Among one of the most common questions people ask moms is, "how do you balance your work and family life?"
Well, the answer can be complicated — even (or especially) when you're an actress, clothing designer, and mom.
In a new interview with E! News, Eva Mendes admitted that she often feels guilty when dividing her time between her career and her home life.
"Oh my God, nobody warns you about the guilt that you feel when you do work!" she said. "I don't know how I find balance, because I think it is like a day to day kind of struggle, you know?"
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Mendes, who has two daughters (Esmeralda, 3, and Amada, 1) with fellow actor Ryan Gosling, also said that taking care of herself is essential to being able to care for her children.
"I'm all for obviously taking care of myself — that's how I can take care of them of course — but that guilt that is just kind of always there," she said. "It's like, 'Ugh, this is gonna be there forever now.'"
Earlier this year, Mendes also told Shape magazine that she has certain priorities when it comes to her family.
"What people don’t know about me is that I love being home," she said. "Instead of hitting the red carpet, I’d rather be with our girls."
Of course, feeling guilt doesn't mean that a mom shouldn't work or should have to make a choice between family and career, but as Mendes said, it isn't easy, and it can be unavoidable to think about your children when you're working and vice versa.
Welcome to Mothership: Parenting stories you actually want to read, whether you're thinking about or passing on kids, from egg-freezing to taking home baby and beyond. Because motherhood is a big if — not when — and it's time we talked about it that way.
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