Julie Bowen Thinks Her 3 Teenage Kids Have ‘Stupid Haircuts’: ‘Modern Family’ Star Says It’s ‘So Dumb’

Fans of Modern Family’s Julie Bowen know by now that she approaches everything in her life with humor. The same is the case with parenting her three sons, Oliver and twins John and Gustave.

During an appearance on Today With Hoda & Jenna on Thursday, September 12, the Hysteria! actress opened up about raising her teenagers and seeing how their personalities have developed and changed in recent years.

“They all have the stupid haircuts. Bless you, I love you, my children,” Julie, 54, told Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager. “The haircuts are so dumb.”

Julie, who shares Oliver, 17, and John and Gustave, 15, with ex-husband Scott Phillips, was asked by the cohosts to describe her kids’ haircuts. “Well, there’s like the flohawk, and then there’s like the jiffy pop and the alpaca,” she said while gesturing with her hands.

“I love that you named them all,” Jenna, 42, said through laughter, to which Julie replied, “I mean how do you keep them straight.”

Julie said that because she has been working on the East Coast, she has mostly been communicating with her boys, who live in Los Angeles, via Snapchat. She mocked some of the poses that her sons do in pictures.

It wasn’t the first time she talked about how her sons frequently use the photo sharing app.

“I ask my kids, ‘Who got in trouble in school today?'” she told TODAY.com in November 2023. “I do it all the time. That’s been my entry point. But I’m dying to ask, ‘Who do you like? Who are you snapping with’ [on Snapchat]?”

“But you can’t freak out after you’ve asked the question,” she added. “Let’s normalize it, because all kids get in trouble at some point.”

The Modern Family alum also opened up about the concept of “good enough” parenting.

“I wish this was around when I started having kids and felt like I had to do everything perfectly,” Julie, who will be starring in the upcoming film Happy Gilmore 2, told the outlet. “But you know what? Good enough is good enough. If you kept your kid alive, fed and healthy, those are huge wins! We don’t give ourselves enough credit for that. Instead it’s, ‘You didn’t get an A+?’ or ‘Why are you dressed like a crazy person?'”

Julie admitted that her sister helped her see a different perspective when it comes to raising her teens.

“I used to be miserable about how selfish teenagers can be,” she revealed. “They have last-minute plans that change and I’m like, ‘How do you think you’re getting there?’, ‘Who is paying for that?’ and ‘How is this magically happening?’ I’m just the ATM or Uber driver?”

“I think it was my sister who said, ‘It sounds like you’re expecting your kids to actually meet your emotional needs,'” Julie added. “I just wanted acknowledgement that I was human! But kids don’t really see parents as human. They might every now and then, but remember that it’s probably an accident.”