Nicole Kidman Makes Her Teenage Daughters Hug Her for 2 Minutes Every Day.
Nicole Kidman shared the parenting habit at the HISTORYTalks event in Philadelphia on April 18, in conversation with Hoda Kotb. “Both my daughters will kill me for saying this,” she said with a laugh, “but I’m like, ‘You need to hug [me] for two minutes a day.’
It releases certain chemicals in the body and everyone needs to be hugged for about two minutes a day. Did you know that?”
The chemicals she is referring to are oxytocin (the bonding hormone that supports trust and connection) and a drop in cortisol (the stress hormone). Most research finds benefits from hugs of about 20 seconds. Kidman’s 2-minute daily rule is her way to amplify the effect, especially with teenagers navigating hormones, independence, and emotional swings.
She has primary custody of Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 15. She shares them with ex-husband Keith Urban. Their divorce was finalized in January after 19 years of marriage.
The hug rule is one piece of a broader closeness practice. “We’re so close, the three of us, we talk about everything,” she said. When her daughters invite her in, she sits on the end of their beds, even when she is exhausted, and asks: “Do you want me to give you advice now, or are you just sort of venting?” 90% of the time, it is venting only. “And you go in, and you sit down and you listen.”
She called parenting teenagers “extraordinary.” Her daughters, she said, are “suddenly women,” and she is savoring it.
The emphasis on presence and connection traces back to her own mother Janelle’s example. Janelle, a nurse who died in September 2024 at 84, once told Nicole, “Don’t ever let anyone break your spirit.” Janelle put her own ambitions aside to raise her family and support her husband’s Ph.D., and still encouraged Nicole never to quit acting.
After her mother’s death, and after feeling Janelle had been lonely in her final days despite family being around, Nicole trained as a death doula. It is the same instinct as the hug rule, scaled up to the end of life.