Blake Lively Shares an ‘Important Thing’ to Teach Kids This Time of Year About Their Boundaries

Being around extended family and friends can be challenging during the holiday season. Everyone wants to hug your kids and play with them — even if they haven’t seen your child since he was 2. I’ve been on the receiving end of many guilt trips about why my babies won’t give their grandpa a little kiss on the cheek, and as a parent who is trying to teach bodily autonomy, it’s exhausting. Blake Lively is raising awareness about the importance of teaching your kids boundaries this time of year, and it’s a message that we completely agree with!

The “Gossip Girl” alum, who is mom to James, 9, Inez, 7, Betty, 4, and a 10-month-old baby with husband Ryan Reynolds, shared a reel on Instagram Thursday posted by The TODAY Show. The video was taken by Katie Love, who wrote on the video: “Santa’s response to my toddler not wanting to sit on his lap 🎅.”

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Santa has his arm around 3-year-old Adley, and when Love asked him to repeat what just happened, he told her: “I said, ‘this is her body, and she’s in control of her body.’”

He continues, “I asked if she wanted to sit on my lap, and she said, ‘no.’ And I said, ‘Way to stand up for yourself and way to say what you believe is true.’”

“Yay, I love that!” her mom responds.

“You can’t let even Santa Claus. If Santa Claus says, ‘you wanna sit in my lap?’ and you don’t want to, you say, ‘no,’” he adds. How fantastic is that?

The video has since gone viral, and Lively reposted it on her Instagram story with her own message for parents.

“Yeasss 💪 💪 💪 💪 Love this 🎅,” Lively wrote. “and even more for this little girl for knowing her body and her boundaries. 💪 🎉.”

“Such an important thing for us adults to teach kids,” the A Simple Favor star continued. “Especially this season with so many strangers and even family around. It’s their body. And it’s never a child’s responsibility to make any adult feel good. 💖Just bc we had to as kids doesn’t mean we should repeat it as adults.”

Shout out to Blake Lively for sharing an empowering message and healing our inner child at the same time! Mother is mothering, and we love her for it.

In October, Reynolds shared another parenting lesson he and Lively are teaching their four children.

“It’s genuine when I say I take a huge interest in their days and how things are going,” the Deadpool star told PEOPLE. “For me, the best time of my day is walking them to school and walking them back. I think as parents, we are so much better equipped to handle the rigors of childhood through our kids now than when I was a kid. It’s just totally different now. People are much more self-aware.”

“And that’s the thing we sort of hang our hat on the most is self-awareness with our kids,” he continued. “Not be happy, not be anything, just be self-aware and welcome everything in.”

This duo is parenting goals!

Before you go, check out how these celebrity parents do — or don’t do — Santa.

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