Sarah Jessica Parker Makes Her 3 Kids ‘Pine for Things’ after Poverty with 7 Siblings Working since 9

• Sarah Jessica Parker recently opened up about being a mother and raising her kids to be self-sufficient.
• Coming from a family that struggled financially has helped the actress understand the value of hard work.
• Despite her fame and the money she made from acting, Parker is raising her kids to be humble and instilling in them the same work ethic she has.

Hollywood heavy-hitter Sarah Jessica Parker recently opened up about her approach to parenthood. The actress appeared on iHeartRadio’s “Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi,” where she shared stories from her childhood and explained how the struggles she faced growing up influenced how she raised her kids.

Despite her fame and the money she has made from acting, Parker revealed that she is raising her children to be humble, hoping to teach them the value of money. Parker shares her three children, Tabitha Hodge Broderick, 13, Marion Loretta Elwell Broderick, 13, and James Wilkie Broderick, 20, with her husband, Matthew Broderick.

The actress mentioned that her philosophy of childrearing centers on providing for all her children’s needs but not necessarily giving them everything they want. She explained that she gives them books, food, and meaningful experiences and keeps them warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Although times were tough for Parker and the rest of her family, the actress confessed that she wouldn’t trade her childhood for anything.

While Parker sees to it that her kids get everything they need to live healthy lives, she also encourages them to work for the things they want. She believes kids should “pine for things.” Although they have everything they need to grow up, Parker wants her children to put in the effort to make their own dreams come true.

Parker‘s children face a much different childhood than she had, and she doesn’t want them relying on her success without working to make something of themselves. The actress recalled how she started working at nine years old to earn money since she grew up in a poor household with seven siblings.

Growing up, Parker soon realized how important it was to work hard. With little money in her family and many mouths to feed, life in the actress’s household was sometimes challenging. So, the actress decided to get her first job at the age of nine. While her mother and stepfather worked hard to feed the kids, they often lacked basic necessities.

Growing up with little money made Parker acutely aware of how difficult poverty is.

Parker described her childhood as almost “Dickensian,” explaining that they would often go without electricity, their phones were shut off on many occasions, and she was different from the kids who bought lunches or brought their own meals from home. Yet, she had access to things that inspired her.

While they often skipped Christmas or even birthdays due to a lack of money, Parker and her family would attend free theatre shows, ballet performances, and the opera. She would make up games with her siblings, and they always had an abundance of love in their family.

Despite their poverty, the family pulled together, and eventually, Parker landed her first job in 1974, playing the Little Match Girl for NBC in their rendition of the Hans Christian Anderson tale “The Little Match Girl.” Poverty had stimulated her, and Parker commented, “Not having everything you want is a blessing.”

Although times were tough for Parker and the rest of her family, the actress confessed that she wouldn’t trade her childhood for anything. Her family helped foster her love for the arts, which eventually led to her first acting role. The actress mentioned that her first role eventually sparked her passion for acting.

Parker shared a photo of herself as a young girl starring in “The Little Match Girl” on Instagram. She captioned the image, “When my love for acting was born. My first job. Playing the Little Match Girl in the devastating Hans Christian Anderson story “The Little Match Girl” for NBC, 1974. Shot in Cincinnati, Ohio. Those were 5 very happy days.”

Growing up with little money made Parker acutely aware of how difficult poverty is. She started working at a young age, earning money to help her family get by, and eventually, her work ethic helped her become one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood. Now that she has amassed a fortune, she doesn’t want her kids to grow up spoilt.

The actress explained her choice of raising her children to be modest and long for the things they want, saying she hopes to teach them that everything won’t be handed to them on a silver platter their entire lives. She wants her kids to be prepared for the challenges life will throw at them. She expounded:

“You want your children to understand what it means to earn money, what it takes to earn money, the value of it. They [should know] the expectations will be the same for them.”

Parker also shared that she wanted to see her children contribute to things by applying the skills they have built up over the years and making a success of themselves. She hopes by not giving her children everything they want, she manages to foster the same drive to succeed in her children that she had from a young age.

After starring in “The Little Match Girl,” Parker earned enough to help support her family, and they moved to New York shortly after to find more acting opportunities for the blossoming actress. In New York, Parker found many roles that earned her a fair bit of coin, although it all went to the family.

Eventually, Parker‘s stepfather started a business that did well, and the family managed to support themselves financially. Nonetheless, her childhood had a lasting impact, and the actress commented, “I think my mother is sorry there were things she couldn’t give us, but I work hard to be as depriving to my children.”