Chris Pratt Says His Kids “Don’t Seem To Know” What He Means When Tells Them “No”

Chris Pratt might have grown up in a traditional household himself, but he’s changing things up with his own three kids. The Garfield star recently opened up about what his parenting style looks like as a dad, and he definitely does not sound like the disciplinarian of the family.

Pratt, who shares 3-year-old daughter Lyla and 2-year-old daughter Eloise with wife Katherine Schwarzenegger as well as 11-year-old son Jack with ex-wife Anna Faris, opened up about how his own childhood informed his parenting. “I think there’s a new age of parenting," he told E! News. “I grew up, I did exactly what my parents said all the time. I never knew I could say ‘no’ to my parents. And now I’m a guy who’s not super — didn’t have a super healthy grip on his own emotions. So we’re trying to raise them in a way that they feel comfortable expressing themselves.”

The Guardians of the Galaxy star was quick to point out that his children “know the meaning of the word ‘no’ from their mom,” but it’s different story with him “When it comes from me, they don't seem to know what that means,” he told E! News. “And I don’t really know what to do about it, but we’ll get there.”

Whether his children listen to him when he says no or not, fatherhood has brought a lot of joy to Pratt’s life. So much so that he even offered some fairly controversial advice in a December interview with Men’s Journal. Get having those kids. “People say all the time, ‘Don’t rush to have kids.’ I personally disagree,” Pratt told the magazine at the time. “Rush. Have them. Of course, make sure you find a great partner, but don’t wait.”

Pratt went on to explain that the more years you have with your kids, the better as far as he is concerned. “The younger you have kids, the more time they get to have with you. It’s wild. Having kids is incredible. The things you normally take for granted in life are new.”

If Pratt hadn’t had children, he wouldn’t have been able to take his son to a screening of Garfield. Which would have been a tragedy. “I had a screening and my son saw the movie, loved it, and my girls have not seen it yet,” he told E! News. “But I’m gonna show them both together. It’ll probably be Eloise's first movie.”

What’s the point of voicing the world’s most irritable cat if you can’t share it with your kids, right?