Hilary Duff’s formal education ended much earlier than most. According to Duff, she stopped going to “real” school in 3rd grade. Now, with a child in 2nd grade, she’s feeling the stress a lot of parents face: helping their kid with homework.
She got serious about her acting career early and by the time she was 11, she had landed her first major role in Casper Meets World. Once she was working full time, school took a backseat. For her son, it’s different. He’s going to school like most kids. For Duff, that means evenings going over math and science homework.
Hilary Duff’s Too Real Parental Struggle
In a recent Instagram post, Hilary Duff expressed a worry lots of parents face. The post features a photo of the Lizzie McGuire star with her son, Luca. Duff looks slightly confused as Luca works on his math homework. She captioned the photo, “Homework is already no joke in 2nd grade.” She explains, “I stopped going to ‘real’ school in 3rd grade so I’m actually doomed…” She admits it’s daunting, “I am left scratching my head all the time looking at his homework.” The Younger actress also reveals she’s “terrified for next year!”
Duff is a protective and very hands-on parent, so she’s not dodging her responsibilities here. She’s embracing it, saying in the same post, “Singapore math is the [expletive]….also learned a lot about tick birds this week.” While her youth was filled with on-set tutors, her son’s upbringing is more traditional, and she’s obviously happy about it, even loving learning along with him. We’re learning along with them. Tickbirds, or oxpeckers, are birds native to Africa that you might recognize as the ones sitting on the backs of the larger animals, picking ticks out of the fur for their meals.
Lizzie McGuire In Limbo
Seeing the post gives a little more personal insight as to why Duff feels so strongly about the direction of the Lizzie McGuire Disney+ reboot. The show is currently in limbo after a disagreement between Disney and the show’s creative forces, Duff and showrunner Terri Minsky. Minsky and Duff want to make a more adult version of the show, showing a more realistic Lizzie in her 30s, like Duff herself. Minsky left the reboot in January after shooting two episodes that, according to multiple outlets, Disney wasn’t happy with.
Hilary Duff clearly isn’t stuck in the past. The former child star is an adult, with adult problems, like re-learning math to help her son’s education. She doesn’t want to pretend Lizzie doesn’t face the same kinds of pressures.