Joel Madden: Parenthood is a different kind of fun

Being a father is nothing you can plan for. You've got to take it one day at a time, and there's no manual or anything like that. It's not a conscious change, it just happens to you all of a sudden. We had Harlow, and suddenly our priorities changed. We've both done a lot in our lives, had a lot of fun, but now it's time to be parents, which is a different kind of fun. The priority is our daughter and the kind of family we build around her.

The turnaround for the couple, former young Hollywood fixtures, has been one they felt they needed to make to provide a strong family foundation for their daughter.

We're very serious about raising her the right way ... We're both very hands-on about our daughter, because she's the priority. I still am able to go out occasionally. I'm still able to DJ, and [Good Charlotte] will be going on tour, but for the most part, I don't go out with Harlow to places where I think that she could be put in danger. That aspect of Hollywood isn't a part of my life. You have to respect what it is, but you don't have to participate in it.

Click below for Joel's thoughts on Nicole as a mom, being a pushover, and how being a parent will change his songwriting for Good Charlotte.

Echoing her father Lionel's statements, Joel admits Nicole has taken him aback with her dedication to her daughter -- even if sometimes he puts a kink in her routine!

Nicole is the best mom I've ever seen. She's so serious about being a mom. If anything, I'm the parent who gives the baby whatever she wants. Nicole has her on a schedule. She knows exactly what she needs. I just spoil her. If she's crying, I'll take her out of the crib and give her whatever she wants, so it's a good balance.

Joel even finds his personal life becoming enmeshed with his work. He and identical twin brother Benji are starting to begin work on a follow-up to last year's Good Morning Revival. The last album from Good Charlotte was a much more serious and mature record than their previous efforts, and Joel expects the trend to continue.

We just started writing a record, and I'm sure [becoming a father] is going to affect the way I write and what I write about. It's made me think differently about life. It's definitely made me think about my fans a little more, because they're people's kids, so I care what they think. And I care what I'm saying to them, because I want people to think about what they're saying to my child ... So it makes me care about what I'm doing a little bit more. And it makes you think about other people too.

Source: MTV

Thanks to CBB reader Carina.

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