“Looking at it now, we needed to be girl parents – With a boy… I think the pressures from everyone around him to be like his dad would’ve been hard.” Kelly Stafford – wife of Rams QB Matthew Stafford – has never been one to shy away from addressing her life pains on camera. From sharing details of their 10th anniversary gifts to talking about a couple ordering cocktails on the table next to them, the range? It’s versatile, to say the least. 

On her podcast, The Morning After, with Hank Winchester, she is open, vulnerable, and a total sweetheart. When half the world is chasing views with flashy or cringy content, Hank and Kelly’s real-life stories don’t just hit you differently; you relate to them too. Since her marriage with Matthew back in 2015, the couple has seen major ups and downs. From Kelly’s battle with IVF, to Matthew’s relocation, Kelly’s brain surgery, and of course, parenting 4 daughters.

So when the latest episode of their podcast ‘How do you parent this?’ dropped, we knew it was one for the books. In the episode, she discussed some of the most difficult situations parents face. Kelly even opened up to the audience and asked what she should do if her kids feel like giving up after seeing their siblings do something well when they themselves couldn’t. She recently posted a clip of the podcast on her Instagram, and when she read a question that went, “How do you show your kids how lucky they are to have what they have?,” she took a minute, and Hank simply said, “It’s hard.” Kelly addressed that it’s a problem the Staffords face on a regular basis too, “Matthew and I battle this every day because – the worst comment that comes out of their mouths are, I’m bored”

Looking at Kelly, Matthew, and Hank, for that matter, we understand it’s not all sunshine and rainbows all the time. It’s moments like these that let us know even the stars have it rough sometimes. Kelly, on her podcast, says, “Whenever we have an opportunity to, um, give back, and it is something that we can take the kids to. We do. – And I do think, as we said earlier, like kids are visual. Sometimes you have to show them.” And it’s true. For many of us, the best way to learn something is by a hands-on approach. When you experience, you learn. Hank agrees and adds a story about his own daughter, “I took Emma to a shelter when she was, um, like four – I remember even at that age, she was like, whoa.”

So, show the world for the kids, give them a reality check. That’s the takeaway Kelly wants you to have. “I want them to be aware that people struggle in this world for the littlest things and they don’t struggle at all. – but I do think kids are visual. So the more you can show them rather than tell them the better.” And while Kelly is dropping parenting truth bombs, she’s also navigating her marriage, which isn’t always easy.

Kelly’s lessons from marriage

What started as a simple love story back at the University of Georgia has slowly blossomed into a decade-long journey for Matthew and Kelly Stafford. You would think being married to an NFL QB would be all glitz and glam, but it’s not. Kelly once admitted about her struggles with marriage, “Marriage is f—— hard – Before marriage, you put yourself first all the time. Now all of a sudden, you’re putting someone else first. – then there are kids involved. It just becomes tougher and tougher with the more things thrown your way.”

Kelly and Matthew haven’t had it easy. According to her, “There’s been so many ups and downs in our marriage – I would say the first years of marriage was really, really hard.” Of course, there’s an adjustment period, right? But that’s not where it started. When Matthew made the transition from college to the NFL in 2009, that was something Kelly had to “adjust to,” as Matthew became more professional. “I’m not saying he changed as a person – there was something that I have to adjust to, which was the more crazy, fun Matthew to the professional Matthew.”

But their journey went on, and Kelly had another battle to fight. Back in 2019, she underwent a 12-hour brain surgery to remove a benign tumor. Then, after 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions, Matthew had to relocate to join the Rams. The couple is working hard at their marriage, though. They are there for each other, surprising each other with gifts, and talking about their life. The couple has even taken to counseling and grown together. They have built a relationship that lasts, with constant tweaks, of course. “We’ve built a remarkable marriage – but there’s always room for improvement.”