Shaquille O’Neal Once Gave Some Fatherhood Tips: “You Just Have To Mix It Up As A Dad. Just Can’t Tell Them Go To Your Room and Stay There”

Former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, commonly known as Shaq, discussed his experience of parenting his children in quarantine. At the beginning of this year, the world was hit with a quarantine caused by a Coronavirus outbreak. Basketball legend Shaq discussed his approach to dealing with this lockdown and some of the parenting advice that helped him manage his six children.

Shaquille O’Neal on how he parents his his six children

An episode of the PEOPLE Every-day podcast covering Shaq’s interview from February 08, 2021, covered several topics, especially related to his children during that difficult time. Taahirah, Amirah, and Me’arah are Shaq’s daughters, while Myles, Shareef, and Shaqir are his sons. Shaq talked about parenting them through a lockdown, which included keeping them engaged with various activities. 

According to him, “I have six wonderful kids,” says the proud dad. “Not a lot of discipline is needed. Their mothers did wonderful, beautiful jobs of that. So my job is just keeping them into the game, have fun.”

He mentioned how they entertain themselves, such as making videos and shooting hoops, among other things that keep them busy and keep them from losing hope.

“You just have to mix it up as a dad. [You] just can’t tell them, ‘Go to your room and stay there,’ because they’ll get miserable,” adds O’Neal. “So you just have to have fun with them an hour, rest, have fun with them an hour, rest. Then you also got to give them a space to let them do their own thing.”

In addition, Shaq shares his on-court experiences with the children and how he trains them to become basketball players. As he says, it’s changing with age. He also discussed exercising with kids. He explained that when they were small, they had to be told the very fundamentals and steps, but at this age, it is enough to just explain what they should do.

Additionally, we can see videos and pictures of them on Instagram having fun and enjoying each other’s company. What are your views on Shaq’s advice for parents?  

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