- Ali Wong said she brings her mom along with her kids on tours.
- She said she sometimes struggles with being seen as a ‘non-traditional’ mom to her own mother.
- But Wong still credits her mother and ex-husband for helping out with the kids when she’s on tour.
Learning how to lean on her mom and ex-husband while raising two kids has helped Ali Wong continue her success as a working mom.
In an interview with InStyle, published on Tuesday, the comedian said she brings her mom and kids on her stand-up tours.
“I met Lauryn Hill a couple of years ago, and talked to her about touring with children, and she talked to me about how she brought her mother everywhere with her, too,” Wong, 42, said.
Wong, who shares daughters Mari, 8, and Nikki, 6, with her ex-husband, Justin Hakuta, didn’t see motherhood as the end of her career. “It was this expansive beginning to so many new chapters. I have them to be grateful for that, too,” Wong said.
But the “Always Be My Maybe” star said her 84-year-old mom had different expectations of balancing career and motherhood.
“In her time, you weren’t really supposed to live a life for yourself. It was all about sacrificing and servicing everyone else before you,” she said.
After having children, Wong continued to pursue her career in comedy and acting. She went on to win two Emmy awards for her role in the Netflix series “Beef.”
While she said she doesn’t care about what others think, she worries about how her own mom feels.
“It’s mostly because of her and the father of my children that I’ve been able to do everything I do,” she said. “But it’s also because of her that I sometimes struggle with being ‘non-traditional,” she said about her mom.
Still, bringing her kids on tour has afforded her more time with them.
“Taking kids on the road is so beautiful. It’s the opposite of film and television where I’m just gone all day,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023.
“It’s a really fun family adventure because basically at night I’m performing, and then during the day, we go on adventures to the children’s museum or the gardens or we see family friends. It’s really cool that they’ve seen so much of America.”
Balancing work and parenthood
For many parents, relying on grandparents for childcare can help with the high cost of day care.
Stephanie Ross, a lawyer and mother of triplets, previously told Business Insider that her mom moved into her house to provide childcare.
She said getting day care would have cost the equivalent of a second mortgage. “As for Mom, she is happy. She has developed an incredible bond with her grandkids,” she said.
But not all grandparents are willing to babysit. Nirmala Sequeira, a grandmother of five, never babysits her grandkids. She feels she has already done her duty as a parent. “I don’t feel any guilt or obligation. I feel bad for grandparents who do,” she wrote.
For some parents, outsourcing help can give them more time to pursue their careers. Jennifer Biggs, who works full-time, depends on a “paid village” to help with her three kids.
“Paid childcare means I don’t burn out under the pressure of trying to do it all. It protects my mental health so I can work and parent without depending on the grandparents,” she said.
A representative for Wong did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.
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