Ryan Reynolds talks soft parenting with Blake Lively

Ryan Reynolds is opening up about how he and Blake Lively approach parenting in today's world, and it is a lot gentler than the style he grew up with.

During a conversation at The Wall Street Journal’s CMO Summit with PEOPLE Magazine, the actor reflected on his approach to “soft parenting” while raising his four children with Lively.

“Soft parenting is new, right? I didn't have that,” he admitted with a laugh.

Reynolds went on to explain that, for him, this approach is rooted in creating emotional safety and presence, rather than reacting out of stress or instinct.

“If you’re just in a place of safety, you make great decisions. You really kind of work from a place that isn’t fight or flight. You actually get to be thoughtful, and you get to think about everybody in the room,” he said.

The couple shares daughters James, 10, Inez, 9, Betty, 6, and their youngest, Olin, 2, a household Reynolds often jokes is “95% kids, 5% sleep.”

For those unfamiliar, soft parenting is built around calm communication, emotional attunement, and connection. 

Though sometimes misunderstood as permissive, experts define it as a responsive, relationship-based style that still includes boundaries, just delivered with empathy instead of punishment.