She has continued to balance her busy acting career with being a wife and mother for the past few years.
But Gabrielle Union admitted that her children did not always want her to try to balance her career with her family life.
The 48-year-old Finest star from Los Angeles told Gwyneth Paltrow in a recent episode of Podcast Goop that her children thought she “shouldn’t” work anymore because of how much money her husband Dwyane Wade was earning.
Working mother: Gabrielle Union, 48, told Gwyneth Paltrow in a recent episode of Podcast Goop that her children once wanted her to stop working because her husband Dwyane Wade was ‘rich’ enough; seen in February 2020
‘They had reached this stage as preteens, where they just wanted us to be like the other families,’ explained Gabrielle.
‘They researched how much their dad made and thought I shouldn’t work – I should just be at home like the other moms of their friends because “Dad is rich and you should be at home and we should be a normal family like everyone else. “‘
She added that she thought the children had a sense of ‘relief’ after she and Dwyane were married in 2014, after four years of dating, although they still wanted the traditional family dynamics they had seen in the families of some friends.
“They just wanted to be normal, whatever it was,” she continued. “At the time we were married, I think it was just a relief for them, which is not always an emotion that you associate with children in this situation. And they said, ‘Ah, we are a normal family! Hang on. Are you leaving. And the father is still rich, so what’s going on here? ‘
Highlighting: ‘They reached this stage as pre-teens where they wanted us to be like other families’, explained Gabrielle
Compliance: she said her older stepchildren saw friends whose mothers stayed at home and didn’t work
Gabrielle had to explain to her children that women can have goals and passions beyond their families.
“Sometimes women want to work and have a career and just do other things and that’s what makes me who I am,” she said. ” That doesn’t mean I love you less, or I don’t want the job, or I don’t love being your stepmother. ”
She added: ‘”I will do my best to be here for all the things you want me to be here for. [for] at the same time, making sure there is room for the mother or father. It is the golden seat of honor, always. And we just move that way. “‘
She had more problems with her older stepchildren, Dwyane’s son Zaire, now 19, daughter Zaya, 13, and her nephew Dahveon Morris, 19, who lives with them.
They are also raising Dwyane’s seven-year-old son from a previous relationship, Xavier Zechariah, and Gabrielle and the basketball star share a two-year-old daughter named Kaavia James, who was born to a surrogate mother.
Different traits: “” Sometimes women want to work and have a career and just do other things and that’s what makes me who I am, “said Gabrielle to her children. Gwyneth admitted that she also struggled as a new stepmother, although she is fortunate that the children are the same age as her.
Big family: The Bring It On Star married Dwyane Wade, 39, in 2014. Gabrielle had more problems with her older stepchildren, Dwyane’s son Zaire, now 19, daughter Zaya, 13, and his nephew Dahveon Morris, 19, who lives with them
Younger children: they are also raising Dwyane’s seven-year-old son, Xavier, and Gabrielle and the sports star share a two-year-old daughter named Kaavia, who was born to a surrogate mother
The Bring It On Star married Wade, 39, in 2014.
Elsewhere on the podcast, Gabrielle admitted that she used her family experiences with her stepmother to guide how to be a good stepfather.
She said “she tried to do the opposite of what I thought my stepmother did wrong or that she could have done better”.
She said her biological parents, Sylvester and Theresa, divorced ‘amicably’ after 30 years together, and Sylvester later married her.
She encouraged new stepfathers to share their true selves with their stepchildren.
‘Whoever you are, just be consistent so that everyone can get used to who the hell you really are and you’re not pretending and then the mask falls off,’ she insisted.
She was also unable to speak loudly enough about staying “above the fray” and saying nothing negative about the other biological father to her children.
Proud: Gabrielle admitted that she does the ‘opposite’ of what her own stepmother did in many situations when trying to educate her children with Dwyane