Liev Schreiber on the Terror of First Birthday Parties
 Guerra Jr/Rodrigo Guerra/Ramey |
For some parents, first birthday parties are a joy; for others, anything but. Alexander ‘Sasha’ Pete Schreiber — the 13-month-old son of actors Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber — appears to have been blessed with one of each. In a new interview with W magazine, Liev admits that while Naomi "loves a big party," he doesn’t feel quite the same. Of their son’s fête, held in the Hamptons, Liev says,
"It was like a land mine, I mean, a minefield of children. There were little babies everywhere and adults — people I didn’t know. I was horrified. Terrified."
The terror was also on display several weeks prior, when the family celebrated Sasha’s birthday with Liev’s family in Virginia. A self-professed "obsessive-compulsive" when it comes to keeping things neat and tidy, Liev was mortified when Sasha dug into his cake with his bare hands — a rite of passage for most 1-year-olds. "Naomi was like, ‘That’s what’s supposed to happen!’" Liev recalls. "But I’m like, ‘This beautiful cake my mother bought. Don’t do that!’"
Click ‘more’ to read about why Liev considers himself "such a putz," and how fatherhood strengthened his bond with his own mom.
Admitting that he is "really uptight" and calling himself "such a putz," Liev’s tendency to over-analyze has led him to some outrageous theories about why Sasha does the things he does. "I’ve never worried so much as I have since I had him," Liev says. "I was always kind of a worrier, but now I worry a lot."
"Like, he’s been having trouble sleeping, and it turns out that he’s got [a] cold…But I’m running in my head, things like ‘He’s crying because he’s frustrated because I’m a bad father!’ And then I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, he’s got all these deep issues already!’"
Liev’s own childhood included the demise of his parents marriage and, in the aftermath, spending time with his "hippie" mom on an upstate New York commune, among other places. If he developed any "deep issues," as a result, they’ve since been resolved because having a child has made Liev view his upbringing differently. "Since I’ve had Sasha, I’ve completely identified with everything my mother went through raising me," he says. "And I think her choices were inspired."
The second child for Liev, 40, and Naomi, 39, is due in early winter.
Source: W
- Posted on Sep 16, 08 at 7:30PM
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- 8 Comments
September 16th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Haha aww! Liev reminds me of my husband.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Liev & Naomi sound just like like my husband and I LOL
September 16th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
His last comment is really cool. His mom done good!
September 17th, 2008 at 5:31 am
Oh I’ve been there Liev! In my house, it’s my partner that’s like Naomi, and I’m the one like Liev, it’s so funny how that happens! Such a cute family!
September 17th, 2008 at 5:33 am
Apart from worrying about mess, Im very much like Leiv and my chap is like Naomi! I think its refreshing when people can just be honest about their feeling about having kids and their worries and concerns. It makes everyone human. More people should speak honestly like Leiv!
x
September 17th, 2008 at 5:45 am
Although I’m sure he has nothing to worry about, I find Liev’s behaviour incredibly sweet in a way.
September 17th, 2008 at 6:53 am
I absolutely adore comments like this from parents!
September 17th, 2008 at 10:17 am
My other half is just like Liev too, we have our party for our son this coming saturday and while he is not that impressed by it, I am so excited about it coming up. He seems to think that our son will not remember any of this but I think that as long as he has pics he will be just fine.