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Abhishek Bachchan offers his top parenting tips, credits wife Aishwarya for all the 'heavy-lifting' at home

The actor expresses gratitude to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for assuming the majority of parenting duties, enabling him to concentrate on his work

Abhishek Bachchan will soon find himself in the role of a father to a teenager as his daughter, Aaradhya Bachchan, approaches her 13th birthday this November. In an interview with Hindustan Times, the actor was asked about sharing parenting advice for handling rebellious teens. Despite offering his insights on the wisdom of not attempting to confront teenage rebellion head-on, he was quick to emphasise that he isn't the primary force behind parenting in their household. Abhishek credited his wife, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, for taking on the lion's share of parenting responsibilities, allowing him to focus on his work.

“The thing is do not try and deal with it. That is life. Every subsequent generation matures faster. Maybe, when we were kids, our parents thought we were too fast for them. This generation has been born in a world where they have not seen the process it took us to reach where we have reached. I will give you a very simple analogy. I have a nephew and a niece and they were given a mobile phone when they turned 10," said Abhishek.

Furthermore, Abhishek revealed that he once questioned his sister, Shweta Bachchan, regarding the age at which her children were given their first phones, which was ten. In response, she turned the inquiry back on him, asking about the age at which he received his first mobile phone and the age at which their father, Amitabh Bachchan, received his first mobile device.

“My sister told me ‘do you think he got upset you got a mobile phone at 22?' This new generation is better informed. They are born in this world (where the information is all at their fingertips). I remember I found it breathtaking when I first saw the Taj Mahal, but I do not think the current generation will be overawed because they have seen it on the Internet. They are not preposterous, they are just far better informed. So, their wonderment is not at the level that ours was," he continued.

He also mentioned his wife's role in the upbringing of their daughter. “I have to put a caveat here - I do not do the heavy-lifting at home. That is entirely done by my wife. She allows me to go and do my work. The point is, do not try and deal with it. I do not think the new generation has a sense of hierarchy. That was something we were brought up with. They are inquisitive… they are like ‘Why? Why should I just listen to you because you are my mother?’ They are far more informed, they are born into this era of information and technology ... answer their questions.”

Offering his top parenting tip, Abhishek added, "The only parenting tip I can give anybody is never compromise on your child's dignity. Sometimes, we feel like reprimanding them because that is how we were brought up. That is how we were reprimanded and disciplined as children, but this generation is far more sensitive. Maybe because they have not seen the upheavals our parents or grandparents saw… If you compromise their dignity while reprimanding, they are just going to switch off to you."

“Basically, in a nutshell, you can't do anything. Just give them an iPad and (waves) bye," the actor signed off.

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