Mindy Kalingis sharing what philosophies inspire her own parenting style.
Kaling — who is mom to 3-year-old daughterKatherine “Kit” Swatiand 8-month-old son Spencer — appeared at the #WOW2021 event Thursday for a conversation with UCLA associate professor of psychiatry Dr. Robin Berman.
“It has been wonderful,” Kaling, 41, told Berman of motherhood, adding, “I don’t know if I recommend everyone having a secret pregnancy during a worldwide pandemic, but I will say I learned a lot from it. Definitely like a once in a lifetime type of thing.”
Mindy Kaling/Instagram.
Later in the conversation, Kaling said that so far, the most difficult part of parenting has been not trying to “eliminate all risk for my children.”
Mindy Kaling.UCLA Health
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“My parents were immigrants, and they both worked, and they had a different kind of more immediate fear, which is like ‘Okay, we’ve got to put food on the table, build our careers over again,’ … I sometimes try to summon that feeling that my parents had, which is like, if I could just extricate myself a little bit from this, and allow them to experience risk, I think that would be the best for them. "
“Being a single mom is not for everyone,” Kaling said, adding that she is “only able to do it” because she waited until she was able to have resources like a full-time nanny. She also noted that her dad is retired and able to help out with Kit and Spencer.
“So we have this like little strange little house of like intergenerational, interracial people that are coming in and out to take care of everything,” she said.
“I feel my life is so rich,” she continued, explaining that she is able to relive moments from her own childhood through her children’s experiences — which has in turn impacted her work. “If anything, [parenthood] has given me this flooding of memories of my childhood, I feel like I’m able to write even more. … That has been one of the most unexpected pleasures of having children, is being able to tap back into my own youth.”
If you or someone you know need mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
source: people.com
