Emma Grede

Because my kids don't need that from me.

My kids need love and they need a certain amount of attention, but that doesn't require eight hours with them.

It's probably like 20 minutes per kid per day, if I'm honest.

I don't do every school drop off, but I'm there when my kids need me.

If my kid's in an art show or, you know, running a race, I am there.

But I don't partake in this idea that I'm supposed to usher my kids through life.

And that you're supposed to be there for everything.

No, I'm just not because here's the thing.

My kids are learning what it is to live up to the expectations of your own life.

They see me go out and chase my dreams and I want them to do that for themselves.

But I do think that we put ourselves in a position right now where the idea of what it means and what it takes to be a parent is so insurmountable that women are running themselves in circles.

You don't need to do that.

I experimented on the first kid.

No, the truth of it is that I wasn't raised like that.

You know, I saw my mom go out and go to work every single day and she left early and she came home late.

And I think that me and my sisters turned out pretty good.

Yeah.

And I just wasn't raised with that expectation that she was supposed to be everything for me.

I knew that I had to do some stuff for myself and that I'd have to rely on some lady down the road to help me with something else.

There was never this expectation that she should be the be-all and end-all.