HGTV star in 'state of fear' over raising daughters with discipline without crushing spirit
HGTV star Ben Napier lives in a "constant state of fear" as a girl dad.
"Growing up, I had three brothers, and I know exactly how to handle boys," Ben told Fox News Digital while speaking about his show, "Home Town." "I am in a constant state of fear with two little girls and wanting to discipline, but how far?"
"But not crush their spirit," his wife Erin Napier added, before Ben continued, "and also not make them terrified of me."
Ben and Erin share two daughters – Helen, 6, and Mae, 3.
HGTV STARS SAY YOU CAN ‘LIVE THE DREAM’ IN A SMALL TOWN
"I feel like with boys, it's OK to have a healthy amount of fear of your father," Ben noted. "With girls it's like, I need them to know that they can call on me with anything."
"I'm just not used to being around little girls… it is really hard," Ben added.
"I've been one my whole life… I'm trying my best, but it's hard," Erin agreed. "Parenting is the hardest job in the world. Everybody knows that."
The biggest challenge for Ben and Erin on this season of their home renovation show was learning to balance work with parenting their two daughters. Ben and Erin star in HGTV's "Home Town," where the couple works to restore historical homes with found materials and old textiles in their hometown of Laurel, Mississippi.
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"We've never been parents before," Erin noted. "We're still learning every single day. Learning how to do our jobs well and be the best parents possible is always the biggest challenge."
Erin and Ben have been together for 20 years. The couple met in 2004, while Erin was a sophomore in college. Erin had a crush on Ben before they officially met, as she previously shared in a series of Instagram posts. According to Erin, the two fell in love over the course of six days.
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"By December 13, [Ben] had met both my parents," Erin wrote on Instagram. "He had no money, no prospects, and they knew that and they both loved him instantly anyway and said so – they'd never even pretended to tolerate any boys before that. We'd been inseparable for 6 days. His shirts all had my lip gloss imprinted on the chest because I wasn't used to hugging someone so tall yet."
"We never stopped talking. We had 19 and 21 years to catch up on, and there was no detail too trivial. Ben says his mom told him ‘you marry the one you never want to stop talking to.’ So 6 days after meeting, and 2 days before we would be on a one month Christmas break apart, he told me ‘I think I’m in love with you.' and I said ‘I’m in love with you too.' ‘I’m going to marry you,' he told me – ‘Yes. That sounds perfect,’ I told him."
Years later, the couple's TV show "Home Town" premiered in January 2016 as Ben and Erin work to restore the town of Laurel, Mississippi.
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Ben and Erin hope their projects show what it's really like to live in a small town.
"People just have it in their mind what it is to live in a small town and what it isn't," Erin told Fox News Digital. "And I hope that the more you watch 'Home Town,' the more you see that you can live the dream."
"You can have your hot sauce and salsa farm in the middle of town, and you can build a school for children who are underserved. You can do anything in a small town. And that's the story that's so fun to tell for us."
"Home Town" premieres Dec. 29 on HGTV.