Reba McEntire has always been down to earth. Growing up in a family that owned a ranch in Chockie, Oklahoma, she spent her days helping with the cattle when she was not at school or not performing with the band she had started with her siblings.
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“Mama and Daddy always said to me, ‘If you tell somebody you’re going to be somewhere at a certain time, you show up,” she told People. “That’s the way I was raised.”
An elementary education graduate herself, she definitely had a good idea of how children should be treated in order to help them grow self-confident but also humble and respectful.
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So, although she was already a superstar when she had her son, Shelby, in 1990, she knew she had to be careful bringing him up in order for him not to be snobbish because of his celebrity mom.
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“When we would play games or cards, I’d never let Shelby win,” she said. “He wouldn’t have learned anything that way. I always told Shelby, ‘I’ll always love you, but I want other people to like you. So don’t be a little jerk. Don’t be a spoiled brat.'”
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Indeed, she and her ex-husband, Narvel Blackstock, made sure to pass down these core values to their son.
They brought him up to have respect for others, no matter what their background, while they also taught their son that just because he was blessed to be growing up in a wealthy family, he was no better than his peers.
McEntire has always been proud of her son and how he turned out to be.
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“A lot of people have told me you would never know (he) had been blessed with the life he was given,” she said.
The country legend also explained that, although she used to be more self-centered before having her son, when she became a mother, her priorities changed completely.
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She was keen on spending time with Shelby and she made sure to dedicate as much time as she could in things they could do together.
“I had the best nannies, and I took him on the road with me,” she said. “When I couldn’t, I would fly home after a concert, get him up in the morning, take him to school and pick him up. We’d play until I had to fly out again for a concert that night. I wanted to be with Shelby. Still do.”
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McEntire also opened up about Shelby having ADHD. As she explained, when he was still a child, he could barely read a book and now, in his early 30s, he reads as many as ten per year. She is definitely a proud mother.
The superstar is also happy that her beloved son has found true love in his wife Marissa, whom he married in a fairytale-inspired wedding at Walt Disney World.
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What a beautiful family!
No doubt Shelby and Marissa will pass on the same values to their own children in the future.
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