Katharine McPhee, David Foster clash over parenting approach with their son Rennie due to age gap
Katharine McPhee, 39, and David Foster, 74, recently sat down for an interview with People magazine in which they admitted that they don’t always see eye to eye when it comes to raising their two-year-old son Rennie. The couple, who married in 2019, revealed that they sometimes disagree over their approaches to disciplining their son due to their significant age gap.
Foster, a 16-time Grammy Award winner, confessed during the joint interview that he wants to start disciplining Rennie, but McPhee is not completely on board with his approach. “I want to start disciplining [Rennie] and Kat’s not really down with that,” Foster said.
In response, McPhee clarified that she just wants to discipline in her own way, explaining, “There’s the more old-fashioned way of disciplining which involves time-outs and things like that. My take is that you can have more mindful parenting opposed to just assuming that a two or three-year-old can have time alone to reflect on what they’ve done poorly.”
The “Smash” star emphasized that she believes the more modern way of parenting involves understanding that young children have limited understanding, and discipline is something that happens over time. However, she acknowledged that Foster’s era of parenting is different than hers.
The couple, who recently released an expanded version of their 2022 holiday EP “Christmas Songs,” admitted that while they may disagree on parenting, they are completely aligned when it comes to collaborating on music.
However, McPhee humorously revealed that the only time they get into arguments is when she’s helping Foster navigate while driving. “The only time we get into arguments is when I’m helping him navigate freaking directions,” she said.
Foster chimed in, “It’s true. Because she’s a backseat driver!”
Overall, the couple shared that they have learned to agree to disagree over their different parenting styles and are focused on providing the best upbringing for their son.