Charlotte and Rocky aren’t impressed by their parents’ careers, she went on to tell Us. She and her former Scooby-Doo costar prefer to keep the kids’ lives away from the spotlight.
“A lot of people are willing to put their kids on social media. A lot of people are willing to put their kids out there,” Prinze Jr. exclusively told Us the following year. “That’s just not something that I’ve ever done.”
“They can do whatever they want [then],” the actor told Us in February 2020. “I’m not trying to make money off my kids. Sarah and I, our bills are paid. Our kids don’t need to act. If they want to act, there’s local theaters that they can perform in. There are school theaters that they can do. It’s easy for kids to scratch that itch if they’re wanting to be famous. That’s something that I think you need to shut down early as a parent. Not shut down, but just explain to them fame isn’t a job.”
Keep scrolling to read more of the couple’s parenting quotes over the years from holiday traditions to homeschooling.
Prinze Jr. revealed that he didn’t mind being the bad guy to ensure his kids were getting their proper nutrients.
“You just have to be a jerk. It’s OK,” Prinze Jr., 47, exclusively told Us in November 2023. “My mom had zero issues being a jerk, as did most moms in the ‘80s. You bring a little of that last generation in and let it speak for you when you feel you can’t do it yourself.”
He added that the method ultimately worked since his kids “eat everything” that they are served at mealtime.
"My son doesn't care [about social media]. That's not his world. It's definitely something my daughter and I discuss and it's obviously an ever-evolving conversation," Gellar exclusively told Us in September 2022. "Obviously there'll be a time where I can't say no to her anymore because I'll be keeping her away from the way her generation communicates. But I also need to wait until she gets to a point where she understands the permanence of what you put out there."
The Do Revenge star added: "You see all these people who post something at a young age and now they're in the workforce and it's coming back to haunt them. You're not fully developed yet and are you ready to make statements that can be forever permanent? I think that's what I'm trying to get her to understand."
Charlotte and Rocky are “not allowed” to be on social media, Gellar exclusively told Us in September 2021. "That is a huge responsibility. … My son doesn’t care. My daughter is definitely curious, but we’ve explained that these are our rules and different families have different rules."
"I have to sort of cherry-pick which ones [we watch] because they’re still so young," Gellar exclusively told Us in July 2021 of watching Buffy, noting that her kids had slowed down around season 5. "We’re working our way slowly through it. And then they’ve gotten distracted by other shows.”
"I've had to stop being so hard on myself about the screens and understand that this is the only way that my kids can have a connection,” Gellar exclusively told Us in February 2021 of homeschooling Charlotte and Rocky amid the coronavirus pandemic. "And this is how they have playdates. Now, as they put these Zoom cameras on and they play and it's all balanced, it's finding the days where I'm like, 'OK, it's gorgeous outside. We're taking a walk as a family. We're going to walk the dogs. We're going to play football. We're going to do a board game.' And also understand that some days they're just going to be on those devices."
"My son’s too young so he doesn’t really care,” Prinze Jr. exclusively told Us in December 2020 of Rocky watching Gellar's kissing scenes. “He doesn’t even know it’s Sarah sometimes when he’s watching because she’ll have brown hair in something and blonde in another.” As for Charlotte, the actress-in-the-making gets "excited" about all of her parents' scenes.
Gellar exclusively told Us in October about her "choose-your-own-adventure" Halloween plans with Charlotte and Rocky, explaining, "I said to my kids: ‘It’s Halloween, we’re going to figure it out. We’re going to have costumes.’ I promised them that it’ll be a different way to celebrate the holiday, but we’ll make it festive and special nonetheless. ... I’m doing a costume with one of our children, and [my husband is] doing a costume with our other child.”
"My kids had never seen it until quarantine, and they kept asking and asking,” Gellar told Access Hollywood of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in October 2020. "And I said, 'OK, they're finally at the right age,' and I thought, 'They'll watch one or two episodes, and they'll be over it,' but they are hooked. My little one, my son, is like, 'Can we watch Buffy? Can we watch tonight? Can we watch Buffy tonight?'"
"Yup, this sums it up,” the actress captioned a June 2020 selfie. “#homeschooling #quarantine day 63000 I think (and don’t ask what day of the week).”
In September 2019, the Cruel Intentions star told Us how Selma Blair's MS diagnosis inspired her parenting tactics. "There are times when I’m tired and my child wants to play one more round of trains,” she explained at the time. “The last thing I want to do is get on the floor and build another train. I think to myself, ‘What Selma would do to be able to just get on the floor and build trains.’”
"Some people say our expectations are a little higher than most, but I think [our children] know what the rules are," Gellar told Us in February 2020. "We have [family dinner] as many nights as we can. We have no phones at the table. We sit, we all have dinner together.”
Prinze Jr. explained why Rocky is like his mom, telling Us, "He likes things a certain way. He's more particular. He's more outgoing. He's willing to talk to people he doesn't know. Whereas me and Charlotte are like, 'What's this son of a gun looking at? What's he want?' We don't trust anybody."
"Having kids is wonderful, and life changing, and rarely what you're prepared for," the Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum captioned a May 2019 throwback photo with her daughter. "I love my children more than anything in the world. But like a lot of women, I too struggled with postpartum depression after my first baby was born. I got help, and made it through, and every day since has been the best gift I could ever have asked for."
Gellar told Us in April 2016 that she doesn't check her phone while hanging out with her children. "When I'm there, I'm present," she said. "I'm not doing a million things."
In December 2015, the Emmy winner described a family tradition exclusively to Us, explaining, "Each family member and dog gets an ornament engraved with the year and picks a special picture to put in it."
Gellar likes to involve her kids in the kitchen, she told Us in October of that same year. "I've always had my kids in the kitchen," the actress said. "I'll tell Charlotte, 'I need three cups of this' and she'll pour and dump, and when my son was younger he would point to the numbers."
The She's All That star "loves" being a stay-at-home dad, Gellar told Us of her husband in February 2012. "We fight over who gets to stay home. You'd think it would be the opposite, that the parents would be like, 'No, I'll go to work!' but he's like, 'You stayed home for two years! It's my turn!'"
