Ryan Reynolds Says He Just Has To “Surrender 24/7” While Parenting 4 Kids

Parenting solo is always a challenge. Being the sole source of all your child’s needs can be exhausting for even the most veteran mom or dad. Multiply that by four? Most of us aren’t brave enough for that, so you’d have to ask Ryan Reynolds, who recently talked about taking charge when wife Blake Lively managed to sneak away as a mom of four for the first time ever.

Reynolds recently visited Today to talk to Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie about his upcoming movie IF, written and directed by his friend John Krasinski (perhaps you’ve heard of him...) “I wanted to do something where nobody was being stabbed in the face,” he joked, apparently referencing his ultra-violent Deadpool franchise. “Something ... that my kids could watch.”

Speaking of his kids, of course, Kotb and Guthrie recollected an Instagram post from Lively from when she joined BFF Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl. At the time, Reynolds referenced his wife’s presence at the big game with a post of his own, writing, “Has everyone seen the #Deadpool trailer? Also has anyone seen my wife?”

“You know, single dad. I’m a Reba McEntire song,” he joked. “Single dad, doing it all. Yeah, just doing it for them, right? [I] took them all to the park. Told them Mommy left when they were young. Surprisingly, you get a lot of action that way.”

But it all went well, he says. “We had a good time. No one died, which was nice.”

Of course, four kids is, in Reynolds’ words “just a zoo.” It’s best to just give in to the chaos. “You just surrender 24/7,” as Reynolds put it.

But he wouldn’t change being a father of four. In fact, he joked that adding their latest child to the brood was a blessing. “When we had our fourth, I was so happy because I always wanted to make sure we had someone on hand to give me strep throat. There’s just never a full, clean slate of health. “

We’re pretty sure every parent who’s ever sent a child to school or day care can relate...

Of course, Kotb and Guthrie wanted to know more about that fourth baby. Specifically, what is their name? Neither Lively nor Reynolds have divulged this information, though some fans have speculated that, as in the past, Swift has craftily included the name in a song from her latest album. (Reynold and Lively’s elder children, James, 9, Inez, 7, Betty, 4 have all been featured in songs.)

Reynold’s did not oblige them, but dodged the question with his trademark wit and charm.

“We always wait for Taylor to tell us what the child’s name will be. We’ll say this. We’re still waiting, so Taylor, let’s maybe start.”

Classic Ryan Reynolds...