Katie Holmes And Tom Cruise’s Unconventional Approach To Parenting Suri

Being a successful artist means enjoying things that none of us can even imagine. Celebrities can hang out at the most exclusive venues, eat at the most expensive restaurants there, and they get to come and go as they please — they have all the money for that. However, that doesn’t mean that being a celeb is all fun and games. Dealing with paparazzi and the media is definitely a downside, and that’s exactly why Katie Holmes is so private about her life. The media has always followed Katie Holmes and her relationship with Tom Cruise, as well as the way these two go about taking care of their kid, Suri. In this article, we’re going to show you 35 ways that Katie and Tom differ when it comes to raising Suri Cruise!

Buying designer shoes for Suri.

Most mothers do their best to give their kids the best things possible, but Katie Holmes takes it to the next level. Since she was a young kid, Suri Cruise was always gifted designer shoes and her expensive collection once was worth $150,000!

This is the kind of controversial parenting thing that has most people talking. Would you spoil your child like that, much less at such a young age? Regardless of what other people say, Holmes doesn’t care and still continues to buy her kid Louboutins.

Treating Suri like an adult.

The fact that Tom Cruise is one of the biggest supporters of Scientology hasn’t been a secret for a very long time. He’s been a member of the Church for decades and doesn’t seem to be looking into cutting ties with them anytime soon.

In Scientology, they believe that kids are merely adults who live in smaller bodies. This affects the way that Scientologists treat kids, and it’s pretty controversial. Let the kids be kids, right? Well, Tom Cruise probably doesn’t agree with that.

Hiring a body double for Suri.

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise’s relationship was one of the most followed by the media. Every paparazzi wanted to follow them around just to get a few pictures so they could sell them to the tabloids. And when Suri was born, this hunt was even more intense.

If you know something about the world of celebs, you know that Katie Holmes is secretive with her personal life, and she kept Suri’s life private as well. One of her tactics included hiring a body double for her daughter. The paparazzi followed the girl without realizing that it wasn’t actually Tom and Katie’s kid!

Hiring Scientologist caretakers for Suri.

Because Tom is such a big supporter of Scientology and is one of their most powerful assets, the Church is a huge part of his life. As such, it’s no surprise it reached his parenthood methods as well. When Suri was still a young kid, he hired only Scientologist nannies to take care of her.

Sometimes, Tom’s mother or sister would take care of Suri — which was not something that Katie enjoyed. At some point, Katie made sure that she had a say in choosing the caretakers for her child, and tried to avoid Scientologist nannies.

Taking Suri and her friends out of the country.

Considering that Katie buys her child designer shoes, it is not that surprising that she takes Suri on trips abroad to celebrate her birthday. Suri is her only kid, so Katie probably wants to make sure that her money is well-spent on her heiress.

Though we have to say that the fact that Katie took Suri to France to celebrate her birthday and brought Suri’s friends along is pretty impressive. It just goes to show that the actress is really not shy when it comes to spoiling her kid — and her kid’s friends, too!

Training to forget that Suri is his kid.

After Katie left the Church of Scientology and took Suri with her, it’s really rare to see the girl with her father. In the beginning, Tom used to see his daughter on occasion, but now the rumors are that he’s cut all ties with her.

While it’s hard for the media to get any news on the Cruise-Holmes family situation, sources who left the Church have said that Tom Cruise is being trained (by an unknown person) to forget that his daughter is actually his daughter. Maybe this is the final step in cutting all ties with her.

Converting to Scientology back in the day.

If you take a look at Tom Cruise’s list of past relationships, you’ll notice a pattern. Every woman who married the actor had to convert to Scientology before they could tie the knot. Nicole Kidman had to do it, and Katie Holmes converted to Scientology as well.

Even though both women left the Church of Scientology once they got divorced from Tom Cruise, we’re sure that Suri was left with a mixed perception of the religion. Her father loves it, while her mother makes sure to stay as far away from it as possible!

Not allowing Suri to ask questions about his religion.

Most of the things we know about Scientology come from sources that were part of the religion once but managed to leave it behind, like Leah Remini. This religion is so secretive, so it’s no wonder that Tom won’t answer any Scientology-related questions.

And that includes not answering questions his own kid may have had. As she grew up, Suri naturally started asking questions about this religion, which may not have pleased her father. Unlike Suri, her half-siblings (from Cruise’s marriage to Nicole Kidman) are strong believers of Scientology and even cut ties with their mother because of it.

Changing Suri’s sleep schedule.

Most parents struggle to get their kids to stick to a sleep routine, but not Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise. For this Hollywood couple, it was fine to put their kid to sleep around the same time that they went to bed, no matter how late it was.

Having a healthy sleep routine is essential for child development. And it’s common knowledge that kids should go to bed early — not around midnight. When the public first learned about this controversial parenting habit, you can imagine how much backlash the couple had to face.

Not letting Suri see a psychiatrist.

If you know anything about Scientology, you’re probably aware of the fact that this religion is completely against psychiatry. They have their reasons, and specialists in the field of Medicine have also given their reasons why people shouldn’t listen to what Scientology says about psychiatry.

Tom Cruise, however, is the Church’s most prized possession and would never do anything that his religion forbids. As such, it was assumed that if Suri ever had mental issues that needed to be dealt with by a psychiatrist, he wouldn’t let her see one — which would definitely be faced with a lot of criticism.

Encouraging Suri to be into makeup.

Most parents have different opinions about whether or not they should let their kids wear makeup. Dads usually want to avoid this, while some mothers are totally fine with it and even encourage their daughters to wear makeup from an early age.

Everything that celebs do is always criticized by half of the internet and praised by the other half. When the paparazzi shared pictures of Katie Holmes buying makeup for Suri, many people were against this decision. However, we’re sure she bought makeup that is not harmful to her daughter’s skin!

Wanting Suri to go through the Scientology auditing process.

Scientology is a highly controversial religion, but it seems like the members of this Church don’t see things that way. Even if they have to undergo a strenuous auditing process, Scientologists still support their religion and defend it from the public’s opinion.

While this is not confirmed, the rumors on the internet a few years ago were that Tom Cruise wanted Suri to undergo this auditing process to confess her “sins,” even though she was only ten years old at the time!

Spoiling Suri with gifts.

If you have a kid, you know how hard it is to educate them and get them to understand that they can’t have everything. And if you don’t have children, you’ve at least seen some kid throwing a tantrum at the mall, right?

While most “regular” parents try to avoid spoiling their kids, Katie Holmes doesn’t care about that. She works hard and spends her money on her daughter. When Suri was younger, Katie bought her everything she asked for — from simple toys to expensive designer shoes!

Having a strict schedule to get to see his daughter.

When you marry someone in Scientology, you’ll lose all contact with them if you ever divorce. And the worst part is that your kids will have to choose between you and your partner. That’s because Scientologists cut all ties with those outside of the religion.

When Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman got divorced, their kids chose to stay with their dad and haven’t been seen with Nicole since then. When Katie and Tom separated, Suri stayed with her mom, which meant her dad rarely visited. It’s been ten years since Tom and Suri were spotted together!

Letting Suri go out on her own.

In some cultures, parents are overprotective and won’t let their kids gain independence for a very long time. However, it seems like Katie Holmes definitely doesn’t mind letting her child do things on her own. And she’s been criticized for that.

Most people wondered how a mother could let her young child go out to places on her own. But the truth is that, while this may be a little controversial, Katie just wants Suri to be her own person. And, she wasn’t truly alone — the girl was always accompanied by her nanny and bodyguard.

Putting his career on top.

As we mentioned, Tom Cruise hasn’t seen Suri in a while, and it doesn’t seem like this is changing anytime soon. Back in 2013, he told the press that he hadn’t seen his kid in months because he was away filming a movie.

However, it’s been almost ten years since he said this, and the two of them haven’t seen each other in person yet. For many, this means that Tom puts his career above his kid. But others believe that this estrangement is mainly due to his religion.

Letting Suri cry nonstop at his wedding.

When Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes married, the ceremony was the talk of the town. In fact, the pair was the only thing the media talked about even before they tied the knot. And because of their religion at the time, the public didn’t get to learn a lot of freaky details about their wedding.

It was only years later that we would get to learn some juicy stuff from the infamous wedding. According to a former Scientology member, Tom Cruise (and Katie) allegedly let Suri cry for hours on end while they kept their guests entertained.

Bringing Suri with her when working on a project.

When you are a single parent with only one child, you’re bound to have a strong bond with that kid. You’re each other’s only family, so it only makes sense that a single mother and an only child would be so close. And it’s not different for Katie Holmes and Suri.

The duo is close, and they’re always spotted hanging out around New York City (their permanent address). And when Katie has to leave town for work, she doesn’t leave Suri behind. The actress makes sure her daughter tags along, even if it means taking her away from her friends for a while.

Letting caretakers shout Suri’s name.

If you want to talk about secretive religions, you have to talk about Scientology. The religion is so keen on keeping things private that even its members are not allowed to speak up about it while they are still strong in their faith.

However, once the members leave the Church for good, there’s nothing stopping them from giving all the secrets away. According to Leah Remini, a former Scientologist, when Suri was not crying during her parents’ wedding ceremony, she was in the bathroom with her caretakers, and they were shouting her name over and over again!

Bottle-feeding Suri for a long while.

There are many benefits to feeding breast milk to a baby — and that’s a hard fact. But once the kid is big enough to be bottle-fed, the parents usually stick to this one method. The problem is that parents never seem to agree on a good time to stop bottle-feeding their kids.

By the time a kid is four years old, most parents have already gotten them off the bottle and fed them using spoons and kid-safe tableware. But that’s not what Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise did. Katie let Suri drink milk from the bottle for much longer than most.

Suri still used a pacifier when she was five years old.

Giving kids the liberty to do the things that they like is a really good thing. By doing this, you’re showing your kid that you respect their wishes and that you respect them. It’s a pretty good way to build a positive relationship with your kid.

But letting your kid use their pacifier when they’re too big for that? That’s not exactly the kind of thing parents should be doing. But that never really stopped Katie Holmes from letting Suri use her pacifier until she was five years old.

They let Suri wear heels from a young age.

Back in the day, women were practically required to wear heels and other uncomfy clothes like bras. Nowadays, we have the right to choose if we want to go braless or never put on a pair of high heels ever again.

Maybe the fact that society has evolved greatly in the last couple of decades influenced the public to criticize Katie and Tom for letting Suri wear heels from a young age. However, we do have to keep in mind that maybe this was her own choice!

Not providing emotional support.

As we mentioned earlier, Scientology encourages its members to view children as adults. The problem is that, when you see a child as an adult, you don’t give them the emotional support and love that they need. This can be detrimental to developing hearts and minds.

According to unconfirmed reports, Scientologists are allegedly advised to not get “attached” to their kids. And it is exactly because of this that Tom Cruise allegedly doesn’t provide emotional support to Suri — or any of his other two kids, for that matter. 

Telling Suri she’s responsible for what happens to her.

When something bad happens to you, you want to talk about it with the people you love. The very last thing that anyone wants to hear is that the bad thing that happened to them was the result of their own wrongdoing.

Former Scientologists have spoken up about the fact that their religion makes them believe that everything that happens to them is their responsibility. If it’s a good thing that happened, fine. But what if it’s a bad thing? You definitely shouldn’t tell a kid that it was their own fault another person hurt them.

Katie encourages Suri to do extracurricular activities.

Nowadays, most kids only care about technology. While our generation used to have a lot of fun playing with the other kids on the block, children today want to have fun only while playing with their video games or scrolling through their phones.

Katie Holmes wants to avoid letting her kid spend too much time on her phone. That’s why she has always encouraged Suri to take on different extracurricular activities. This goes to show how Katie’s primary concern is her daughter’s well-being.

No fun upbringing.

Growing up in a religion that imposes so many rules is not entertaining for children. Kids love playing around and they don’t take themselves too seriously. So it makes a lot of sense that they wouldn’t have fun when they have to follow so many rules.

Scientology is one of those religions that has a very strict system, and they don’t even let kids off the hook that easily. While Suri was only part of the religion for a little while of her life, we can only imagine that it wasn’t a good time!

Building a strong mother-daughter relationship.

As we mentioned earlier, single mothers tend to have a stronger bond with their kids, and this bond is even stronger when they only have one child. This is definitely true for Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise. The dynamic duo is close.

For many parents, bonding with their kids once they become teenagers is pretty hard. It’s not easy to get them to see you as a friend and not as a boring rule-maker. However, it seems like this was never a problem for Katie and Suri, who have always gotten along pretty well.

No interactions with “Suppressive People” are allowed.

If you read any informative text about the Church of Scientology, you’ll see that they classify people according to their ties to the religion. Because it’s so rare for people to leave the Church, former members are considered “Suppressive People.”

When Suri was still part of the Church, it is rumored that Tom Cruise allegedly forbid her from interacting with these Suppressive People, just like every adult Scientologist is prohibited from doing that. Rumor has it that this whole Suppressive People thing is also why Kidman’s children with Cruise don’t talk to her.

Putting Suri’s happiness first.

Most parents have one goal in life — to make sure that their children are happy and healthy. While some parents don’t seem to have any qualms about abandoning their kids, Katie Holmes is definitely not one of those parents.

For Katie Holmes, Suri’s happiness comes above everything else. And maybe that is why she has always made sure to buy the best stuff for her kid. Some people think it’s quite controversial that you’d buy designer shoes for your 3-year-old, since kids will be happy with anything, regardless of the price!

Buying a sonogram machine.

When Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes first got together, he was pretty happy about it. Just look up one of the interviews he gave back then, and you’ll see exactly what we’re talking about. And it’s safe to say that he was even happier when Katie got pregnant.

In fact, Tom Cruise was so happy about his partner’s pregnancy that he went as far as to buy a sonogram machine that cost him $250,000. That’s because he wanted to be able to check up on the baby whenever he desired!

No regretting the past.

Regretting the past is an awful thing. What is the point of reliving all the bad memories over and over again if we can’t change a thing about what has already happened? And it can be pretty tough living with regret.

Katie Holmes wants to make sure that Suri never has to live with the depressing emotions that come with having regret over the past. She’s teaching her daughter to live with her decisions and to understand that there’s no point in crying over spilled milk!

Suri may be considered a distraction.

In Tom Cruise’s religion, there is a whole thing about one reaching their full potential. In order to do that, they can’t get distracted by mundane things. The only problem is that sources have said that children are considered distractions in his religion!

While there is no confirmation of this, sources claim that Cruise considers Suri a distraction! Well, he actually considers all kids a distraction from his greater purpose, and perhaps this is why he doesn’t shower them with a lot of affection.

Buying designer clothes for Suri.

You probably noticed at this point that Katie Holmes loves buying expensive gifts for her daughter. Even though the public is constantly criticizing this choice, the actress doesn’t mind at all and won’t change her ways. And Suri loves that!

After all, what kid wouldn’t love to receive so many gifts from their mothers? Expensive makeup and toys, designer shoes, and designer clothes? We know that most kids don’t even understand what designer clothes represent, but Suri must’ve loved that she had so many pretty dresses.

Encouraging Suri to follow her dreams.

When Hollywood celebrities have children, the kids are famous from the time they are in their mothers’ wombs. However, that doesn’t always mean that a celebrity’s child will want to follow in their mom and dad’s footsteps. Many of these kids want to have their own careers outside of the entertainment industry.

While Suri is still too young to decide if she wants to be an actress like her mother and father, Katie Holmes is more than happy to let her daughter follow her own dreams. Suri briefly participated in one of Katie’s movies, but who knows if this means she wants to be an artist as well!

No leaving the religion.

As you’ve probably noticed at this point, people don’t really leave Scientology. They remain faithful to their religion, and those who leave are seen as “Suppressive People.” Tom Cruise has been a loyal member of the Church for decades now, and he expects his kids to be the same.

While Tom’s oldest kids never left the Church, Suri left Scientology when Katie Holmes got divorced from Tom. While there’s nothing confirmed, Suri is probably considered a “Suppressive Person,” and that’s not what her dad wanted for her — in fact, he wanted her to be a Scientologist just like him.