Spoiler alert: there is no “perfect” way to parent and that’s okay. Whether you are mom, soon-to-be or looking forward to it in the future, know that parenting is a personal endeavor. While people give tips and tricks to parenting, it often seems to boil down to the individuality of the child and what you perceive to be right for them. Mistakes are bound to happen because at the end of the day we are all human, but moms like Kelly Rowland are finding solace in that fact and aim instead to be the best they can be for their children.
PHOTO: RollingOut
“I was talking to my best friend in Houston and she said ‘Kel, I love you. But you’re not the perfect mother — and neither am I. No one is — so whenever someone tries to put that pressure on you, just tell them to go.’ You just want to make sure they have this easy life, but [trying to be perfect] doesn’t make any sense in the world — they have to understand what falling down, and trying again, and getting back up feels like,” Rowland shared with Instyle in a recent interview.
Again, trying to be a perfect mom is an unrealistic standard and a pressure that mothers should not place on themselves. At the end of the day, all parents are just trying to figure things out as their child progresses. For Rowland, she often thinks about how Titan will navigate the world as a black child and how she will eventually explain the ways of the world to him when it comes to skin color/race.
“When it comes to just being a black mother, the one thing you think about is the life of your child,” Rowland said. “You think about the fact that their life is just different because of their skin color. It’s going to always be different because of their skin color. I put the pressure on myself — I’m like, he has to be great in school, he has to be further along than the other students to make sure he has an extra opportunity… Right now, he sees no color because he’s only a child,” she explains. “I want him to understand where I’m coming from — I’m still learning how to gather my words to say them all to him.”
PHOTO: US Magazine
In addition to figuring out the words for future difficult conversations, Rowland has also adjusted to her new title that supersedes all her other titles.
“All of [people’s] questions are like, ‘Well, where's Titan?’ or, ‘How is Titan?” Now that he's in school, it's like — I'm Titan's mom. I don't have a name. My name is not Kelly, it's Titan's Mom.”
And in our humble opinion, we think Titan is probably over the moon to have a mom as amazing as Kelly Rowland!
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