“It's way too expensive and silly, but it makes everybody happy.”
Bob Odenkirk could easily win Parent of the Year with his A+ answer to an otherwise simple question.
The 62-year-old comedian, best known for his role as Saul Goodman in “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” sat down for an interview on Mike Birbiglia’s “Working It Out” podcast released July 27.
At one point in the episode, Birbiglia asked Odenkirk who he’s jealous of — and his response was perfect.
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“Gee, anybody who’s still got little kids at home growing up,” Odenkirk said.
“There’s no question. I knew what I was doing when I had kids growing up,” he continued. “I was being a dad. I mean, that was my job.”
Odenkirk went on to explain that he never had to question what he was doing and how he could find meaning in life when he was raising his kids.
He further noted that the answer to those questions was always crystal clear.
“Pick up everything between here and the door and make sure they get to school and have a laugh with them,” he said of his earlier days of being a parent. “I understood my purpose.”
Odenkirk might not have any toddlers running around, but he’s the proud dad of two adult children.
The “Mr. Show” star shares son Nate and daughter Erin with his wife Naomi, whom he has been married to since 1997, according to People.
Odenkirk says he’s envious of his co-stars who have kids at home
Elsewhere in the podcast episode, Odenkirk admitted that he’s envious of his Broadway co-stars Bill Burr and Kieran Culkin — all of whom are starring in the revival of David Mamet's play "Glengarry Glen Ross.”
Burr shares an 8-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son with his wife Nia Renée Hill, according to People, while Culkin has a 5-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son with wife Jazz Charton, per the outlet.
“I envy them — as stressed as they are,” Odenkirk said of his co-stars. “Because they have to do this job and it takes them away.”
Odenkirk continued, “I guess you know who you are when you leave here. You absolutely know who you are. You’re a dad.”
When Odenkirk’s two kids were little, he made it a tradition to write poems with them as part of their bedtime routine and to help them see the value in being creative.
“I want to tell everyone, any parent who's thinking of trying this, and I hope you are, that I really did let the kids write the poems,” Odenkirk said in a 2023 interview with Fatherly.
“I would write a line, then they would write a line and I would write down the line that they said. I wouldn't fix it,” he added.
The poems he and his kids wrote were shelved for several decades before being re-discovered during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Bob kept them all in a journal that he called Old Time Rhymes, and we kept it on our bookshelf for 20 years,” added Odenkirk’s daughter, who also spoke with Fatherly at the time.
In 2023, he and his two kids re-wrote the poems and released them in a children’s book called “Zilot & Other Important Rhymes.”
“I always knew they existed and I was there when they were written and I was there when they were rewritten, 20 years later,” Odenkirk’s daughter, who illustrated the book, said.
Unlike most children’s books today, the poems Odenkirk and his kids wrote don’t offer any life lessons.
But, according to Odenkirk, that wasn’t the point.
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The father of two explained to Fatherly that the poems were meant to “come from the innocence of a child’s worldview, and as such, feel fresher and more alive than a lot of kids’ books with big messaging.”
