While there are a number of reasons a teen can drive their mother to tears, Marie Osmond‘s daughter Abigail only makes her cry with loving words.
“They’re so sweet. How many 16-year-olds tell you they love you?” Osmond, 59, tells PEOPLE of her youngest child while holding back tears, in an interview for Celeb Parents Get Real.
“It’s hard when you have to work — I was the provider, so for my children to understand that and love me and care enough about me to say, ‘Mom, you’re going to die, we need you. Please lose the weight.’ … They went through a lot of tough stuff. They’re survivors,” she continues.
The proud mother of eight goes on to say, “They are the best things I’ve ever done, ever.”
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As technology becomes more prevalent in her children’s and grandchildren’s lives, the singer says, “I hope that this generation knows how important it is to have real relationships with people, not just texting or how many likes you have.”
With her children’s ages ranging from 16 to 35, Osmond has grown skeptical of social media’s influence and calls it “a very dangerous thing.”
But over the years — and now, with four grandchildren — she values spending time with her family and seeing the people they’ve become.
“They’re all really hard workers and they are kind to each other and try really hard to be kind to people,” she adds. “Some of my kids are adopted and I can’t remember which ones, but some of them are more like me than my biological and I’m like, ‘I know why God sent you to me!’ ”
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While Osmond jokes the last 35 years of parenting have been full of embarrassing moments, she knows, “There is no such thing as perfect.”
“I love studying the original intent of words, so I took the word ‘perfect’ back to the Hebrew meaning of it, and it doesn’t mean being perfect,” she explains.
“It means to strive for the best you can be at that time,” Osmond says. “I learned a long time ago perfect is un-achievable and life is a lot more fun if you just try the best you can!”
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