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Kristen Bell & Dax Shepard Reveal a Questionable Parenting Technique

Last Updated September 23, 2020 2:31 PM
Rose Burke
Last Updated September 23, 2020 2:31 PM
  • Kristen Bell reveals her latest questionable parenting approach, allowing her kids to enjoy the occasional nonalcoholic beer.
  • Bell caught her daughters enjoying a morning O’Douls while on a Zoom call with their teacher and classmates.
  • The actress uses their love of O’Douls to teach her kids why their father, Dax Shepard, can’t have alcoholic beverages.

As if parenting in Hollywood couldn’t get any weirder, Kristen Bell recently admitted  that she allows her daughters to enjoy daddy’s nonalcoholic beers once in a while. The actress’ husband, Dax Shepard, has been sober for 16 years, but keeps O’Douls in the house for himself and now, apparently, for his kids.

Not only do their daughters feel comfortable enough to order a beer when the family is out to dinner, but they’ll grab one from the fridge whenever the mood strikes them. While this might create the occasional chuckle, it could have more lasting effects.  

Kristen Bell’s Big Reveal

Dax Shepard
This Hollywood power couple has some ‘powerful’ parenting techniques. | Source: Instagram 

On Tuesday’s episode of “Say Yes! With Carla Hall” podcast, Bell explained how she walked in on her kids enjoying some O’Douls while on Zoom with their class. After ensuring the audience that she doesn’t care if they think she’s a terrible parent, she revealed:

This morning, I set them in their Zooms. They have 15-minute breaks where they’re allowed to jump around and grab a snack and wiggle it out, and I walk in to check on them at 9:30 and both of them are drinking an O’Doul’s on their Zooms! They’re both just sipping their Doulies. And I’m like, ‘What must these other parents and teachers think of me?’

It seems Bell was more concerned with what other people thought than the fact that her daughters decided to grab a nonalcoholic beer at 9:30 in the morning.

Is This Wrong? 

Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard getting silly during a night of pampering | Source: Instagram 

While it’s certainly hilarious to see a kid order a beer in a restaurant, allowing this might have lasting effects. There’s a reason buying nonalcoholic beer still requires I.D. Not only is the beverage designed for adults, but the appearance and taste are nearly indistinguishable from regular beer.

This can be confusing to kids. So much so that most alcohol brands have policies in place that prohibit the sale of their nonalcoholic drinks to minors . Many also don’t allow marketing for their nonalcoholic beverages to appeal to minors. 

Considering Shepard’s history with addiction, allowing their kids to enjoy an O’Douls from time to time may be especially damaging. They’re allowing their daughters to form habits that could lead to their own addiction issues when they get older. 

Also, they’re kids! How long before one of them mistakes a real beer for one of daddy’s O’Douls? Bell and Shepard may not keep alcoholic beer in their homes, but their neighbors and friends probably do.

Kristen Bell Uses O’Douls As A Teaching Moment

Dax Shepard wishes his wife Kristen Bell a happy birthday | Source: Instagram 

Despite the obvious drawbacks of allowing your kids to drink nonalcoholic beer, Bell has described her positive perspective on the situation and why it works for her family. She has found that her daughter’s love for O’Douls can be used as a teaching moment and uses it to explain why Shepard can’t drink alcoholic beverages.

If anything, it opens up the discussion for why Daddy has to drink nonalcoholic beer, because some people lose their privileges with drinking. Drinking’s not always safe.

Bell expressed that sobriety is a frequent conversation in their household as they want their kids to understand “why Daddy can’t drink.” While this is a unique approach to the subject, who’s to say it’s wrong? Addressing the matter is better than brushing it under the rug like most families tend to do, and Bell seems to think it reminds her kids of their childhood.

…when we first had our child and my husband would put her in the BABYBJÖRN and we’d walk around the neighborhood, he’d pop a nonalcoholic beer in his hand and the baby would paw at it and put the rim in her mouth. It’s a sentimental thing for my girls, right? It makes them feel close to their dad.

While calling their infatuation with O’Douls “sentimental” is a bit forced, it seems to be working for the Bell/Shepard family. Only time will tell whether this questionable parenting approach proves to be successful!


Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.