Sarah Jessica Parker and her husband, Matthew Broderick, are raising three kids to “understand what it means to earn money.” During a recent visit to the iHeartRadio podcast “Table for Two,” she told host Bruce Bozzi, “You want your children to understand what it means to earn money, what it takes to earn money and the value of it, and the expectations will be the same for them.”
The 58-year-old “Sex and the City” actress paraphrased a Dolly Parton quote about having everything you need but not everything you want. Parker continued, “I think it’s a great way of living for children that their needs are met to be fed and safe and loved, and you know the important things in life: books and food and interesting experiences. They’re warm in the winter and cool in the summer, but they should pine for things.” She added, “They should want for things. And they should also, I think, be interested in how they contribute to things to a certain point.”
Broderick and the “And Just Like That” actress have been married for 26 years and share three children: their son James and twin daughters, Marion and Tabitha. Parker continued, “Whether it’s cause you always think you’re going to be poor or you always think you’re going to be broke, some of us think like that, or we’re worried we will be, also, because you don’t want to blow through money foolishly and spend it on things that don’t really add up over time.”
In 2008, Parker told Parade she didn’t think she would be the hard worker she is if she were raised as a “child of privilege.” She said, “I have a great appreciation for work. I think it’s incumbent on my husband and me to really stress and show James by example what it means to owe your community something and that he is not entitled to the benefits of our hard work.” She said James was only wearing hand-me-downs from his older cousins then.
She said, “That’s the God’s honest truth. Plus, my mother saved all my brothers’ clothes. I am not kidding. I don’t think I’ve ever bought him any clothes. Maybe a new winter coat. I do buy him shoes because everybody’s feet are different.”
Every parent wants the best for their children, but they also want them to learn the value of a dollar. Sarah Jessica Parker and her husband want their children to pine for things but also believe they shouldn’t spend money frivolously, which is every parent’s hope.
