Motherhood is a wonderful balancing act. Kids don’t care if you’re an Emmy winner go drinking all day with Rihanna. They need to get to school, they need to get there fast while navigating cramped sidewalks, and they need their dad – in this case, Seth Meyers – to make sure that happens.
And that’s why there’s a very good chance that, if you live in New York City, you might spot Meyers – a self-aware, sense of humor expert – walking on two the wheel behind his two insanely growing sons: Axel, 3, and Ashe, 5. In his case, on a scooter, maybe (except for the electric skateboard) is the way to go. least enjoyable for a parent of a certain age to go around town, especially after his child has been dismissed from school. And only him.
“When I ride my scooter alone and don’t have my kids with me, I look stupid,” says Meyers. “I think in a good way, that could be good for people because I think they can see me and think, ‘Well, I’m going to assume that if you had your own TV show, you would grow from that. But maybe success isn’t everything if it’s Seth Meyers on an exotic scooter. ‘”
Former “Saturday Night Live” lead writer and now late-night talk show host wrote her first children’s book,I’m not afraid, you’re scared, ” About a wary bear overcoming fear with the help of a brave bunny. It’s a sweet read that has a poignant message without being linguistic or doctrinal – like its author, who began writing it in the early part of the pandemic, mainly for reasons by selfishness.
“It’s mostly ego, because every night I read other people’s books to my kids and think to myself, ‘I think I can crack it. I think I might not make it into that top 10%, but could find my way into that middle 30%,” quipped Meyers. “[Kids] can see right through a book that doesn’t value their intelligence”.
The book transcends Meyers’ fascination with “how [kids] fear processes and how they often fear things that as adults you think are irrational. Then, other times they’re scared of things that, as adults, you feel more relieved. When your kids don’t want to go to the jungle top gym, you’ll be thrilled to realize that they’re old enough now to know where the danger lies. Fear is not always the worst thing in the world – sometimes it can be a really helpful guide.”
Meyers, who recorded the ill-timed appearance of his second child on his Netflix special, “Lobby Baby” and who announced the birth of his daughter, Adelaide , a few months ago on his show, shares important things that help him navigate parenthood.
“So both of my kids have scooters, just little Razor scooters. I drop them off in the morning, but I take the scooters with me because they go with me to work and I drop them off one after another, and I drop the scooters with them,” Meyers said.
Meyers knew he looked ridiculous, but he didn’t care. That’s part and all of being a father. “Sometimes I have to choose [my kids] and now I’ve got my own scooter because I can’t keep up with them on their scooters,” he said. “Now, the downside to that is that sometimes people will meet me on a scooter on my way to pick them up. But it is essential that my children do not pass the blocks before me. ”
Lego bricks have a proud place in the Meyers family, but Magna-Tiles is king. They promote free play and easy cleanup. “There’s nothing to build on except what’s in the child’s own imagination,” Meyers said. “Easier to pick up a magnet than anything else. Just because if you have one on hand, you’re off to a great start. So I highly recommend Magna-Tiles. I mean, don’t get us wrong, we’re crazy about Legos too, but Magna-Tiles, that’s the way to go. ”
Overall, Meyers and his wife are proponents of toys that encourage kids to do the least, meaning they use their imaginations instead of relying on things that glow and make noises. Join the increasingly popular Marble Run. “It’s a bunch of pipes and chutes that you can stack on top of each other,” Meyers said. “Then when you’re done, you drop a marble in and the marble will drop. There are a few pictures of how it works on the back end, but once they figured it out they could go their own way with it. ”
Every night, Meyers reads to her children. And like most parents, he has his tried-and-true favorite books, many of them from his childhood because, as he puts it, a book Great will last forever. “I am reading a lot of books to my children, which are the books that I read as a child,” he said. “You realize that as a great children’s author, you have a chance to stick around for the long haul. So when you read Richard Scarry’s books and you think to yourself, ‘Wow, my kids are just as enamored with this book as I am.’ My kids are obsessed with Babar. Those books have a very unusual rhythm. However, my kids are mesmerized by it. ”
Whimsical, funny and timeless, this picture book was a hit with the Meyers kids. “This is the book that I keep talking about even though they are a bit old now,” says Meyers. “But every now and then we open this Sandra Boynton book. I was so disappointed to learn that they would never laugh harder at anything I’ve ever done than they did in red and blue. We read a lot.”
