Veteran Nollywood actor, Keppy Ekpeyong-Bassey has opened up on the close relationship he shares with his kids and their friends.
The actor disclosed that his kids’ friends prefer to open up to him and his wife rather than their parents.
He explained that his parents set this foundation for him which made relating with his kids a walk in the park.
He said this during an interview with media personality, Chude Jideonwo.
Ekpeyoung-Bassey expressed shock at the kind of relationship some parents have with their children and argued it was always best to build a strong bond with one’s kids.
He advised parents to always make themselves accessible to allow their children share their challenges or even joys with them.
Ekpeyoung-Bassey admitted most traditional Nigerian parents would find his style of parenting awkward but noted that having the open door of communication with ones kids was the best.
Speaking about his father, he said, “Why did you do that, you shouldn’t do this”. And then he was a military officer, we had guards at the gate and everything. And then when he spanks his kids, he’s the one crying, but we had that kind of interactive relationship.
“Now I’m grown, I have children of my own and then we have some of their friends stay over and they think it’s easier to speak with us than their folks and I don’t understand how it works in other homes. Because with my kids, my son can walk up to me and pull my ears and say, ‘Old man with your big ears’ and I wouldn’t think anything about it, you know. But there are some people who see it and they cringe and they are afraid because they can’t and wouldn’t dare relate with their folks that way.
“We also have come to find out that if you close particular doors of communication between you and your children, you’ll be really shocked at who you think your children are because they would hide behind those closed doors and you don’t want to know when you get in.”
