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Ted Lasso’s Brendan Hunt (Coach Beard) has a two-year-old son, Sean, and another baby on the way with his fiancée Shannon Nelson. He was recently interview by Yahoo Life for their parenting series on the joys and challenges of child-rearing, called, “So Mini Ways.” In the interview, Hunt talks about what it’s like parenting a toddler in the throws of the Terrible Twos, as they’re figuring out their own likes and dislikes and how to be a little person in general. Hunt gave some insight in general on screen time, trying new foods, and having a lot of patience as both parent and child navigate these things together.
Everyone gets their lazy screen time: “We’re among those [parents] who feel like until he’s 3 years old or maybe even 4, when you can actually have conversations with him that employ reciprocated logic from both parties, stressing too much about screen time is kind of a losing battle,” he explains. “If my weekend morning is about watching the game, he can have his weekend morning be about watching Dinosaur Train. “Basically surrendering to what he wants for his lazy time is just fine, within reason … there’s no need [to be] fighting it just yet.”
Toddlers and their changing tastes: Time spent relaxing and enjoying delicious meals on the weekend also presents a chance for Hunt to watch his toddler’s tastes evolve. “[My son] is just fun to watch eat in general,” he shares. “We’re still very much in the stage of like, ‘What does he like? What does he not like? What does he now not like that he used to like?’ His tastes are changing and everything. We watch him with great fascination. We’re like Attenboroughs, and he’s just a tiny dinosaur coming out from the DNA.”
Kids say the darndest things: In fact, toddlerhood is truly entertaining to Hunt. “[Sean] is just funny,” he says. “He has such enthusiasm for things and uses really positive language lately. Even the other day, he was sitting in his mom’s lap, and for no specific reason, he just turned around and said, ‘Mommy, you are beautiful.’ Like what? Oh my gosh. Doesn’t ever say that to me, and that’s fine. We got him some ice cream the other day in our local ice cream shop. And I said, ‘Buddy, is it good?’ [He replied,] ‘It’s perfect.’ Like we didn’t know he knew the word ‘perfect!’”
The struggle to end screen time is real: Of course, Hunt’s son has his “terrible twos” moments, just like any toddler. “The flip side of the screen time thing is we try to give him warnings, like, ‘This is your last episode of Santiago,’ and he’ll nod, and then we’re like, ‘OK, here we go, taking away the iPad,’ and he goes full telenovela: ‘Nooooooo!’” he shares. “It is an unbelievable campaign of screaming that will ensue no matter how hard we try to prepare him for it. The flipside is luckily he’s still at the age where eventually you can just distract him like ‘Hey, look over here.’”
Oh, that virtue patience: Ultimately, the soon-to-be dad of two is proud to be learning to be more patient these days. “Patience is the most important thing,” he says. “Because he’s 2 years old and basically insane, you’re not going to be able to talk him through stuff just yet. So [it helps] just knowing that some day, these things will make more sense to him. You just have to be patient and wise and wait him out.”
Oh man, I have to be honest and admit that I did love that two-year-old stage. They’re able to talk and communicate even more and are little sponges that are into learning everything. Sure, they can be stubborn and “basically insane,” but at least they don’t talk back to you, lol. My nine-year-old has started to refute everything I say or ask of him because he wants his autonomy. I had no idea this pre-teenager stage starts so early! For my kids, TV and screen time is a dopamine thing, so we also have a lot of resistance when it’s time to turn it off. Our solution was to just eliminate screens during the school week with the exception of MLB games and Survivor and it’s been working out pretty well so far.
We ended up cutting out screen time for our 3 year old completely because the melt downs when we turned off the tv or took away the iPad were out of control. It made that lazy time harder for a bit but then he just played with other toys. We’ve recently reintroduced some screen time now that he’s 4 and he seems to manage it better but sometimes it’s still nuts. Idk you get such peace in the moment but I still can’t decide if it’s worth the aftermath.
Is anyone commenting on him having a 2 year old and one on the way? Or just Kourtney getting the comments? Just curious 🧐
I loved and miss that age. Expecting my first grandchild next month so can’t wait to experience it again.
Oh boy, I thought he was looking back on his kids when they were two TWENTY YEARS AGO!
Wonder how much comments he gets from other people if he is with his grandchild…
People won’t be commenting on his age and having young kids. That’s just for the females in the world. (I just checked and he’s 51 yrs old)
I’m 46 and my husband is 51, and we share a 16 year-old (a week from Sunday) and an 11 year-old. I unilaterally speak for us when I say that we are TOO OLD for toddlers and babies!! But godspeed to those who have them.
If I wanted parenting advice through a podcast, I’d listen to someone with an Early Childhood Ed or psych degree, not a random celebrity.
Kids are so stinking cute at that age. It goes by quickly
I have a 19-month-old and I can say it’s equally entertaining and terrifying to have a toddler. It’s amazing how quickly we can go from him giving me a hug and kiss to slowly running his nails down my cheek without breaking eye contact while I try to remain calm and not react to the burning sensation in my face. He’s like Jack Nicholson in The Departed. I fear him, but I love him.
Preschool teacher here 🙂 Two-year-olds are amazing! I love that age! 2 is when kids get superduper inquisitive, they start asking questions, and also start expressing their personality, thoughts, feelings, ideas and OPINIONS with words. I’ve found that sometimes grownups who complain a lot about the “terrible twos” are often just control-freak-leaning types. They prefer wordless blob babies who are more easy to tote around and/or confine, without any verbal pushback.
As for screen time, in real life, screen time is pretty much inevitable. That being said, studies have shown screen time can physically alter a child’s brain; it actually shows up on brain scans. Areas of the brain that are negatively effected seem to reflect the increasing challenges I’ve seen over the last 10 years as a teacher, specifically in 2-4 year-olds: speech and executive function delays (impulse control, emotional regulation, attention span, empathy). 2-4 year-olds are not expected to be anywhere near mastering speech/executive function skills. But the truth is, I’ve seen more children really struggling in those areas now, compared to 10, 15, 20 years ago. So… as much as your real life allows, the less screen time for littles, the better.
And if your child’s preschool teacher suggests SLP or OT services, please just go for it. There is zero stigma for preschool kids; plus they can often catch up in any delays by the time they start grammar school. Most human brain development happens before age 5. Once kids start grammar school, the catch up can tend to be more challenging.