Kate Winslet Advises Her Kids: ‘Be You’

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Kate Winslet has never been one to shy away from her flaws; quite the opposite, the 33-year-old actress celebrates them. So it comes as no surprise, then, what lesson she says she’d most like to impart to her two young children Mia Honey, 8, and Joe Alfie, turning 4 next month.

"Be yourself — that’s all you need to be. Why do you want to be like that person? Be you. Be you."

In a new interview with Parade Kate reveals that she and husband Sam Mendes are striving for normalcy when it comes to raising the kids, and they lead by example. "I do want for them to look back and remember that it was me in the kitchen, that I was doing the packed lunches, that we were there on the school run, that we did take a bus," she explains. "I want them to remember those things, because those are the things that I remember from my own childhood and that have been incredibly important to me." Seeing their parents take care of themselves — whether it’s something as simple as cooking their own meals, or cleaning up their own house — is what Kate feels the children need "in order to become normal kids." She adds,

"I don’t want them to feel that they are any different because of my job or Sam’s job."

Mia is Kate’s daughter with ex-husband Jim Threapleton; she has been married to Sam since 2003. Kate has two new movies hitting theaters in upcoming weeks — Revolutionary Road and The Reader.

Source: Parade