If you’re a working mother, you know how difficult it can be to manage the work-life balance. That’s even true for celebrities like Halle Berry, who has first-hand experience with having to leave home to do her work – and leave her kids behind. Now, the single mother is opening up about how she combats the guilt she sometimes feels, and how she makes sure her children still know they’re a priority in her life.
Halle Berry is one of the most accomplished women on the planet. As a producer, director and entrepreneur, and actress with several amazing movies under her belt, she has carved out an enduring legacy in Hollywood and beyond. She has done all that while balancing a very public private life, and while supporting her two children as a single mom. And as she told People, she sometimes finds herself struggling with being pulled in two directions:
I do find it's sometimes hard to leave them and go away and do my job. And there's this thing called mom guilt. I'm not so sure men feel it as quite deeply as we feel it as women, but I fight against that because I want my children to grow and know that they can be parents and they can have careers that they love at the same time.
It’s so admirable that the Oscar winner is actively trying to set a good example for her children. Framing her work in a way that they can see the potential of living a fulfilled life is a positive way to approach those feelings. By keeping that perspective, and sharing it with her kids, she's also able to make sure they know exactly why she’s doing it:
I'm a single mom and I'm a working mother — the breadwinner in my family — and so working is very much what I have to do, but it's also what I love to do. So when I have to go away to work, I make a point of letting my children know, 'Yes, I'm going because I have to afford our life, but I also love what I'm doing.'
Many working mothers feel similar guilt when they're away from home, and wonder if they are doing the right thing. Being able to say that you love what you do, and that doesn’t take away from how much you love your children, can sometimes be difficult. By sharing how she copes with these feelings, Halle Berry, who understands the importance of being a role model in many areas of life, is setting a good example for other working moms, too.
It’s easy to see why balancing work and parenting has been on Halle Berry’s mind lately. She has been busier than ever. Last year, her directorial debut, Netflix's Bruised, was released. This year, she leads a cast of talented actors in the sci-fi drama Moonfall. And she’s already musing over her next potential projects – which may or may not include a John Wick spinoff. Whatever she chooses to do next, she’ll have her fans and her family behind her.
