Jimmie Allen Shares the Lessons He Wants to Teach His Kids

Jimmie Allen is a soon-to-be father of three, and the country singer is working on instilling some important lessons in his kids. Speaking to PEOPLE, Allen opened up about the wisdom he’s hoping to impart on his kids, 7-year-old son Aadyn and 16-month-old daughter Naomi Bettie.

“My main lessons with my kids are to be yourself, have confidence in yourself, never give up and be good to people,” he said. “Those are tools that help you succeed, no matter what it is you’re doing.” Allen’s newly-published children’s book, My Voice Is a Trumpet, shares a similar sentiment, inspiring kids to develop their self-confidence. “With all the noise on social media, sometimes it’s easy to get swayed and want to be like other people,” Allen mused. “The person you should be is more like yourself. Right now, reassurance and confidence-building in children is super important.”

The “Freedom Was a Highway” singer shares Naomi Bettie with wife Alexis Gale and Aadyn is from a previous relationship, and Allen and Gale announced in June that they will be welcoming a second child together later this year. Allen confirmed later that month that he and Alexis are expecting another daughter, and he told PEOPLE that his son initially wasn’t too thrilled about adding another female to the family. “He’s excited to be a big brother. But he told me if we don’t get another brother, he’s going to be upset,” Allen recalled. “He said, ‘Dad, there’s too many girls.’ He said, ‘There’s Mommy. There’s Alexis. There’s Naomi and now this new girl.’”

“I said, ‘You don’t got to share your boy stuff. You’re the only one to be able to wear your size sneakers,’” Allen said, explaining that he also grew up with a lot of women in his family. “I’m used to it,” he said. “So I give him a little insight on how to handle it.”

The Delaware native added that he thinks he’s a “pretty chill” dad. “Sometimes it’s okay to let them make a mistake. You can’t protect them from everything,” he mused. “There are plenty of times when I step in as a father and say, ‘All right, let’s try this, let’s try that,’ [when I] see them struggling. But, for the most part, I teach my life lessons to them and watch them become their own people.”