Alec Baldwin Opens Up About His Biggest Fatherhood Challenge (Hint: It Involves Wife Hilaria)

"Being a father can be very challenging because kids are obsessed with their mothers," Alec Baldwin tells PEOPLE in this week's issue

By

Published on January 4, 2018 04:25 PM

As a parent of four (soon to be five!), Alec Baldwin has plenty of experience when it comes to fatherhood — but he still comes across some obstacles every now and then.

“Being a father can be very challenging because kids are obsessed with their mothers,” the actor, 59, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “I’m in a room with my kids and I’m doing really well until my wife walks in! They just dump me.”

“That’s just how it is — there’s nothing I can do about it!” continues the star, praising wife Hilaria, “My advice for new dads: If your wife is a great mommy, appreciate that and enjoy that. That’s a great thing to have.”

Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and more in the PEOPLE Babies newsletter.

Alec and Hilaria Baldwin with their children

RELATED VIDEO: Alec Baldwin Visits Disneyland, Shares Adorable Photo With Older Daughter and Youngest Son!

For more coverage, follow our babies magazine on Flipboard.

Alec, who will be hosting the third season of ABC’s Match Game, and Hilaria tied the knot in June 2012 and are now parents to Leonardo “Leo” Ángel Charles, 15 months, Rafael Thomas, 2½, and Carmen Gabriela, 4. Alec is also dad to 22-year-old daughter Ireland.

The duo announced they are expecting their fourth child — a son — together in early November. “Our Baldwinitos are getting a new teammate this spring ❤️,” Hilaria captioned a family photo of herself, Alec, the family pup and the couple’s children.

Shortly thereafter, the couple shared a video of Hilaria, 33, cutting into a cake to reveal a blue center, sharing that the family will be welcoming another baby boy.

While navigating a hectic schedule, the father of four says he and Hilaria are definitely on the same page when it comes to their priorities.

“Obviously we’re finding some time for each other,” Baldwin says. “My wife and I want the same thing — we both have ambitions. My wife has a passion for fitness and wellness and health. We both wanted to have a family — to spend time together and enjoy our lives together.”

He adds, “We want to show our kids the world. I’m lucky to make a living and be able to support them. I’m so lucky to have her. Our kids are pretty magical.”

FROM PEOPLETV: Former Bachelorette Emily Maynard Johnson Says She Wants 2 More Kids to Up Her Total to 5

While staying committed to spending time with his family, Baldwin admits he has to carefully choose what projects he decides to take on — and hosting Match Game seemed to be the perfect fit.

“Hosting a game show was never a goal of mine, but when they came to me and offered me to do a summer package for the show last summer in order to get some money to put into my charitable foundation, it was a great opportunity,” he says. “They came to me and asked me if I wanted to do it again and I said yes.”

“I just have ambitions for different things,” Baldwin explains. “I want to be with my kids. I want to be with my wife. I want to work, but I want it to fit into my lifestyle of having little children.”

Season 3 of Match Game airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST on ABC.

For more on Alec Baldwin and wife Hilaria’s growing family, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.