CBS Mornings' Tony Dokoupil is on "season two of family life" by his own admission, and is loving every moment of it.
MORE: Tony Dokoupil shares rare family video with wife from his impressive New York home
The American broadcaster is married to Katy Tur, and the couple are doting parents to three-year-old Teddy and one-year-old Eloise. He is also father to two older children, aged 12 and ten, who he shares with his ex-wife, who lives in Tel Aviv.
Starring on HELLO!'s Father's Day Digital Cover, Tony gave an incredible insight into his family life - from navigating scenarios as a divorced parent to making the decision to have no more children.
His young son Teddy is also "just like Prince Louis," while Father's Day this year will be spent away from home for a very special reason.
CBS Mornings star Tony Dokoupil with wife Katy Tur and their children Teddy and Eloise
Gayle King is my go-to when it comes to navigating divorced family dynamics
With Gayle King, we often talk about the complexities of the divorced family event. 'Okay we've got a birthday party coming up, what's your thinking? Everyone's coming together, are we going to do one event or separate events?' And because she's been there through that with her kids she's always there to give good advice.
MORE: Gayle King opens up about Covid diagnosis
I see my older kids in the summer holidays
They spend the school year in Tel Aviv and then live with me in the summer for about eight to ten weeks for the school holidays. So nine months there and two and a half months in New York.
It's only just dawning on them just how cool it is. It takes time to realise that New York isn't just the place that you were born in but a place the world knows. For the older kids they have started to realise when other children in another country come into school in Yankees or Brooklyn T-shirts.
Tony is a doting father to four children
It's an exciting part of being a dad seeing how your kids express themselves as they grow up, and New York City is a great place to do that.
I take advice parenting advice from my wife and my ex-wife
I often take advice from my mom as much as I don't like getting advice from my mom about being a dad! And also from my wife and my ex-wife for that matter. They are partners in this and tell me where I fall short, and I am happy for the feedback.
There are so many great things about being a dad
I think the best thing about being a dad is the double and triple vision it gives you. On the one hand it gives you the ability to look into your past and look at your own parents in a new way and see what they experienced, and you also get this magical ability to look into the future and think about what life would be like for this little kiddo who will be stretching on long after you.
The CBS star is parenting for the "second time around"
Plus, you have this weird ability to relive your own childhood while watching them grow up. Then you get the shock of realising that for all the hope of thinking they are going to be miniature versions of you, they are totally their own people and you have no control!
My parenting style has become more relaxed the second time around
I am a lot more of a casual parent in round two, and I know what to freak out about and what not to freak out about. It can lead to some interesting moments in the playground. Like, Eloise is always eating sand which is apparently something that freaks out other parents, but I am 100 per cent fine with it. She is not going to grow up and eat full bunches of sand, at a certain point she will stop.
MORE: Tony Dokoupil celebrates son's birthday with delivery room photos
When the second round of kiddos came around I was relieved and happy to learn that changing diapers, feeding a bottle, was all like riding a bicycle, it came right back. But I definitely needed advice, I am not a perfect parent by any means.
All of my children are a bit cheeky
So... yes! All of the kids to a certain extent have a certain 'loveable disobedience', they are all a bit rascally. I remember looking back and not being a particularly well-behaved kid and I am getting everything my mom dealt with one, but in multiples now! My mom reminds me of this regularly, for sure. Particularly with the little ones, she's like 'in your face'!
Tony's son Teddy reminds him on Prince Louis!
I can totally relate to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - Teddy is like Prince Louis!
Teddy's at the age where he will hear the word 'no', process it, but decide to do the thing anyway. Just this morning I called Katy after my show and she said Teddy had a big time out because he took his diaper off and threw it over the fence into the neighbour's yard. Which is just not the kind of thing that will build neighbourly closeness. We couldn't even get it back as it's a big wooden fence! He throws stuff over there constantly and he only does it because you freak out. He is just like Prince Louis, I so related to Kate, Louis - that's exactly it!
I won't be having any more children
I’m thinking about a vasectomy, Katy is encouraging it, and I’m on board with the idea of men taking on the responsibility. But I’m still nervous about the process. In lots of places, including New York, there is a mandatory consultation and waiting period – which I’m in right now, though I haven’t scheduled the final appointment. The amazing thing, which occurred to me as we cover all these gun policy debates, is how serious we are about regulating vasectomies compared to actual guns. I have to wait 30 days before I can legally pay a doctor to, uh, disarm me, so to speak, but I can buy a rifle today. Don’t quite seem right.
Eloise will be Tony and Katy's last child
I'm always thinking about the kids when I'm reporting on the news
When I go on assignments I always have my family in the front of my mind. I think about them when I do my work because I try to explain the complexities of the world that would be clear and interesting to my almost 13-year-old. I imagine him on the other side of the camera as opposed to the whole world of potential viewers because it makes it personal. I try to tell it as though I am telling it to him.
My son was impressed when my recent story went viral on TikTok
I had a story that got 30M views and that was the first time that I did something that my son was impressed about. It was a sad story, it was an interview with a grieving parent less than 24 hours after the Texas school shooting. It was a very emotional conversation because he was the stepfather for one of the fourth graders and had run her to school that day. I have a fourth grader also so the imaginative and emotional distance between those parents was zero.
Tony loves nothing more than spending time with his family
My children are unfazed by me being well-known
I get stopped fairly regularly and my children are totally unimpressed. To them it's just a regular thing. I think maybe it will dawn on them at some point but that's fine. I like them being oblivious to it all, dad doesn't need a pat on the head, I give the pats on the head.
An ideal day with my family is with all my children in Cape Cod
It's our favourite thing to do. It's where my grandfather and his buddy from the same division in World War II bought a cottage. It's a real cottage - none of the walls inside reach the ceiling, it's really tiny but it's not far from the beach. It's a wonderful place with simple pleasures.
This Father's Day I will be away from my children - but supporting my wife on her book tour
I will be with my wife whose book comes out on Tuesday 13th, so she's going to be either in San Francisco or Los Angeles and I'm going to be there with her, spending Father's Day with none of my children! I have kind of taken on the same perspective as my mom, we aren't big on huge celebrations. I will get a handwritten card from Teddy I expect - these kinds of things are really special.
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