“American Guns” star Renee Wyatt isn’t your typical suburban soccer mom. With a TV series under her belt and a gun in her boot, this Discovery Channel star knows a thing or two about how to run a household– and a firearms shop!
I recently had the chance to ask Renee about her parenting style and the Wyatt’s life as a TV family. Read on for what she had to say:
Hi Renee! You seem to run the show at Gunsmoke. How hard is it to balance your work and family life?
Stay super organized. Do things once and do it right, you will rarely have to redo what you have done. Plan your workload and allow enough time. Don’t multi task. Approach a job, get it done efficiently, move on. And …the real key: avoid drama. Don’t overreact and become over involved in problems. I am a seriously solutions based person. Give me a challenge and I will solve it. No drama, no whining or moaning. Just get it done!
Has it been a difficult adjustment to see your whole family on TV?
Not really. It’s something totally new but there are very few negatives compared to all the positives, so adjusting has been super easy.
Your 17-year old daughter, Paige, has been touted as a real life Daisy Duke. Do you worry her being portrayed as too sexy on the show?
I definitely don’t. The show is about our family and we have a very well mannered, respectful daughter. She’s a really pretty girl, but she dresses more conservatively than most of the college girls we see. If we thought something crossed the line in being portrayed as distasteful, we would put the kibosh on it!
In addition to Kurt and Paige, you have two young daughters. Is it a challenge having teens and toddlers in the same house? What’s worse– the terrible twos or the terrible teens?
It’s a great dynamic. I generally don’t ask Kurt or Paige to babysit so they won’t become resentful of their little sisters. They have a wonderful time together and they dote on one another. It’s really touching to see actually. I haven’t had any real “terrible” twos, or “terrible” teens so I can’t say one is worse than the other. I am really lucky I guess!
How would you and Rich feel if your younger daughters didn’t want to participate in the family business?
We would support them in their passion of course. The gun business began as their Dad’s first love. We only hope each of our children find something they get as much happiness out of – especially if they can earn a living doing it. I predict the most important job any of our daughters will have is to be a wonderful wife and mother. Even our 3-year old is “baby crazy.” I think they get that from me.
What reality TV family do you admire?
I think Bethenny Frankel from “Real Housewives of NY” is inspirational. She created a booming empire and is, clearly, a remarkable businesswoman. But she shows so much joy in finding the man she loves, getting married and becoming a mother. I also have always really liked how straightforward and fair she appears to be. I grew up in New York so I can relate things in a lot of her shows, but I don’t watch a whole lot of TV so it is few and far between.
You can check out a clip of Renee and Rich Wyatt dealing with a parenting dilemma here.
American Guns” airs on Wednesday night on the Discovery Channel.
