praise for her husband, and how he challenges her in a constructive way.
"My husband keeps my mind and heart open and moving forward every single day, because he’s a challenger," she shares. "We disagree about 99 percent of the things on earth, which is just fun and interesting."
Bell explained that she will "often feel underqualified, whether for an acting scene or a parenting moment. "When I feel wonky about my day, I tell my husband, 'I like doing this, but I don’t really know what I’m doing.' And he goes, 'All you need to do is get the project to the finish line,'" she says.
"When I think about it like that, I realize I might actually be good at it," she adds.
The openness, vulnerability and accountability that has helped with their marriage and their parenting is something the pair also try to instill in their children.
"Making amends and apologizing is an important thing in our family, because humans leave carnage wherever they go," Bell says. "I really respect when someone does something wrong or hurtful and they apologize. I’m like, 'Yeah, right on.' That’s important."
"If there’s one thing I want to teach my kids, it’s how to make amends," she adds. "And that it's for themselves, so they can like who's in the mirror a little bit more."
Bell's interview with Real Simple's "Game Changer" issue is out now.
For more on the celebrated actress and her family life, check out the video below.
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