Growing up in the spotlight as the daughters of a future President and First Lady could have created a childhood defined by strict rules, overwhelming public scrutiny, or constant supervision. But Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Bush say their upbringing was something strikingly different — something simple, joyful, grounded, and surprisingly relatable. Now, as mothers in a world radically transformed by technology and pressure, the Bush twins are trying to recreate that same sense of freedom and wonder for their own children.

And they admit: it’s not easy.

In an exclusive conversation with Us Weekly, Barbara Bush reflects on the gentle, hands-off approach George W. Bush and Laura Bush took during the ‘80s and ‘90s — an era before smartphones, constant text messages, and digital monitoring shaped modern parenting. “It was sort of like the laissez-faire parenting of the time,” Barbara, 43, explains. “Our parents were very around, but we had a lot of freedom — playing outside, exploring, running around the neighborhood in a safe way. It was before the constant connection we have now.”

That mix of presence and independence is something she and Jenna, also 43, work to emulate with their own families — even though the world has changed dramatically since their own childhoods. Barbara shares 3-year-old Cora Georgia and 7-month-old Edward with husband Craig Coyne. Jenna shares her three kids — Mila, 11, Poppy, 9, and Hal, 5 — with husband Henry Hager.

Barbara admits she “aspires” to create a home environment like the one she grew up in, although the realities of raising kids today are vastly different. “The world is quite different now,” she notes. “I aspire to be that type of parent in this world.”

Jenna agrees. She describes her parenting style as “pretty similar” to the one she and Barbara experienced, especially when it comes to valuing presence over pressure. One of the biggest choices she’s made reflects that philosophy: delaying the moment her eldest daughter, Mila, gets a cellphone.

“She’s in sixth grade,” Jenna says. “A lot of kids in her grade do have phones, but we are waiting on that. She knows if she needs me, she can go into a store and call me — she has my number memorized.”

The decision is deeply rooted in something Jenna and Barbara remember vividly: the sense of magic their parents infused into their upbringing. Jenna fondly recalls George running beside her as she learned to ride a bike, or the elaborate scavenger-hunt birthday parties their parents created for them. It wasn’t about extravagance — it was about imagination, attention, and shared moments.

“They tried to make the world creative and magical for us,” Jenna says. “When you’re really little, the world is magical. It’s about parents putting down their phones, seeing what their kids see — because it’s hilarious, it’s fun, and it brings this joyful energy into the home.”

To Jenna, parenting is a two-way gift. Children bring parents back into the present, back into wonder, back into noticing small beauty in everyday things. “Parents can show kids the magic of the world,” she explains, “but also, and probably more importantly, parents can see through their kids’ eyes some of that magic.”

This idea — the connection between parent and child, the tenderness of recognizing a soulmate-like bond from the moment a child is born — inspired Jenna and Barbara’s new children’s book I Loved You First. The book is dedicated to their parents and written as a heartfelt love letter to their own kids.

“We wanted something that encourages parents to tell their kids how meaningful they are every night before bed,” Barbara says. “It was a way to keep reminding our own kids how much we love them, how grateful we are for them, and how they see the world.”

Barbara hopes that when parents read I Loved You First, they not only connect more deeply with their children, but also reflect on their own parents’ influence — the ways love, protection, and support carry across generations.

“It’s for our kids, but also for our parents,” she says. “They gave us the world in so many ways.”

The book’s message feels especially powerful in a cultural moment when parenting is complicated by digital overload, societal expectations, and constant noise. For Jenna and Barbara, writing it was a chance to reaffirm the simple truths they believe still matter most: love, presence, curiosity, and childhood joy.

Their story is also one of sisterhood — two women navigating motherhood side by side, grounded by shared memories and shaped by a uniquely public upbringing that never overshadowed the private warmth of their family life.

And through it all, they carry forward the lessons of George and Laura Bush: let your children explore, let them dream, let them be imaginative — and meet them there, in that place where the world still feels magical.

I Loved You First is available now.