Tia Mowry Shares ‘Weird’ Childhood Habit: ‘I Can’t Believe I’m Sharing This’

Tia Mowry is getting real about the “weird” childhood habit her mom had to go to extreme lengths to break! While filming the new season of Family Reunion, the actress, 43, opened up about childhood soothing techniques during another “Tea With Tia” on her Instagram Story. While many kids suck their thumbs or fingers, Mowry revealed she took things to a different place.

“I cannot believe I’m sharing this with you guys, but do you guys know what I used to do?” she asked. “I used to suck my arm.” Mowry continued that sucking on her arm helped her calm down and fall asleep, and it’s a habit she continued until she was about 13 or 14 years old. “I really want to know if there are other people out there in the world that did this because I always thought that I was just weird!” Mowry said, laughing.

The Sister Sister star then shared how her mom got her to break the habit, recalling, “She would put mosquito spray repellent on my arm. It worked, I stopped sucking my arm, but you guys, I was an arm-sucker.” Mowry now has kids of her own to help navigate through life – daughter Cairo 3, and son Cree, 10, whom she shares with husband Cory Hardrict.

Over Easter, Mowry took to her Instagram Story to urge her fellow parents to “be present” with their children during these special times before they eventually grow into adults. “Try to turn off the TV during dinner, try not to be on your phone when you’re with those kids… take those five minutes after school to talk to them about their day and what they want to be when they grow up,” she said. “These are the moments that you will cherish forever. You guys, before you know it, our babies, they just won’t be babies anymore.”

Looking back on her own childhood memories in a September 2021 interview with PopCulture.com, Mowry said she will always cherish going through “the growing pains” with twin sister Tamera Mowry. “To be able to have someone right next to you that’s going through the same things that you’re going through, whether that was positive or negative, it was great to share those monumental experiences with my sister and also just sharing the success with someone,” she explained.