Tia Mowry Shares Why It’s Not Her Responsibility to Make Her Kids Happy

Tia Mowry is doing motherhood her way. 

In a new interview with Parade published on Aug. 22, the 47-year-old mother of two opened up about how she’s raising her son Cree, 14, and daughter Cairo, 7, whom she shares with ex-husband Cory Hardrict.

“I don’t think it is your job to make your kids happy,” the Sister, Sister actress told the outlet. 

Mowry said being a mom is much more than always seeing things go your kids’ way.

She added, “I think that it is your job to keep your kids safe, nurture them, guide them, but they have to learn on their own how to make themselves happy, because we don’t want to create co-dependency.”

For the Twitches star, the idea of teaching boundaries early on stems from how she and her siblings were raised. 

“I think growing up, it was definitely a cultural thing where it’s like, ‘My house, my rules,’ ” Mowry said in the interview published on Friday. “I didn’t want to do that with my children. I wanted my children to never be afraid to express themselves.”

Later in the conversation, The Game actress gave a bit of insight into how things in her life have shifted since her divorce was finalized in April 2023 after 14 years of marriage.

“The main important thing is making sure that the children still see the parents together and communicating, and still see them [being] cordial,” Mowry said. “That’s what keeps children beautifully adjusted. It keeps their nervous system calm and at ease when they see their parents are still together, we all come together as a family.”

Her comments came approximately a month after Mowry asked in a July 22 Instagram post why she gets “backlash” for referring to herself as a single mother. 

In a text block that appeared over a video of herself combing her daughter’s hair, the actress wrote, “I recognize that archetype is extremely difficult, and I truly empathize. But what often gets overlooked is the nuance of what being a single mom can actually mean.”

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“For me, in my household, I am SINGLE,” she continued.

Speaking to PEOPLE at the premiere of her We TV series Tia Mowry: My Next Act in October, Mowry explained why she lets her children see her when she’s not at her best, adding that Cairo gives her mom a “worry doll” to help make Mowry’s “worries go away.”

“The thing is as a mother, you kind of try to figure out if you should allow them to see your emotions, your ups and your downs,” Mowry told PEOPLE, while expressing the importance of being “authentic.”