According to Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos hasn’t caught up to her just yet.
On Friday’s installment of Live with Kelly and Mark, Consuelos was hesitant to begin reading a particular article aloud, telling the audience, “I don’t know if I want to get into this” and assuring them that he “didn’t write this article.”
“Nah, I don’t want to get this… Ok, I’ll get into it,” he said, before reading aloud,”‘Sorry ladies’ — Aw, man — ‘Males really are better at navigating.’”
“Male what?” Ripa deadpanned. “Male humans.”
Consuelos confirmed and continued reading, “‘[The] study confirm boys give more accurate directions than girls at age three.’”
However, Consuelos wasn’t so sure.
“Here’s the thing. But if you have a son and a daughter, and the daughter’s like two, and the son is five, the daughter seems much smarter. They just do. They’re so fast,” he explained. “They do everything faster… I may have just caught up to you.”
Ripa lovingly placed her hand on Consuelos’s, while gazing into the camera and delivering a harsh truth.
“Not yet,” she teased. “Every day, there’s fresh hope.”
Consuelos shared further details about the study conducted by researchers at Montclair State University, which was published by the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
“‘These range from biological — testosterone — to experience-based — boys have more experience in independent traveling and parenting practices,’” he added. “I don’t know. Our daughter, she can navigate. She’s everywhere.”
Ripa agreed that their daughter is “exceptional” in that regard, but was reminded of an instance where one of their children — who she refused to name — was quite directionally challenged when meeting her in the city for a doctor’s appointment.
“[Said] child was taking the city bus, and I was standing on the corner in front of the doctor’s office across the street,” she recalled. “And I watched said child get off the bus and start walking in the opposite direction.
She continued, “So I called said child on the phone and I go, ‘Where are you going?’ And said child said, ‘I’m going to the doctor’s office.’ I said, ‘You’re walking in the wrong direction.’ And said child said, ‘Where is it?’ And I said, ‘You just have to cross the street. It’s the northeast corner.’”
According to Ripa, this sent “said child” into a “Where’s Waldo” scenario.
“I was like, ‘No! Now turn left! No, your other left! Turn left again! No, no! Cross the street! The other street! Cross the other street! Can’t you see me? I’m waving to you! Look across your right arm… The arm holding the phone!’” she recalled.
However, Consuelos argued that “if said child had to do it on their own and got lost for ten minutes and then finally figured it out, they would remember where they were going the next time.”
“So maybe it’s your fault,” he quipped to Ripa.
“It’s my fault,” Ripa repeated amid laughter. “Well, you were standing next to me.”
They ultimately likened the moment to “watching the worst comedy in slow motion.”
