Emma Roberts Reveals The Little Trick She's Using To Teach Her 3-Year-Old Manners

Emma Roberts needed to come up with a little trick to teach her 3-year-old son Rhodes how to use his manners. Get fancy with it. Make a big production out of everything in an effort to engage his interest. Whether or not it’s going to work long term remains to be seen, but for now it sounds like they’re having some fun.

The American Horror Story star sat down for an interview with TODAY to talk about how she’s teaching son Rhodes, who she shares with ex-boyfriend Garrett Hedlund, how to use his manners. “I’m trying to reinforce the ‘thank you,’ but take away the ‘no.’ … To things that are simple, like dinnertime: (He says) ‘No, thank you,’ and I’m like, ‘Actually, you’re welcome,’” she explained.

When it didn’t appear to be getting anywhere, the mom of one went big with it. “I feel like the way to get kids to do stuff, you have to present it in a very grand way, so I’m like, ‘Your bath is ready, sir. Look at all these toys.’ I’m like, ‘Here is your gorgeous meal to eat’ and they’re still like, ‘No, thank you,’” she said. So not really working all that well just yet, but it does sound like a fun way to have dinner together.

Rhodes could be picking up some of his manners from watching one of his favorite shows CoComelon, which Jenna Bush Hager noted in the TODAY interview does a great job of teaching manners. Sort of. This is apparently where the “no, thank you” comes into play, and both moms are trying to reroute their toddlers into just saying “thank you.” They’ll get there.

Motherhood has certainly changed a lot in Roberts’ life, including her relationship with her own mom. Who rather famously spilled the beans on her daughter’s pregnancy back in 2020 before she was given the green light, leading Roberts to temporarily block her on social media. Now Roberts is ready to tell her mom that she’s “sorry if I was difficult when I was a kid.” Especially since her mom is so helpful with her little boy while she is on set.

While Roberts might be trying to figure out how to teach her little boy manners, she has long been anchored in the most important thing about motherhood. When asked by Jamie Lee Curtis in 2021 about the advice she wished she’d gotten before becoming a mom, Roberts said, “It’s not something you’ll always feel like you’re getting right, but you will get better every day. When in doubt, just love your child and yourself.”

Please and thank you.