As one-half of one of Hollywood’s longest-lasting black couples, Jada Pinkett Smith has some well-earned sage wisdom when it comes to love and life. Last week, Pinkett Smith shared some of that wisdom when she opened up to one fan in particular about blended families and gave advice on how to love a man’s kids when they aren’t yours.
Pinkett Smith’s no stranger to the topic of blended families. As the wife of Will Smith, she’s acted as a second mother to Smith’s son, Trey, whom he had during his previous marriage with “Hollywood Exes” star Sheree Fletcher. And Pinkett Smith pulled from her own personal life when she wrote a letter to a friend wanting advice on how to love her husband’s kids from a previous relationship.
“A letter to a friend: Blended families are NEVER easy, but here’s why I don’t have a lot of sympathy for your situation because … we CHOOSE them. When I married Will, I knew Trey was part of the package … Period! If I didn’t want that … I needed to marry someone else. Then I learned if I am going to love Trey … I had to learn to love the most important person in the world to him … his mother. And the two of us may not have always LIKED each other … but we have learned to LOVE each other,” Pinkett Smith wrote.
“I can’t support any actions that keep a man from his children of a previous marriage. These are the situations that separate the women from the girls,” she added. “Your behavior is that of an insecure child who needs to recognize her own weaknesses that MUST be strengthened to take on the task at hand. We can’t say we love our man and then come in between him and his children. THAT’S selfishness … NOT love. WOMAN UP … I’ve been there … I know. My blended family made me a giant … Taught me so much about love, commitment and it has been the biggest ego death to date. It’s time you let your blended family make you the giant you truly are.”
Now that’s some stern advice served with a heaping dose of conviction and logic! And Pinkett Smith’s not the only celeb in a blended family. Check out some other famous blended families below. –nicholas robinson
