P!nk Gets Real About Fears Her Kids Will Make Some of the Same Mistakes She Did

Drew Barrymore and P!ink, like many parents, have done things they aren't proud of.

As parents, we may relish our kids having our dimples or similar interests. However, among the things you may think about as you stare at the ceiling wide awake at 3 a.m.: What if my kids inherit my flaws? What if my kids party as I did in college or make the same relationship mistakes?

Drew Barrymore and singer P!nk had a heartfelt conversation about it during the Trustfall singer’s appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show. The show’s Instagram account resurfaced a clip of the two stars’ recent conversation, and it’s bringing out all the feels.

Related: 4 Big Emotions to Talk About With Little Kids

P!nk and Drew Barrymore Discuss a Common Parenting Fear

Barrymore rose to fame when she starred in Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and has openly discussed her issues with mental health and substance abuse, including in the book Little Girl Lost. She is the mother of two daughters, Olive and Frankie. P!nk, who has a daughter, Willow, and son, Jameson, has also been frank about her struggles with substance abuse.

If you’re up late at night, concerned your child will have similar struggles, you’re not alone. Barrymore and P!nk are wide awake with you.

“What do I tell myself when I’m afraid my kids are going to do some of the same stuff I did?” Barrymore asks her fellow mama.

“That Xanax is available,” P!nk quips.

But then the singer got real.

“We made it,” P!nk says. “Why did we make it? We made terrible decisions.”

It’s such a relatable phrase, especially for people experiencing survivor’s guilt. The Grammy-winner wasn’t done offering a balanced, genuine perspective that serves to give parents a (sad and frustrating) reality check about the state of the world.

“Kids, they’re going to be alright because they can borrow some of our knowledge, and they are going to buy their own,” P!nk says. “We have open conversations about life. I'm trying to walk that line of, like, I want you to have a childhood, I want to preserve some of your innocence, but I also know that you need to be prepared for the world that we live in.”

It’s a world forcing kids to grow up too soon, sometimes because of poor policy decisions.

“Not to be a Debbie Downer, but these kids are having active-shooter drills in school,” P!nk adds. “This is the world we live in. They need to be prepared. So we go to Disneyland, we eat ice cream, and we talk about our feelings."

Why P!nk’s Message is Spot On

It’s deep, but would we expect anything else from the singer who gave us “Please Don’t Leave Me?”
Most of the people who commented on the clip appreciated the honesty of the conversation.

• “Excellent question. Excellent advice, “ writes one person.
  

• “This is a beautiful conversation,” says another.
  

• “Open conversations are a must,” a commenter adds.

One commenter, though, wasn’t a fan. “The dysfunctionality of this world starts with the fact that working people cannot get ahead anymore. The conversation should have started there,” the person writes.

It’s a fair point and concern, and I’m all about raging about a system that puts working people at a disadvantage and pushing for change. But I also think there’s room for the perspective offered during this mom-to-mom heart-to-heart (yes, between two well-off women whose children have the considerable privilege to go to Disneyland on demand).

As a parent, you naturally want to protect your child from everything—especially events or situations that have left you hurt or traumatized. The hard reality is that you can’t, and that’s scary. All you can do is prepare them for the world they’ll live in by building trust through open conversations and helping them learn to identify and regulate emotions—it’s a laundry list and exhausting.

But all you can do is do the best you can with the resources you have. From there, you can only hope for the best and love your child for who they are, flaws and all, just as perhaps you wish you had been. They will make mistakes along the way, many will be the mistakes you made too. And that's OK.

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