How Denise Richards Explains Charlie Sheen to Their Kids

Feb. 18, 2011— -- While Charlie Sheen is busy dishing advice to Lindsay Lohan and her mother Dina during his at-home rehab, his ex-wife Denise Richards is trying to help their daughters make sense of their father's outrageous and often public behavior.

"My concern is our kids," Richards told the co-hosts of "The View" today. Richards and Sheen have two daughters, Sam, 7, and Lola, 6.

"I've had to have a couple conversations with them at this point," she said.

Richards told "The View" that while it's easy to control what the girls hear and see on television, she can't do the same when they around their peers in school.

"It's a very difficult situation," she said. "This isn't new. This is something I've dealt with for years. There are times when his life is more colorful and more public than others. This is a subject I had hoped to talk to the children about when they got older."

Instead, Richards has turned to books to help the girls understand their father's situation. Blanking on the title of one of the books, she said, it "explains addiction to children," with "images that a child understands."

"I do the best I can and it's not easy," she said.

Richards also expressed no surprise about Sheen's troubles. "This is Charlie's lifestyle," she said. "He makes no bones about it. It is what it is."

When Joy Behar asked Richards, "What's wrong with him?" eliciting laughter from the audience, Richards, demurred: "It's honestly not my place to judge this situation. You should have him on the show."

Sheen certainly has no loss for words these days.

Charlie Sheen's Advice to Lindsay Lohan

This week he has offered advice to Lindsay Lohan. "I have some things I think she should consider, cause I don't tell anybody what to do," Sheen said Wednesday on The Dan Patrick Show on DirecTV. "Work on your impulse control ... just try and think things through a little bit before you do them."

Calling into the show for the second time this week, Sheen spoke about Lohan's recent legal troubles, in which she's accused of stealing a $2500 necklace. "They're so desperate to vilify," he said, presumably referring to the media.

Sheen also clarified some remarks he made Monday about his future with "Two and a Half Men."

"I don't have any answers," Sheen said. "I can't tell people what to do. I don't come from a place of judgment or opinion."

Sheen, who's currently undergoing substance-abuse rehab at his home, told Patrick that shooting gears up again on Feb. 28 and he is scheduled to report March 1. Sheen, who has a two-year deal, said he wants to do the show next year.

He also sounded more contrite about his bosses at CBS, saying how "grateful" he was when they "showed up at our house and said 'It's getting really obvious and we're really worried about you.' They came in man to man and said 'We have to shut it down.'"

Sheen also made it clear that he never in an altered state while on the set. "Never been drunk. Never been high on the set once," he said, though he did cop to some late nights before showing up.

On Monday, the actor showed little love for his bosses. He said he was ready to return to work, "but the suits" won't let him.

He described banging on the door of the show's studio and getting no answer.

"[The execs] said 'You get ready and we'll get ready,'" he said today on "The Dan Patrick Show" on DirecTV, "and I got ready and went back and nobody was there ... I don't know what to tell you."

Charlie Sheen on Dan Patrick Show

A raspy-sounding Sheen, who quipped that he sounded "like Demi Moore in the '80s," added, "I'm here and I'm ready. They're not. Bring it."

When Patrick asked when Sheen's scheduled to return to work, the actor joked, "August of 2014." He then offered, "I don't know, it's supposed to be like the 28th."

Asked about his Valentine's Day plans, Sheen again made a crack: "I'm celebrating it right now, with you. Sorry that got awkward and creepy really fast."

Sheen also told Patrick why he started drinking again.

"It tends to do with boredom," he said, according to a report on People.com. "It's about wanting to make things better -- whether that's real or imagined."

Sheen voluntarily checked into a rehab facility at the end of January following a brief hospitalization and partying spree. His decision to go to rehab prompted CBS Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television to put "Two and a Half Men" on an indefinite hiatus. Sheen later decided to undergo rehab at home.

Sheen's recent problems are bad, both for the network that airs "Two and Half Men" and for the studio that produces it. They could lose hundreds of millions of dollars if "Two and a Half Men" fails to return to TV.

But for those around Sheen, his latest (third) round in rehab comes as a relief. A source close to the situation told ABCNews.com that high-level executives at CBS and Warner Bros. have been pushing for Sheen to go to rehab for some time.

A CBS statement released on Jan. 31 underlined that point: "The most important thing right now is that Charlie is seeking help. Any immediate programming or financial implications pale in comparison to his long term health, safety and well-being."