By India McCarty
HOME TOWN’s Erin Napier is working on teaching herself this relatable parenting lesson — don’t panic.
“Not everything’s an emergency,” she said during an episode of the “Dadville” podcast when asked what she would name a parenting book. “That’s something I’m working on.”
Related: 5 Parenting Values Ben and Erin Napier Prioritize Above Everything
Erin continued, “My whole life has been about how much I can do, as fast as possible, as effectively as possible…but then, once you have kids, like, do we have to freak out about getting our shoes on? Like is it really that [much of an emergency]?”
“I’m working so hard to tamper that down,” she admitted.
Erin and her husband Ben have often spoken about their lowkey approach to parenting, from restricting technology use to prioritizing quality time.
“We hope we’re parenting them in a way that they already feel confident in who they are, and they don’t think, ‘I have to be the same as everybody around me,’” Erin told TODAY. “Don’t let social media on a phone be a thing that distracts you from being this amazing, incredible, talented, skilled person that you can be.”
In an episode of the “That Sounds Fun” podcast, Ben spoke about how becoming parents changed their perspectives.
“We both have shifted our focus to the girls completely, which is something that is crazy because neither one of us were like…we weren’t looking to have kids,” Ben said. “I was of the mindset, you know, I grew up with three brothers. I have lots of nieces and nephews. If you want to, great. If you don’t, we’ll be good.”
However, now, Ben said, “I cannot imagine a second that they don’t exist.”
In an interview with PEOPLE, Erin shared how she and Ben work to balance parenting with their demanding schedule.
“They’re our first priority,” she said. “I mean, we love doing [the show] and it’s a privilege, but we don’t ever want our girls to say, ‘Mom and Dad were just gone when we were growing up.’”
Erin added, “We have to have our priorities, and our first priority is what will be when there is no TV, and what was there before there was TV, and that’s me and Ben and the girls. So, that’s the priority.”
For the Napiers, parenting is all about connecting with each other — and rolling with the unexpected punches of life!
Read Next: HGTV Stars Say They’re ‘Better as a Team’ When Parenting
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
– Content: +2