Frozen and Nobody Wants This actress Kristen Bell has always been very honest about how she parents with her husband, Dax Shepard—everything from handling surplus Halloween candy to their approach to potty-training.
One very cool thing that the pair of actors try to do every year is to take their kids to a new place to "expand their bubble" and to expose them to new foods, music, and language. This year, they took them on a summer tour to Denmark, Iceland, and Norway.
Bell felt she had a unique experience this time around, because usually when she travels with her family, she feels like she's just trying to parent in a different place, but it's even harder than usual, because their family is uprooted in a new place and her children don't have any of their usual "creature comforts."
On this trip, though, things were different, and Bell felt refreshed as a parent and as a person, because she and Shepard stayed in a hotel in Copenhagen that was right next to Tivoli Gardens, which is a seven-acre theme park.
Bell was in awe of the experience and grateful for the fun time her children had:
"The hack is when we went to Copenhagen, we stayed at this hotel that was right at Tivoli Gardens, which is a seven-acre theme park."
"Anyway, the hotel opens up into the theme park, and so we just were kind of like, 'Are we going to free-range parenting and roll the die here?’"
"We let them wake up at six o’clock every morning. They scanned their bracelets to go outside. Didn't see them for seven hours. Just running around Copenhagen."
When Kimmel asked if that worked well for the family, Bell confirmed:
"Apparently! They’re both alive. We all returned home!"
You can watch the interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live here:
- YouTubeyoutu.be
All parents need a break from time to time, and there's absolutely a reason parents feel like they need a private vacation after going on vacation with their kids.
Some jumped straight to judgment.
revealing this is so unsafe
— jake ⭑.ᐟ (@bdayrems) September 22, 2024
I used to love Kristen Bell until she started talking about her marriage and children.
— DIVA CRAVE (@divacrave) September 22, 2024
CPS alert now!
— 𝓲𝓼𝓷𝓽𝓭𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓸𝓷𝓮 (@IsntDaveOne) September 22, 2024
Just terrible parenting
— Tony (@bloodylikeabody) September 22, 2024
That’s wild! 😳 I can’t believe they let their kids roam around for 7 hours. Talk about trusting your kids to explore! Sounds like a fun way to experience Copenhagen, though!
— Imagine (@ImagineRealmX) September 22, 2024
But others thought it sounded like a great vacation.
They just had a true vacation lol
— ChaosMoogle (@ChaosMoogle) September 22, 2024
We did this in the 80s. We ran around town on our bikes all day! No one knew where we were. We were home before it got dark, and my family and friends survived and are still here to talk about it. I know times are different now, but personally, if you trust your kids and have…
— MzBehavn™ (@MzBehavn73) September 22, 2024
That's some next-level trust in both their kids and Copenhagen’s safety! Free-range parenting at its finest—letting the kids explore and make memories on their own terms. Tivoli Gardens seems like the perfect spot for a little adventure!
— S H i V A M 𝕩 🔥 (@eternal_shivam) September 22, 2024
Talk about a theme park adventure! 🎢 Letting the kids roam free in a magical place sounds like a parenting win—Copenhagen's just the cherry on top! 🍒✨
— Manazar_butt (@ButtManazir) September 22, 2024
Dax and Kristen's free-range parenting in Copenhagen sounds like an adventurous parenting style imagine the stories their kids will have
— Muhammad Sufyan Haider (@buzdar_haider) September 22, 2024
While the community was divided over how Bell and Shepard handled their family vacation, it seemed the majority, including Bell herself, favored this approach of giving her children more freedom and allowing them to explore the new space on their own, which also gave her and her husband time to relax.
There are, of course, valid concerns about safety and supervision, but every parent's approach to these concerns, especially while exploring a new space, will be different.