Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar Insists on This Practice With Her Family
Sarah Michelle Gellar, best known for her title role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is also an entrepreneur, producer, wife of Freddie Prinze Jr. and mom of two kids – Charlotte, 10, and Rocky, 7. The actress recently shared a daily ritual she considers sacred in her household.
Kitchen connection
Gellar met Prinze on the set of the 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer. Their meeting blossomed into a friendship that lasted for three years before things took a romantic turn.
The couple tied the knot in Mexico in September 2002 and soon welcomed Charlotte and Rocky. Gellar clearly relishes motherhood and enjoys the domestic activities involved in raising a family, particularly when it comes to cooking. “Any moment where you can put down a device and actually connect, to me, is important,” she said, according to Life & Style. “Food just sort of seems to be that great connect among people.”
Gellar decided to launch her own brand in the culinary space and created Foodstirs in October 2015, which encourages parents to connect with their children through baking with Foodstirs organic cooking kits. “We launched Foodstirs to provide you that true family and fireplace information of baking,” Gellar said, according to ScoopSquare24.
Family unplugged
The former Buffy the Vampire Slayer star was inspired to create her new business in the hopes of encouraging people to disconnect from their devices and connect with each other.
“As any busy working mom will tell you, it can be difficult to find time to connect with our kids; time where we can put down our devices and truly connect—and not just around the dinner table,” Gellar wrote in an essay for Maria Shriver’s newsletter “Sunday Paper.” “I worry that in this over-connected world, we are only becoming more and more disconnected. When I really thought about this, I kept coming back to the kitchen as the place where memories are created. And that’s how the idea for Foodstirs came about.”
Sacred space
To reinforce daily connection with her family, Gellar maintains a regular family dinner time each night in a device-free zone. “In my house, mealtime is sacred,” she wrote. “There are no phones or TV, and we take every advantage of our time together. Not only do I take great care into making time, but I also take great care into making sure my family is eating healthy and nutritious food.”
Gellar focuses on the time to regroup as a family, yet also nourishing them with the best meal options. “There is science and data behind the importance of food and ingredients,” she wrote. “I’ve seen firsthand the incredible results of children that have access to healthier food options—everything from better grades to less disciplinary infractions to fewer cases of depression. It makes all the difference. That’s why I’m so committed to bringing people together through healthy food that’s also fun to make.”
The actress encourages families to not just eat together but to prepare the meal together, with baking being a favorite activity for children. “I’ve found that baking is such a great experience for kids. It allows them to see the results of their hard work right before their very eyes,” Gellar shared. “And for me and my kids, we experience learning as well as some great bonding when we bake.”
While the holiday season can be taxing, Gellar sees the special time of year as an opportunity to make memories with your kids. “It’s easy to get stressed around the holidays, but I’ve found that these moments with my kids make it all worthwhile,” she wrote. “This holiday season, I hope you’re all taking the time to step back, put your phones down, and reconnect with your loved ones. We can’t get this time back, so it’s up to each and every one of us to make the most of it, especially when we can enjoy it with a great meal.”
Wise words from a wise mom!