Thomas Rhett Hopes To Raise Daughter Willa Gray To 'Embrace' Her 'Culture'

Thomas Rhett Hopes To Raise Daughter Willa Gray To 'Embrace' Her 'Culture'

Thomas Rhett is teaching his 4-year-old daughter, Willa Gray, to fully embrace every part of who she is. In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, the country star discussed how he and his wife, Lauren Akins, strive to "educate" their daughter, whom they adopted from Uganda in 2017, through "open conversations" about their similarities and differences.

"[It's] something that we talk about really openly," Rhett said of the conversations they have surrounding the fact that Willa Gray has recognized that her family "looks a lot different" than others.

"I think me and Lauren’s main thing we want to get across is how proud we are and that we want her to grow up proud of herself and of her family... and to embrace who you are and to embrace your uniqueness and embrace your culture as well," the country singer added. "That's something we want to educate her on as long as she's still in our household and even beyond that."

Rhett continued on to share that "it's hard to watch the news" amid police brutality and the fight for racial justice. The "Be A Light" singer and his wife focus on teaching love and kindness to Willa Gray and her little sisters, Ada James, 3, and Lennon Love, 7 months.

"We just try to preach to our kids to shine your light everywhere you go and realize that the world is cruel, but that doesn't mean that you have to be," Rhett said. "We're still dealing with it just like everybody else and we're still trying to ask the right questions and educate ourselves as well."

Rhett couldn't help but gush about how bright his oldest daughter is. "Willa Gray is one of the smartest that I've ever met," he said. "When she comes from school, her teachers ..the main thing they're saying is how intuitive she is and how much she recognizes at a young age."

When she's not at school, Willa Gray is taking on a mothering role for her youngest sister, Lennon.

"Willa Gray acts like such a mom now," Rhett shared. "Ada James is a little young to kind of take on that role, but Willa, I mean, she'll feed her. She'll comfort her. She'll hold her in her lap. She can hold her standing up now. So, it's been really cool to just watch them become amazing big sisters to Lennon."

Photo: Getty Images


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