MUMBAI: Actress Sonali Bendre prefers to be a friendly parent than being a friend to her 14-year-old son.

"I am not my child's friend and don't think I need to be. I am his parent and why can't I be a friendly parent and have a great time together. There are certain things he will speak with his father, with his aunts, with his friends, with his grandparents, there needs to be an outlet for healthy relationships," she said.

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"I tell my kid 'you know technology more than I do, but however grown-up you might be, your brain is not fully formed and might not be able to process the emotional part of it', and that's where parents come in. It's an investment in communication and it always pays off," she added.

Further talking about her relationship with her son, Sonali said: "I have never lied to my kid, I might dress up the truth but have never lied. If I expect my child to be truthful, I need to be true to him. Only reason why you don't want to be completely truthful is because when they are young they will analyse it and comprehend it in a manner and you don't want it to be 'so big' that the child will be scarred. So to make it a bit lighter you give them a version of truth."

She opened up about her son during an episode of the JioSaavn podcast "Raising Parents".

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