In her new memoir, Manual Not Included, Hilaria Baldwin details a run-in she had with an actress who undermined her parenting
According to Hilarie, the moment helped her realize the importance of standing up for herself and being confident in parenting decisions
Manual Not Included is not available wherever books are sold
Hilaria Baldwin was left stunned after a fellow celebrity undermined her in front of her daughter.
In her new memoir Manual Not Included, the yoga instructor, 41, shared how a “very famous” actress “undermined” her parenting while at dinner with her daughter Carmen, now 11, and husband Alec Baldwin.
Hilaria wrote that her oldest daughter used to love bread, so much so that she would get worried that Carmen would fill up on bread before eating the rest of her meals. In her memoir, the author recalled her daughter was eating piece after piece of bread while they were out when she decided to ask her to stop so she would have room for her food when it arrived.
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Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images
From left: Carmen, Hilaria Baldwin and Alec Baldwin
“When it got to slice five or so, I said to her in Spanish, ‘Carmen, would it be okay to stop eating bread until after dinner? Then, if you’re still hungry, you can have more,'” Hilaria wrote in her memoir. “She got upset with me, and the people nearby took notice.”
“I repeated it in English because I was insecure and I didn’t want people to think I was being mean,” the now mom of seven added.
Hilaria explained that her daughter became angry as she tried to quiet Carmen down.
“Then a very famous actress interjected with ‘Oh gosh! Children know what they should eat and are very in tune with their bodies, so trust their wisdom and let her eat bread!’ ” Hilaria continued. “She had spoke with such loftiness. Then she picked up the breadbasket and offered Carmen another piece.”
Hilaria said she got “very quiet” and was “stunned at being undermined in front of my daughter at the very moment I was trying to parent.”
Hilaria Baldwin/Instagram
Hilaria (left) and Carmen Baldwin
In response, Carmen took a piece of bread and ate it. When she was done, the actress asked Carmen if she wanted more bread.
“By this point, my toes were digging into Alec’s legs, my just-given-birth hormones roiling, and I whispered to him, ‘Will you please take Carmen inside and I’ll bring Rafa?’ ” Hilaria recalled. “As I walked away, I defensively said to the actress, ‘I don’t have a problem with her eating bread, I just want her to eat other things too. I don’t want her to feel sick.’ “
In retrospect, Hilaria now believes the bigger problem was that she couldn’t find her own voice in the moment.
“The problem wasn’t even that she’d gotten involved in a private mom-and-child moment. The problem was that I didn’t have the confidence or know-how to stand up for what I felt was right,” she wrote. “I gave my power away to her because I saw her as having a higher status.”
“I should have looked the actress in the eye and thanked her for her experience, and then removed my kids from her presence,” Hilaria added. “The experience was a lesson in stepping into my self-confidence as a mother, and knowing that I must be the captain of my ship.”
Read the original article on People
