Don't Mess With Ryan Gosling's Daughters On The Playground
Ryan Gosling says he’s teaching his daughter, Esmeralda, all about playground warfare
When it comes to playground warfare, usually it’s best to let kids fight their own battles — that is, unless you’re Ryan Gosling and you’re trying teach them a valuable lesson about sidewalk chalk and respect. The actor made an appearance on the Ellen Degeneres show this week, and shared with her a hilarious story about the “graffiti tagging battle” he and his daughter have gotten into with a kid at their local park.
Gosling, who recently became a dad for the second time, told Ellen he loves taking his 19-month-old, Esmeralda, to the playground and drawing with chalk, but lately there’s a kid who’s been messing with their art. “Since I take my little girl to the park, we always write her name in chalk, and some kid has been erasing her name and writing their name over it,” the actor explained.
[shareable_quote]”You’ve got to be careful when you’re trying to teach your kid what a reasonable amount of vengeance is.”[/shareable_quote]
Hilariously, Gosling admitted to Ellen he dreamed of being a graffiti artist in his youth and used to tag over other artists’ work hoping to start a “battle.” No one took him up on it, but now? Now, he’s in a full-fledged turf war with an anonymous child. “Now I’m in a proper—finally—[graffiti] tagging battle,” he said jokingly. “And this kid has access to an unfair amount of chalk so I’m trying to explain to my little girl… but she doesn’t care. She’s just like we’ll just chalk anywhere else.”
But Gosling isn’t about to let his daughter’s name get disrespected like that. “I’m like no, no, this is—they’re disrespecting your mother because she gave you this name, and they’re erasing it. So the only way to really get back at them is to erase their name, and not disrespect their mother, but definitely put her on notice,” he said. “You’ve got to be careful when you’re trying to teach your kid what a reasonable amount of vengeance is.”
Turf wars? Tagging battles? Disrespected mommas? I bet Gosling never imagined playground warfare could be so intense. The actor and his longtime partner, Eva Mendes just welcomed their second baby — a daughter named Amada — and the doting dad made mention of that child as well. In fact, he even brought along the “first photo” of his brand new little bundle — a stock photo of a random baby with Ellen’s head Photoshopped onto it. Who knew this guy was so funny?
Gosling is notoriously private about his personal life and family, but it’s great to hear him speak so enthusiastically about fatherhood. Hollywood seems ripe with fantastic fathers these days, whether it’s Chris Hemsworth baking his daughter an adorable cake or John Legend defending his wife against mommy-shamers. It’s awesome to see so many positive male role models, especially when their stories about parenting are as funny and relatable as this one.
Whether you’re a celebrity or a regular Joe, parenting is still about being supportive, loving, and teaching kids everything they really need to know. Clearly, Gosling has got those life lessons on lock. You stay strong out there, Esmeralda, and don’t ever let the other preschool chalk artists disrespect your mother.
