Trisha Yearwood Says Garth Brooks’ 3 Daughters Had to ‘Approve’ of Her

When she married Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood needed the approval of the three main girls in his life — his daughters.

The singer, 61, appeared on Southern Living’s Biscuits & Jam podcast on Tuesday, Dec. 16 and spoke about her relationship with her husband’s three daughters — Taylor, 33, August, 31, and Allie, 29 — whom he shares with ex-wife Sandy Mahl.

“Well, we were married in 2005 and Garth’s children, who I became bonus mom to, were young and we all got married,” Yearwood said. “They had to approve of me and give their blessing and we all exchanged rings and our anniversary for us is really more of a family thing than a romantic getaway.”

“So we have, over the years, kind of made our anniversary tradition to make sure we get with our children and decorate the Christmas tree together,” she continued. “And they’re all grown now and so it’s a little harder to get everybody in the same space, but we do it and that is how we’ll celebrate.”

Back in 2021, Yearwood elaborated on becoming a “bonus mom” to her three stepdaughters after her 2005 marriage to Brooks. “I had a dog before I married Garth but no children of my own. I never even really babysat!” she told PEOPLE at the time.

“So I didn’t know what to do with three young girls,” the singer continued. “Garth was such a wonderful mentor to me as to how to be a parent, and he told me, ‘You’ll find your way with each of them. Don’t try to be their best friend, and don’t try to be their mom.’ ”

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Many years later, Yearwood said Taylor, August and Allie have given her “a lot of grace” as a parent.

“They let me learn my way and allowed me to be that third parent in their lives,” she said. “They were a gift that I didn’t know I needed. I didn’t know how much children brought into your life until I got a chance to be a part of their lives.”

Yearwood also shared that one way she was able to bond with her stepdaughters was through mealtimes. “We realized it was important [to have meals together] back when the girls were starting to drive,” she said.

“Getting three teenagers together at once is almost impossible, so we started having ‘veggie night’ to try to get more vegetables in their diet. They loved it, and some of the best conversations happened around that table,” she explained.

Through their year in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, Yearwood said she and Brooks have gotten back to eating practically “all” of their meals together.

“We’ve been together basically 24/7,” she said. “We kind of lost that as we got busier in our lives, and I think that getting that time back was really valuable for us as a family, especially for me being a bonus mom.”