No wonder he’s been so excited to bond with Ella’s boyfriend—finally, someone wants to hang out with him!

However, now that his sons are getting into golf And he’s an avid player—and is friends with lots of professional golfers and other athletes—”they’re a little bit impressed with that,” Wahlberg said on the April 10 episode of the Sunday Sitdown podcast. But I believe they secretly admire my work ethic. They need me to set an example, to demonstrate that Dad is going to get up every day and do what he needs to. I could be easily complacent with my success. But I am more determined and driven than ever before.

As for his faith, which is so central to his world, “I don’t force it” on the kids, he told Hoda Kotb on Today April 7. “But they know that Dad can’t start the day without being in prayer, can’t start the day without reading my Scripture or going to Mass. And hopefully, instead of forcing that them, they’ll say, ‘Well, if it works for Dad, maybe it’ll work for us,’ and they’ll kind of gravitate towards it on their own.”

He joked that they think Dad is insane and that he was boring.