Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger want kids to work hard

21 June 2018

Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger want their children to "work hard".

Maria Shriver

The former couple - who split in 2011 when it emerged the 'Terminator' star had fathered a son, Joseph, now 21, with their housekeeper - have always been keen to instill certain values in Katherine, 28, Christina, 26, Patrick, 24, and 20-year-old Christopher but hold their brood responsible for choosing the right people to share their lives with.

In an upcoming conversation on Oprah Winfrey's 'SuperSoul Conversations' podcast, Maria said: "I say to them, at the end of the day, you're you. You will surround yourself with people who know you and love you.

"That's your job to have a good group of friends around you. I expect you and so does your dad expect you to be kind and compassionate and I expect you to work hard.

"I don't expect you to make a lot of money, but I expect you to work hard as does your dad."

And the NBC News anchor has always been determined that her children will help those less fortunate in some way.

She added: "I also expect you to do something that's good in the world: Find a passion, find a charity, find a non-profit that can use your help."

But no matter what her children do, they've always been reassured their parents love them.

Maria continued: "I'm not going to tie loving you to how you do, but I do expect you to be kind and loving and you will always be accepted here in this home.

"You will always be loved here. It's non- negotiable. You will have that all the time."

The 62-year-old author admitted her kids will have to face people who think they've only succeeded because of their famous name but she advises them to ignore it and "keep moving forward".

She advised: "You're also going to have to put on blinders and eliminate the people who say, 'You only got this cause of who you are. You got it easy. You got this. You got that.' And you just have to keep going. You have to keep your head down and keep moving forward.

"Everybody has their stuff. Everybody has their challenges but you're blessed."