“Cake Boss” star Buddy Valastro opened up about teaching his children work ethic and respect.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Valastro, 46, spoke about teaching his four children responsibility despite living a cushioned lifestyle.
“My kids are truly blessed, and they do live a pampered lifestyle because of the way I live. But the thing is, how do you make them responsible? How do you keep them grounded?” he inquired.
He added, “When people meet my kids, a lot of times they’re like, ‘They’re so down to earth. They’re so good.’”
Valastro began working at his father’s bakery at 11 years old cleaning the kitchen. During the interview, he revealed that he recruited his children to work at his factory in New Jersey.
“And I take that as me and my wife doing our job in raising them. And that means they do come and work at the factory,” he shared.
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However, he emphasized his children aren’t required “to come into the business.”
“It’s totally up to them what they want to do. But they have to learn responsibility. The best respect is earned respect,” he added.
Furthermore, Valastro noted, “When people in my factory see my kids on their hands and knees scrubbing the floors, they have respect for them.”
He continued:
“That’s respect that they’re not going to get just because they’re my kids. You have to go and do the job. When you do the job, and you clean the toilets, you scrub the racks or you clean the floor drains, you have a lot more respect for the person who does it every day. That’s what my dad taught me, and I still practice that to this day. And I need to emphasize that to my kids.”
“It’s the things that you teach in values,” Valastro explained. “It’s the lessons you lead by example.”
He shared, “But we also kid around, we laugh, we eat. We’re a pretty tight-knit family.”