Mark Wahlberg: Son Michael is Frustrated with New Baby
 LK/Flynet |
Fresh off the birth of his son Brendan Joseph, 3 ½ weeks, and now on the road to promote his upcoming movie, Max Payne, actor Mark Wahlberg sat down with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show last night to talk parenting and sibling rivalry. Though Mark was attentive as girlfriend Rhea Durham went into labor, he was voiceless! "It was very frustrating," Mark says of vocal cord damage that left him literally speechless for 18 days. "I was writing on notepads to communicate. And my son was practicing karate on me." Though he may not have been vocal, he says he was there "every step of the way" for Rhea, and "would not be alive today" if he "was not there for the delivery" of baby Brendan.
Already dad to Ella Rae, 5, and Michael, 2 ½, Mark says his children are adjusting to their new sibling as well as can be expected. "My daughter’s thrilled, she thinks she has a live play toy," he says. "She loves it." However, son Michael isn’t taking to his baby brother quite as well. Mark explains,
"My son is completely frustrated because he was the baby. He now says, "The baby has to go to Florida." He can’t say too many words, that’s the only full sentence he says."
Michael’s other big word? "Paparazzi," says Mark, "because I’m always saying, "Oh God, the paparazzi are following us." I have to be careful of what I say around the kids."
Click ‘More’ to read about Mark and Rhea’s upcoming nupitals and the actor’s time growing up in Boston.
As if welcoming their third child wasn’t enough, Mark shared that inthe next six to nine months his family is preparing to move — and thathe and Rhea are looking to tie the knot. "We’re getting to know eachother," he joked to Jay. "Both of our parents are divorced, so we’rereally trying to make it work. We wanted to have the first baby, andthen decided we wanted to get married. But then the second baby wascoming, then the third."
Mark says his current home, while in the glam zip code of 90210, isnice, but too much of a bachelor pad for his expanding family. The conditions his children are growing up in are a complete contrastto his modest upbringing in Dorchester, Mass., the actor explained. Raised with eight siblings — Mark is theyoungest of nine — he shared a room with his five brothers, while histhree sisters shared a room of their own. (One of his grandmothers evenlived in the basement!) "We had two sets of bunk beds," says Mark ofhis room. Since he was the smallest, he slept on a bottom bunk. "Therewas no getting spoiled. My dad was a teamster and truck driver, and mymom worked nights."
Mark does credit his mom — and his upbringing — with keeping himgrounded, especially in his "underwear days." As for those racy CalvinKlein ads? Mark says he’s hoping to "destroy the evidence" of his past– including his music career and role in the film Boogie Nights. "I still have a few years," he laughs.
Source: Tonight Show
How did your children react to their new sibling?
- Posted on Oct 10, 08 at 11:30AM
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- 14 Comments
October 10th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I always love listening to him talk about his family. I love his dry sense of humor, too.
When my youngest was born, my older daughter almost 3. We let our oldest be a part of everything leading up to the birth. She came along on several doctor’s visits, we talked about how she was going to be a big sister with big responsibilities, we even gave her a couple of Little People dolls (one boy and one girl) and let her name them the same as the names we were considering for a baby. When we found out we were having a girl, we swapped out the boy doll for a second girl doll and let her name the new doll after herself. We even let her help decorate the nursery. We also lived very close to my parents, so she never was at a loss for attention, nor was she always getting attention from just Mommy and Daddy, because of the grandparents kidnapping her all the time.
I think the big difference with our youngest was that I never took the Mommy naps when my newborn slept. I would spend all my time with my other daughter. Now that they are 7 and 4, we are experiencing a little sibling rivalry for the first time. We are looking to expand our brood sometime soon and hope that the methods that worked so well the first time work this time as well. Especially since my youngest is definitely a Momma’s girl.
October 10th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
We just told my 4 year old son, that we’re expecting, and he asked if we can send it back if it’s a girl…boys only! The funny part is that we’re hoping for a girl. I guess one of us will be very excited!
October 10th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I have a 5 week old and a 12, 10 and 6 year old. They love her…They can’t get enough of her. It is way to cute!
October 10th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
When my daughter was born, my son was only 22 months old. He hated her!! He would hit her for no reason, jump on me when I was holding her and even go as far as to push her out of my arms. They are now 3 and 17 months and the tables now have turned. Miss thing bosses him around and hits him for no reason. I guess it’s true what they say about paybacks!
October 10th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
I love hearing Mark Wahlberg talking about his family. I wonder where their thinking of moving to ….. if their going to stay in L.A. or even California for that matter or if he’s thinking of moving back to his home state of Mass.?
October 10th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Oh, I can relate. Some kids just have a hard time when the new baby comes home. When our 2nd child was born, our older child would run into her room while she was napping & tap her feet til she woke up. Our older child also told my best friend on the phone “Auntie, can I come live with you? That baby is still here!” and also announced at dinner one day, “It’s time for that baby to go back to the hospital!”
They’re inseparable now!!
October 11th, 2008 at 2:01 am
When I first came along, my brother was three and asked my parents everyday “When are we taking her back?” and my other brother was fourteen and just complained about not sleepin enough for school. But now, 20 years later, they love me!!!
October 11th, 2008 at 6:52 am
I don’t have children, but countless memories of sibling rivalry that NEVER ends. haha
but hey, better than boredom!
October 11th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Oh I can understand. This same thing happened to me.
October 11th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
When my second daughter was born, my first daughter was only sixteen months old, so she didn’t understand what was going on. Now, they are 32 and nearly 31 and are the best of friends. I am so glad. I always wanted a sister; just had a brother.. I do have 2 other children(two boys; one 24 and the other nearly 14- no jealousy, they like each other..
October 11th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
“The baby has to go to Florida” That was sooooo funny ROFLMAO
October 11th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
It will be interesting for me to see what happens when our 2nd is born in March. Our older daughter will be just 3 years old. She is definitely a “queen bee” type personality, so, it will definitely be an experience! We try explaining it to her…I’m not sure how much she gets it. Some days she’s excited, and then others, like today, she’ll tell me “Mom, you know what, being a big sister is not a good idea for me, okay?” LOL. This will be fun!
October 15th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
I was not a happy camper when my brother was born. I was 6 years old so I had been the baby for many years. One night I was so mad I went to my room slammed the door and yelled “when I come out he better be gone!” My parents had a good chuckle about that one. They could tell I just expected them to go throw him out with the trash!
October 15th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I forgot to add that now I would call my brother one of my best friends. We are extremly close and have been for a long time!