Thomas Rhett Is Embracing ‘Girl Dad Life’ Ahead of Fourth Daughter’s Birth

Thomas Rhett and wife Lauren Akins are parents to three daughters with another baby girl on the way, and Rhett is fully leaning into life as a girl dad. Speaking to PEOPLE, he shared that while he “would love a son,” he’s become “so used to embracing this ‘girl dad’ life that I don’t really know what I would do with a boy, to be honest with you!”

Rhett and Akins share Willa Gray, 5, Ada James, 3, and Lennon Love, 1, and Rhett explained that one of the lessons he’s learned as a father of three is the importance of spending individual time with each of his kids. “I just love getting to spend one-on-one time with each of them, which is something that I didn’t think was really important before,” he said. “I just thought as long as the five of us were together, we were good. But I think the longer I’ve gone as a dad, it’s like each child really does need that one-on-one time — in the same way that Lauren and I just need time with each other.”

That time can be as simple as taking Willa Gray for an ice cream cone, which Rhett calls “the best thing ever.” His daughters are also big fans of music, and they love spending time in their dad’s home studio. “They all love music, and they all love to go there separately,” Rhett said, “and I’ll just get a guitar and they’ll bang on the piano, or I’ll pull up my Pro Tools rig and put some drumbeats on there. And they’ll just sit up here and play.”

The “Country Again” singer also opened up about his girls’ different personalities, revealing that Willa Gray is “a mother spirit, a nurturer spirit. “If Ada James or Lennon is crying, she’s the first one over there to be like, ‘Are you okay? Do you need your blanket? You want me to get you a bottle of milk?’” he said. “Then you’ve got Ada James, who is extremely sassy. The first person to say, ‘Hey, baby, let’s go get on our pajamas,’ gets ‘Well, I don’t really want to right now.’ And then you’ve got Lennon, who’s just starting to talk, and she’s just as much of a firecracker as Ada James. They’re all so different, yet they’re all so loving, and they all have their own unique personalities.”

One of the biggest lessons Rhett and Akins are working to impart on their daughters is the importance of kindness. “We preach kindness like it is our job,” the 31-year-old said. “That’s our standard. ‘We treat people with kindness, and we treat people with love’ — and that’s what we say in their prayers at night.”