As we watch our spirit animal Drew Barrymore on her motherhood journey (aka stalk her Instagram to fuel the fantasy we’ve had since college about being her IRL bestie—remember Mad Love??), we remain as impressed as ever. She’s open about how her rocky relationship with her own mom has motivated her to be rock solid for her daughters Olive and Frankie, so her parenting wisdom holds weight. Her wakeup call to all working moms? What we say about work and how we say it matters just as much as what we do. Here’s Drew, in her own words:
“I always explain to [Olive] that I love my job. I don’t say ‘I have to go work’ with a grimace on my face, because I fear it will make her feel negative about something a lot of moms must do to provide. My friend once said ‘never make your child feel like work is the bad thing taking you away from them’ and I realized a lot of us tend to do that to try to make our kids feel better and that work is the yucky thing taking us away. It’s a good intention, but I am convinced I need to take a different approach. I want to empower my daughters to think work is good and necessary. And can even lead them to [the] road of their dreams. I feel guilty as hell for being away (and what mother doesn’t?!) But I try [to find] a way to empower me and my kids into something more positive. I don’t blame work, I own the responsibility. I will be patient when she is upset if I am away…Like I said, I’m trying to balance life to make it as great as it can be, and we have to find ways that are authentic and true to who we are.”
Preach, Drew.
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