Katharine McPhee and husband David Foster don’t always see eye to eye on parenting approaches — but they agree that their son, Rennie, needs to lead with kindness.
“We don’t put up with any BS,” McPhee, 39, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her Radiance by ABSOLUTE™ X Katharine McPhee line. “We don’t want him to be an A-hole. He [needs] to be nice, polite, obedient, have his own voice and all that, but just [be] a good kid.”
The American Idol alum noted that she and Foster, 73, are “really strong” about setting boundaries with their 2-year-old son.
“We just have different ways of approaching the boundaries,” she explained. “I would say I’m more of that newer generation of gentle parenting and explaining and having a bit more patience in just a new way than what I think the older generation was taught how to parent.”
McPhee confessed that “when I have a different approach, [I] try to get him to be more like my approach without wanting to take away from how he wants to parent.”
The Smash alum, who married Foster in 2019, noted that right now her biggest parenting struggle is during changing time.
“It’s so funny. Literally changing a fricking 2-year-old is the hardest thing,” McPhee shared. “First of all, he’s so strong and it’s hard. It’s like an aerobics class. … I mean, he’s never liked having his clothes changed or whatever. So sometimes it turns into a game, sometimes it turns into a struggle, but honestly, just who knew changing clothes would be so difficult.”
While Rennie challenges his daily wardrobe switch, McPhee revealed that their little one is fully supportive of her and Foster’s career as musicians. In fact, she told Us that the couple’s 2022 Christmas album, Christmas Songs, has been playing on repeat in their house — much to her chagrin.
“I swear to you that I do not play him songs of me so that I can hear myself all day long. But he’s now obsessed with … our Christmas album,” she said, noting “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” is Rennie’s go-to jam. “He’s obsessed with our version. I try to play him other people’s version, and he’s like, ‘No, no, no, no, no, no.’ And then he goes, and he can see on the Spotify which one it is, he sees our face and I have to listen to it over and over and over and over again.”
McPhee — who is dropping part 2 of her holiday record with Foster later this year — confessed that it’s not ideal hearing herself throughout their residence. “Unfortunately, I have to listen to myself all day long. Once or twice is fine, but over and over again was not exactly what I had in mind,” she laughed.
The Broadway star might not be a fan of hearing herself in surround sound, but she is excited for her latest business venture Radiance by ABSOLUTE™ X Katharine McPhee, which launches on HSN Wednesday, October 25.
“This is basically how [the] jewelry line started with the intention of getting to this destination [on HSN]. So here we are at the big sort of moment of truth, and HSN was always in my mind of where I wanted to end up,” she told Us of the new collection.
McPhee gushed over the jewelry designs, saying she “made it for myself” with her fashion choices in mind. “To me, jewelry is so, so important to looking [and] feeling feminine, but also, and I’ve always said this, it’s feeling cool,” she added. “As silly as that may sound, I love that just sort of effortless chic kind of look, but [wearing pieces] that also makes you feel like you’re the cool girl that people say like, ‘Oh, where did you get that?’”
McPhee will appear live on HSN Wednesday, October 25, at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET to launch an exclusive collection of simulated diamond jewelry, Radiance by ABSOLUTE™ X Katharine McPhee. The 16-piece collection is available to shop now on HSN.com.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
