Kelly Ripa’s hilarious parenting advice to Jersey Shore star Snooki had the reality star in stitches when she appeared as a guest on Live with Kelly and Ryan to promote the newest season of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, which airs its premiere episode tonight, July 11.
A mom to now three children, Snooki looked to Kelly for some words of wisdom as she too is a mother of three: Michael, 22, Lola, 18, and Joaquin, 16. Snooki is a mother to Lorenzo, Giovanna, and newborn Angelo.
When you have two kids, she and husband Mark Consuelos realized they had a man-to-man defense, where each parent could handle one kid, Kelly explained to both Snooki and the viewing audience. But, she said, when you have a third child it is a zone defense. That way you take care of the issues when they arise when each kid comes directly to you. There is no one-on-one handling of each kid because as a parent, you are outnumbered.
Snooki then revealed that her older children – Lorenzo, 7, and Giovanna, 5 – are at the age when they are always fighting. The third baby is a newborn and always wants to sleep when there is chaos in the house, and the reality star looked to Ripa for help because “it is a lot to handle.”
Kelly alluded to the Jersey Shore star to stay strong because the third child “is the best child.”
Snooki, co-host Ryan Seacrest, and the audience were hysterical as Kelly told her that Joaquin was always the easiest child to handle.
“I hope my other kids are not watching this but they’re not. Here’s what, the third kid is the best kid,” she said. “They sleep, they do their homework, they pick their crap up off the floor. They just know they’ve got to give you a break.”
Ripa’s family just celebrated the graduation of daughter Lola from high school. The young woman is set to attend college in the fall. Michael Consuelos appears to have been bitten by the acting bug, having played a younger version of his father’s character Hiram Lodge in the CW hit series Riverdale . Joaquin, his mom’s reported favorite, is still in high school.
This is not the first time Kelly has alluded to Joaquin being her favorite child.
During a 2011 chat with Rachael Ray on her morning talk series, The Rachael Ray Show, Kelly and Mark told the beloved cook and television personality that of their three kids, their youngest son, Joaquin, was their favorite.
“You may say ‘I love all my kids the same’ but you know in the event of an emergency, there’s one kid you’d reach for first,” Kelly said.
“He knows it, too, and the other kids know it as well. It’s very accepted. He’s just nicer to us. That’s what we say: he’s just nicer to us,” Mark added.
Live with Kelly and Ryan airs weekday mornings at 9 a.m. ET on ABC.
