Eva Longoria’s day begins at 3:30 a.m. Well, sometimes. It all depends on when her body — and/or when her 4-year-old son Santiago “Santi” Enrique, who she shares with husband José Bastón — is ready for her to wake up. From there, she’s thrust into pure chaos — and she loves every second of it. SheKnows caught up with the Desperate Housewives alum, who dished on her wild mornings, how she uses TikTok to prepare breakfast, and why she’s working to lower food insecurity in kids across the country. You’ll need more coffee just to keep up with her!
On What Mornings Are Like at Her House
Longoria was still finishing the her breakfast during our early-morning interview, and it’s no surprise. Like anyone with a young child, her mornings are a mad rush.
“Oh my god, my household is crazy and chaotic for breakfast,” Longoria tells SheKnows. “It’s like, Santi’s already been up for hours, and we have usually a full house of children and noise and games.”
“I don’t know why the games come out — like, why are we playing a board game? It’s 7 a.m.,” she laughs.
Do all kids wake up with these big bundles of energy? It’s like they don’t need any loading time — when morning comes, kids are on. And this is true for Santi, too, who “wakes up so happy and talkative” about 90% of the time.
But Longoria is not complaining. In fact, she’s the same way. “I am [a morning person]. I get up very early. Yesterday, I got up at 3:30 just because my body was like ‘you’re done.’”
She balances these early mornings with early bedtimes, too. “I go to bed at 9. So, I’m 80 years old,” she jokes.
On Introducing A ‘Variety’ of Foods to Santi
Although Longoria’s favorite part of her day are “waking up Santi and morning cuddles,” breakfast comes in a close second.
“Breakfast is like a big deal in our house. We eat before we all go off into the world,” she explains.
For his part, Santi “eats everything.” She continues, “He’s a really good eater. I’m very proud of that. Since he was very young, exposing him to different foods was very important.”
Some of the foods he still eats today? Spinach and broccolini — pretty impressive for a 4-year-old!
In the mornings, Longoria likes to make sure that for breakfast, “every day is different.”
“We try to do variety,” she explains. “We’re a Mexican household as well, so we always have refried beans because that’s everybody’s breakfast in my household. We love refried beans and flour tortillas. And rotating out proteins — whether today’s oatmeal and tomorrow’s eggs … and sometimes he has protein pancakes. It’s all different. I try not to be repetitive.”
It’s a good idea, especially because young kids tend to get bored if they have to eat the same thing every day. To help mix things up, Longoria turns to TikTok.
“I get really creative with the eggs,” she says. “I see all these fun things on TikTok and different shapes and fun things that I try.” (Search “shape egg” on TikTok to learn how to make boiled eggs in the shape of Mickey Mouse, hearts, and more. Your kids will be amazed!)
On Her Biggest Morning Struggle
Despite the chaos and fun-filled mornings in Longoria’s house, don’t be fooled into thinking she’s got it all figured out. The Unplugging star is still working on getting things right, just like we are.
“Getting Santi’s shoes on is probably the biggest struggle,” Longoria says. “To leave the games, to leave the house, and the family. And he’s got to get into the car. Getting him into the car. Shoes on and into the car,” she laughs. If this isn’t my daily struggle, too! It’s like pulling teeth just getting them in the car some days.
“Many times he gets into the car with no shoes,” she admits. “I’m like, we’ll figure it out later.”
That’s good advice, especially when you’re running late. But don’t turn to Longoria for other parenting tips, because she’s still figuring it out herself. When I asked her if she had any morning “hacks” to make things easier, she emphatically said, “No. God, no!” then laughed.
“I’m not getting it right, so I’m definitely not the person to give tips,” she adds. “I’m a big proponent of like, you’ll figure it out with your own kid.” (We actually think that in itself is a VERY good tip, TBH!)
On Giving Back to Others
“I am very philanthropically-minded, it’s in my DNA,” Longoria says.
The actress and producer partnered with Kellogg’s Breakfast for All Initiative and No Kid Hungry to raise money for kids facing food insecurity. You can support the mission — and score tons of delicious breakfast foods! — by ordering a bundle at KelloggsBreakfastBundle.com through May 9. Each bundle includes classic morning favorites, like Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, Frosted Mini-Wheats, Pop-Tarts, Nutri-Grain bars, and more. With every purchase, Kellogg will donate $1,000 to No Kid Hungry (up to $100,000), which is equal to 10,000 meals for kids.
“Food insecurity and childhood hunger is a big problem in our country,” she continues. “People don’t realize that. People think, ‘Oh, is that in Africa? Is that in another country?’ No. it’s here. It’s a big issue in the U.S. One in eight children live with hunger and that breaks my heart. Because if kids are hungry, they’re not learning. And if they’re not learning, they’re never going to make it out of our school systems. And so, working with Kelloggs and No Kid Hungry is making a difference on this issue and that’s pretty rewarding.”
Longoria learned from a young age to give back. “I grew up with a philanthropic mom and family,” she explains. “I learned the word ‘volunteerism’ very early. My mom never talked to me about it. She did it. And she showed us. You can’t really talk to your kids about charity and philanthropy, but you can show them.”
She models this by bringing her preschooler with her when sponsoring an orphanage in India and with her work in Mexico through the Eva Longoria Foundation. “He sees it, and I think he’s starting to understand what it means to give back and to put yourself in other people’s shoes,” Longoria says. “So I think that’s the only thing you can do is be an example of who you want them to be.”
On Seeing Her Face on a Cereal Box
For her latest project, Santi got to see his mom on the face of her first cereal box!
“It’s crazy. It’s so fun,” Longoria says about this cool career milestone. “Yeah, you know, at the age I’m at, it’s pretty iconic. Because I remember cereal boxes just being like our billboards. Back in the day it was a big deal. And so for me, it was like, ‘Oh my god, my face gets to be on a cereal box!’ it was very fun. And even Santi’s like, ‘Why are you on the box?’”
But like any toddler, “He immediately wanted to play with it and rip it up.” Ah, so relatable.
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