'Parenting Fail:' Mila Kunis Advises 7-Year-Old Daughter To Push Another Girl

Oct 21, 2021

Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher both kicked off their careers on the sitcom "That '70s Show," which is where they first met. Incidentally, they played a couple in the show but it would be many years before they got together romantically in real life. "That '70s Show" aired from 1998 to 2006 and had 8 seasons and 200 episodes. It centered around the lives of a group of teenagers in the 1970s and addressed social issues of that time. 

Kutcher went on to star in films such as “Dude, Where's My Car?”, “The Butterfly Effect” and “Jobs,” in which he portrayed Steve Jobs in the 2013 biographical film. Meanwhile, Kunis is remembered for starring in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall," "Ted" and for providing the voice of Meg Griffin on the comedy animated series “Family Guy” since 1999.

Despite each having hugely successful Hollywood careers, actors Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher have mostly stayed under the radar in the last few years as they've started a family of their own. After being friends for years, the pair began dating in 2012 before getting engaged in 2014. They then married in July 2015 in Oak Glen, California, and are parents to a daughter named Wyatt, 7, and a son named Dimitri, 4.

After sparking a discussion this summer about how often parents should wash their kids, Kunis is back with another controversial parenting method. Appearing in a segment on "The Ellen Degeneres Show" called "Mom Confessions," Kunis revealed that after her daughter told her she'd been pushed in preschool, she instinctively asked if she pushed the kid back. She admits this was probably a "parenting fail" and that her husband was mortified when he heard her response.

In the "Mom Confessions" clip, Kunis answers a series of questions related to parenting, some of which revealed very honest answers. After first being asked what advice she'd give to someone that's about to have children, the actress says:

"Kids are like little terrorists, don't negotiate with them. It'll go nowhere."

The following question then asked what her biggest "parenting fail" was. Kunis thought for a moment before getting ready to tell a story that she admits, "is about to get [her] in trouble." She begins:

"There was a little kid in my kid's preschool that wasn't very kind and pushed my daughter. My daughter came back and she was like, 'Such and such little kiddo pushed me.' And I instinctually said, 'Did you push her back?' And my daughter's like, 'No!'"

Kunis then gave her daughter the advice to "push her back next time, you push her back and you say 'no thank you' and you walk away." But the controversial tip didn't seem to be seconded by Kutcher, as she reveals:

"I turned around and I see Ashton's face and he was like 'Nooooooo!"

The actress did have some caveats for her daughter though, explaining, "Don't push her off of a ladder, off of a swing or off of a slide, but on the ground, even Steven, you push her back." She then admits honestly:

"I'd say that that's a parenting fail."

The rest of the video included questions about the meanest thing Kunis' kids have ever said to her and what she's had to learn on the fly as a parent.

When asked what is a trait of hers that her kids have inherited that she wishes they didn't, she answered with a groan:

"My daughter is me, and she is independent and feisty and wonderfully smart and it is an incredible trait to have as an adult and a really hard one to wrangle as a kid. But she is me. She has a million answers to one question and she's not wrong."

The famous couple caused a stir this summer when they admitted to only bathing their kids when they were visibly dirty. The off-handed comment, which they revealed on the podcast "Armchair Expert," hosted by Dax Shepard and Monica Padman, set off a viral discussion about how often parents should bathe their kids. 

When the topic of personal hygiene came up during the episode, Kutcher and Kunis, as well as Shepard revealed they only wash “essential body parts” on themselves every day. This personal cleanliness fact was surprising to some people, with Padman saying: “I can’t believe I am in the minority here of washing my whole body in the shower. Who taught you to not wash?”

Kunis replied, “I didn’t have hot water growing up as a child, so I didn’t shower much anyway.” Kunis was born in Chernivtsi, Ukrainian SSR, in the Soviet Union and lived there until she was 7. The actress added, “But when I had children, I also didn’t wash them every day. I wasn’t that parent that bathed my newborns —  ever.” Kutcher then elaborated, stating:

“Here’s the thing: If you can see the dirt on them, clean them. Otherwise, there’s no point.” 

Following the podcast, the topic became buzzworthy news, while the couple has since poked fun at how much their comments were blown out of proportion.

What do you think about Mila Kunis' "parenting fail"? What questionable advice have you ever given to your own kids? Pass this on to any parents you know so they can weigh in too.