Eva Mendes' 'extreme' rule while homeschooling private kids with Ryan Gosling

Eva Mendes in a pink dress
(Sergi Alexander)

Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling are not only some of the most famous Hollywood actors, but they also travel a lot for their jobs, so it comes as no surprise that their two children Esmeralda, ten, and Amada, eight, are homeschooled.

While the Hitch star and the Barbie actor tend to keep their home life notoriously private, Eva made a few candid parenting confessions in an interview with The Times. While she insisted she believes in "conscious parenting" – which is a relationship-based parenting style that isn't as strict on rules – she did admit that she has one "extreme" rule she has with her daughters.

Eva Mendes in a tassel dress on the red carpet
Eva admitted social media and smartphones are banned at home (Pascal Le Segretain)

"Putting my kid on the internet and being like, 'Oh, search something,' that to me is equivalent to telling her, 'Oh, just go down the street in the middle of the night. You’ll be fine,'" said Eva, who has banned social media and smartphones.

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"I know that sounds extreme, but that’s what I feel," she added.

This comes shortly after the Ghost Rider actress tearfully opened up about "yelling" at her kids.

The duo on the red carpet
The couple share two daughters (REX)

Speaking about the challenges of motherhood during an appearance on the Parenting & You podcast with Dr. Shefali, Eva said: "I don’t yell when they need me," adding: "I'm never like 'shut up.' It's not like a 'mean' yell, but it doesn’t matter. I yell. And it's this yelling that I find so cultural.

"I'm having a hard time getting through and not yelling," the 50-year-old said. "The rushing and the yelling, that's the hardest thing to me."

She recalled her own childhood experiences as she discussed the impact of this behavior. "I really don't want to raise my kids with fear. I hope I don't look back in 20 years and regret it because it's so unfair to them."

Love story

Ryan stars alongside Eva Mendes in The Place Beyond The Pines
Ryan and Eva grew close after filming in The Place Beyond The Pines (Sky)

Eva and Ryan met while filming The Place Beyond The Pines in 2011. Ryan later admitted that the show helped him realise he wanted to start a family.

'"I wasn't thinking about kids before I met her, but after I met Eva, I realized that I just didn't want to have kids without her," he told GQ in 2023.

"There were moments on The Place Beyond The Pines where we were pretending to be a family, and I didn't really want it to be pretend anymore."

The couple made their red carpet debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012, and they welcomed Esmerelda in 2014 followed by Amada in 2016.

Eva, who was 40 when her eldest daughter was born, admitted she experienced judgement for her age but was grateful she became a mother later in life.

"When I was 40, it was a big deal for people when I was pregnant, and it wasn’t for me. And then I was 42 and I was pregnant with my second one and people were like, 'Oh my God, you’re going to be so tired. That’s why people have kids in their 20s.' I was like, that’s the most sorry, asinine thing I’ve ever heard,” she explained to People.

"In my 20s, I shouldn’t have even been around a child. I was just foul-mouthed and smoking. I could not have raised kids in any other era of my life but now, for sure."

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