Both Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka are enjoying themselves as they watch their children go on the next stage of their lives.
The former cast member of “How I Met Your Mother,” who is now 50 years old, and his spouse, who is 48 years old, recently gave an interview to Entertainment Tonight at the 2023 God’s Love We Deliver Golden Heart Awards. In the interview, they discussed how they are preparing their twins, Harper Grace and Gideon Scott, for the adolescent years.
“We keep being told that at a certain point, they’re going to hate us,” said Harris facetiously. “That has not taken place as of yet. To tell you the truth, things are looking up!
“They’re wonderful children. We have performed really well. You know, if you put in the effort, you’re going to get something out of it, right? Burtka continued.
The couple has high hopes that the amount of quality time they spend together as a family will continue to cultivate positive connections with others around them.
“I mean, if you’re going to spend time with your kids — they have access to you, so the more access to you, the more they can open up,” Burtka hypothesized.
The actor sent a heartfelt homage to the twins on Instagram a week ago, on the occasion of their birthdays. And just like that, they’re teens,” he started his letter, which was published on the website along with a number of pictures of his children.
The first picture in the post showed Harper and Gideon wearing party hats as they looked to be celebrating Harper’s birthday by eating what appeared to be a birthday breakfast together at a table. The picture was marked as having been taken in Manhattan, New York. While Harris’s daughter only wore one of the celebration hats, Harris’s son had skillfully put all three of them on top of his head.
“Happy birthday, Harper and Gideon,” Harris said in his post. “You are the bright spots in my otherwise dark existence. I can’t wait to see you turn your back on me completely, and you have my word that I’ll be there for you every step of the way.
“Wow,” was all he could say in response.
When Harris was pregnant with his twins in June, he playfully told PEOPLE that his children “keep us on our toes.”
According to Harris, “they’re the most agile, amazing, bright beacons of light to us,” and “they’re exhausting in every way.” They never fail to keep us on our toes and never fail to bring us nothing but love and happiness.
Burtka continued by saying that he had the impression that “we already are” parents to teenagers. He said to PEOPLE that “New York City kids grow up a lot faster than kids anywhere else in the world.” To which she said, “you’ve got to roll with it and let them free.”
“I think no one tells you as your young kids are growing up that you got to let them go,” he added. “I think no one tells you that you got to let them go.” “I found that to be the most challenging aspect.”
