For the past nine years, as stars of HGTV‘s hit show “Home Town,” Ben and Erin Napier have grown used to doing everything together. But when they became parents to daughters Mae, 3, and Helen, 6, they didn’t realize how all that togetherness might impact the girls adversely.
“We’ve messed them up,” Erin joked during the couple’s appearance on the “Dadville” podcast on October 29, 2024.
But in all seriousness, she said, she’s been having a hard time being a “solo mom” when Ben isn’t around, admitting that the girls “really misbehave” after just an hour or two of parenting without him by her side.
Erin Napier Says Her Kids Remain ‘Sweet’ as Long as Their Dad is Around
Chatting with “Dadville” hosts Dave Barnes and Jon McLaughlin, Erin said, “I feel like all of my friends are incredibly good at solo momming because their husbands work in a different location from them and so they are used to doing things on their own. But if I have to solo mom without him for even an hour or two hours, the girls really misbehave and are different.”
Ben chimed in, “It’s just exhausting.”
“As long as Daddy is there,” Erin continued, “they stay balanced and really sweet.”
“It’s the same if she’s not there for me,” Ben interjected. “They don’t like it to have just one of us.”
The couple — who have two homes in Laurel, Mississippi — theorized that their daughters’ rigidity is likely because they’ve created routines that involve all four of them, including dropping Helen off at school as a foursome each morning. Those patterns have made it difficult for either one of them to travel and leave the other parent at home with the kids overnight.
“It’s just a weird challenge that most families, I think, probably don’t have,” Erin said. “You can make it with just mom or just dad for a day or two, but we — ugh, just, everything falls apart.”
The Napiers also said that their girls refuse to do outdoor activities with Erin that they’re used to doing with Ben, which leads to them being more stir-crazy and “roaring through the house,” Erin said.
Ben explained, “For some reason, they go to the garden with me, they go to the pond with me, they play in the trees with me, but they will not do it with her.”
He theorized that doing those activities with Erin “doesn’t feel normal” to them because they’ve grown so used to doing them with him, but if she comes up with a brand new idea the girls haven’t experienced with Ben, they’re willing to do it — including a recent occasion when Erin got the girls to go outside and dance with her in the rain.
“That was something they’ve never done before,” Ben said, “and so that was okay. That was exciting and new and fun, and they were doing it with Mom, and it was great. But if Mama says, ‘Hey, why don’t we go down and water the garden,’ (they say), ‘No, Daddy’s not here.’”
“I don’t know,” Erin laughed, “we’ve messed them up.”
Erin Napier Has Said Before That Husband Ben is Better at ‘Playing’ With Their Girls
HGTV/YouTubeErin and Ben Napier with their daughters in an opening scene of their HGTV show, “Home Town.”
In September 2022, as they were raising a toddler and preschooler, the Napiers told Us Weekly they were learning that the ways they interacted with their girls was very different, with Erin realizing she wasn’t as good at playing with her girls as Ben.
“He is extremely good at playing,” she told the outlet. “He’ll get on the floor and make up games with the toy horses and they go outside and they go fishing. And I like teaching Helen how to cook, showing them how to paint, showing them how to draw.”
“I’m not good at playing,” she admitted. “And I feel sad about that.”
“Erin is the youngest on both sides of her family,” Ben said, trying to explain why he thought he was more inclined to engage in imaginative play with the girls. “So, Erin didn’t spend a lot of time with little kids.”
“I haven’t spent a lot of time with kids, I really haven’t,” Erin agreed, telling Ben, “You’re like an expert at play.”
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