“You can’t be a great mum and keep working all the time,” she said in a recent interview with the Daily Mail. “I wanted to spend more time with my family. A year off was my birthday present to myself. I didn’t actually act or write. I was just a mum.”
Well, it must be nice to be worth $50 million and have a career that allows you to take off for a year and return when you feel like it. Working moms, regardless of your paycheck, can you imagine telling your boss you are taking the year off, but will be back when you’re good and ready?
In the real world, we just don’t have this luxury. Not to mention, most working-class moms can’t afford to stay home. They rely on their paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle (I sure do). I don’t have millions stashed in the bank, Emma. And I actually think I am a great mom—a great, solo single mom, parenting alone 24/7.
My work is fulfilling, fun, and crucial to my family’s survival. I am a happier, healthier person when I am working and creating. My son, 6, is also happy and satisfied at school, baseball, and with his friends. We have a wonderful relationship and don’t just survive, we thrive. Motherhood isn’t a competition or something I view as having to fit in, make time for, or dedicate my entire self too. Motherhood is an organic part of my life and I don’t need a year off to be “great” at it.
Chime in, moms!
