EXCLUSIVE: No Offense Dads, But Hilary Duff's Mom & Kids Only Vacation Sounds Like Heaven

Hilary Duff may be an internationally-recognized actress, singer, and entrepreneur — but during coronavirus lockdown, Duff is also one more mom trying to make it through. In California with husband Matthew Koma, son Luca, and daughter Banks, Duff can’t deny that her role as mom takes center stage. And while she breathed a sigh of relief when her homeschooling days were behind her, long, hot summer days chasing after an 8-year-old and a 2-year-old can definitely still take its toll. In a new exclusive interview with SheKnows, supermom Duff spilled her secrets to making it through the summer with her sanity (mostly) intact.

So, what are Duff’s pro tips? Stay hydrated, preferably with something low-sugar and plant-based like partner brand Creative Roots’ drinks, and, if at all possible, grab your kids and a few dearest mom friends for a mommy-and-me trip out of town. While Duff has been vocal (and rightly so) about the selfishness of those going against coronavirus lockdown restriction, you shouldn’t mistake that for thinking the Lizzie McGuire star is anti-fun — quite the opposite. When done safely, Duff knows first hand how lifesaving a much-needed break can be, and her four-day trip to Santa Barbara with mom friends and kids sounds like actual heaven.

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SheKnows: How have you been holding up in lockdown?

Hilary Duff: Every day is a little bit different — and often like Groundhog Day. I don’t know how that makes sense, but it does. It’s pretty good. It’s definitely more normal than it was, and we’re just kind of used to it. There are good days and bad days. But my kids are so resilient. I think kids in general are more resilient. And obviously, for me, I’m craving more freedom, but we’re so blessed over here. I’m lucky, so lucky to have a backyard for my kids and a pool. We have everything that we need. So, it’s tough to complain but not every day is perfect by any means.

SK: Do you have any summer plans for your kids coming up? Any virtual camps?

HD: My son is actually playing tennis right now. It’s not a camp. But I figured that tennis is a very separated sport, his coach is on one side of the court and he’s on the other. And it’s been a really good for him. You know, he’s such an active kid. I never had to worry about him getting exercise and burning energy, but it’s nice to drive somewhere and go someplace and not just always be looking at walls of our house.

We actually took a little trip, we rented a house in Santa Barbara with family friends of ours. We all went and got tested and then took a four day trip, just moms and kids. And that was about a month and a half ago. And it was so, so nice. We’re more locked down in California than we were, then, which is a good thing obviously, even though it’s challenging and a bummer. He does soccer Zoom, and he does his in-person tennis lessons. But you know what? We did so much Zoom for school, he’s over Zoom. He has to do some summer school tutoring and he’s like, I don’t want to be on the Zoom anymore. He’s zoomed out.

SK: Speaking of your very active kids, how did you get involved with Creative Roots?

HD: As a mom and having my little mom tribe, we’re always sharing information and products that we found. And I’m always trying new things. So when I heard about Creative Roots, I’m always down to try something new, and it just like ticked all the boxes for me. It’s one gram of sugar. It’s 15 calories. It’s powered by plants, it’s a coconut water drink. I’m like, yeah bring it on, let’s see if these kids will drink this. And every single flavor, they’re obsessed with. We have a fridge outside and a fridge in our garage, and they’re just, like, blowing through it. And then obviously, I was tasting it to make sure I liked it, before I started the partnership. And then unfortunately, my freaking husband started to get into the stash! We’re always fighting over it right now. And it’s just great, because we’re spending so much time outside and it’s hot, it’s really, really hot. At least a hundred degrees in California, every day.

So, I’m always worried that my kids aren’t drinking enough, and aren’t staying hydrated. They did this whole study and one in every two kids is under hydrated, so I thought that was a crazy statistic. And I was so happy to find this drink and have this partnership.

SK: I feel like most of the adults I know aren’t hydrated! So kids definitely need help.

HD: I know! And you know what, I feel so bad when I realize I haven’t been drinking throughout the day. I think our kids getting in different moods, being grumpy or fussy or moody, is definitely multifaceted, there’s many different reasons for that throughout the day, but I think definitely being under-hydrated is one of those.

SK: You’ve been very outspoken about people ignoring lockdown restrictions on social media. What’s going through your head when you see that, and how are you feeling about it now?

HD: I think I just feel so disappointed in our country as a community and how we’re caring about one another. We’ve watched every other country really deeply care about everyone. Even though it’s not pleasing for your party life or your social life or whatever, all of these other countries have come together and been so respectful and kind and loving, so just do the same thing, you know? Because young people, OK? We’re hearing on the news the cases of young people that are not so lucky with getting this disease, with this virus, but then you’re also hearing stories that you get it and it’s a really bad flu, but you’re going to be fine. But what about the older generation that took care of us? It’s just so disrespectful. It’s so embarrassing that we can’t all just wear a mask and limit the amount of people we see. It’s making it so much worse and so much longer and more dragged out than it has to be. And people are just struggling, families and business owners, and it’s really sad.

SK: You grew up as a Disney Channel teen and had a lot of fame at an early age. If your own kids wanted to start acting as teenagers, would you support that?

HD: I would. I definitely would. I really appreciated that my mom saw that my sister and I had an interest in something and she let us explore that and supported us through it. Just like you see kids that are heavily into sports — I was never heavily into sports — and so my mom was like, well, this is what she is gravitating to and I have to help her flourish in that. I would like to think that I would do the same thing for my kids.

They would have to finish school — not that my home schooling experience was terrible, but I definitely couldn’t get the education that I want my kids to have. And maybe a few other things. just to have a few ground rules.

Click here to see celebrity kids who are following in their famous mom’s footsteps.

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