Alicia Keys thinks children are some of “the most beautiful” teachers.
During an appearance on Sunday’s episode of “The Drew Barrymore Show,” the 44-year-old musician and mother of five opened up about the way kids push your insight, self-awareness, and growth — especially within her “beautiful, big” blended family.
“We love our family. It’s so beautiful,” the “Girl on Fire” singer said as photos of the family she shares with her husband, 47-year-old music producer and art collector Swizz Beatz, flashed across the screen.
“Our family is a special unit. A beautiful, creative unit. All of the kids are just brilliant and beautiful and so unique. And it’s so special because each one teaches me something completely different.”
When Barrymore asked for her best parenting advice, the “No One” singer said it begins with trusting your instincts — and then being willing to reflect on your reactions.
“You have your instinct, and you know what you feel,” she said. “We also do have to learn how to separate ourselves from them.”
The singer-songwriter explained that parents inevitably encounter their “own triggers,” but that recognizing those moments — and remembering a child’s innocence — is crucial.
“We do have our own triggers, and we do have our own histories and things that we’re working through,” she said. “And so knowing that they’re so pure… that they are a clean slate and a pureness, we can almost take a step and say, ‘Hold on, that’s mine. That’s not theirs. Let me just take a breather.’”
Keys said approaching parenting this way can become “a beautiful way” to grow more conscious of your inner life — and of the healing you’re still doing.
“With our kids, they bring up things in you, and you’re like, ‘Ah, wait a minute. Is that me? It’s probably me,’” she continued. “I think that’s why they’re the most beautiful teachers, because they bring to light what we have to see in ourselves.”
The Grammy-winner and her husband, whose real name is Kasseem Dean, have been married for 15 years and share five children in their blended family: two together — Egypt Daoud, 15, and Genesis Ali, 10 — and three from Dean’s previous relationships — Prince Nasir, 25, Kasseem Jr., 18, and Nicole, 17.
Since becoming a mother, the singer has been open about the ways parenthood challenges and changes her—including teachable moments. In 2019, she told People magazine that motherhood forces a person to look inward like “no other.”
“Motherhood, I find, makes you look at yourself in a way that is a mirror like no other that you’ve been presented with before,” she said at Billboard’s Women in Music Impact Brunch, where she was an honoree. “I think it makes you look at what you have taken or learned from other people and how that becomes your truth, whether it’s yours or not. I think [motherhood] is equally as challenging as it is rewarding… You have to really look at yourself.”
