A mother in heaven. This Friday, March 22, Cameron Diaz announced that she had become the mother of a little boy.awesome“, which already returns its parents”so happy“, but also “blessed and grateful.“A happy event for the actress and her husband Benjamin Madden, who were already parents of a little Raddix, born on January 7, 2020. In 2015, Cameron Diaz explained that she wanted to take a step back from her profession as an actress, in the hope of starting a family. The actress, who finally waited until 2019 before discovering the joys of motherhood, remained all this time focused on her desire to be a mother.
If this scenario is present in the United States, it also affects our French personalities. The actress Julie Gayet, initially trained in the theater, for example chose to move away from the stage to educate her sons Tadeo and Ezechiel. For her part, singer Jenifer is giving up an international career in favor of a family life. “I preferred to have a child and build a life for myself first“, she confided on France 5 in 2016. The whole question is whether it is a conscious and thoughtful choice or a sacrifice. In this second case, the consequences are not the same …
>> PHOTOS – Julie Gayet, Cameron Diaz, Julia Roberts… These stars put their children before their careers
The importance of prioritizing your family life
Like Jenifer, some decide to put their careers second, in order to focus more on their personal lives. “When it’s a choice, we don’t experience it as a sacrifice. It doesn’t feel like you’re giving up on your dreams.“, explains Marianne Bille, clinical psychologist, family and couples therapist. Like the former winner of star AcademyAdam Levine is accomplished in his role “stay-at-home dad“.”I stay at home and do very little. It’s good“, indicates the leader of the Maroon 5 facing Ellen DeGeneres in 2019.
Julia Roberts, who found success relatively early, has no problem taking a break from her professional life to spend more time with her family. “I think the luckiest aspect of my professional life and my family life is that the success in my professional life came earlier. So by the time I found success in my family life and had a husband and children who wanted to stay at home, I had been working for 18 years“, she explains to our colleagues at Vogue, specifying that she did not “didn’t have to choose one or the other.” But not everyone has this opportunity…
When making a choice feels like a sacrifice
Some stars review their career plans the day they become mothers. Guest of the podcast Radio Times posted online on March 12 on Apple Music, Lily Allen talks about her role as a mother and the impact it may have had on her artistic career. “Yes, my children ruined my career“, assumes the singer, now 38 years old, who does not, however, question the love she has for her two daughters, Ethel Mary and Marnie Rose, respectively born in 2011 and 2013 from her union with Sam Cooper from whom she divorced in 2018. Before her, other celebrities recognized that they had to make professional sacrifices for the good of their offspring.
Yaël Braun-Pivet, the current president of the National Assembly, for example, left her job as a criminal lawyer to follow her husband and their children when he was transferred to Taiwan. Although passionate about the field, Laurence Ferrari finally turned to the profession of presenter, easier to combine with her family life. “I started out as a reporter, and it was the fact of having children that made me decide to become a presenter because at least as a presenter, you know when you’re leaving, you know when you’re coming back.“, confides the mother of three children, on the set of Buzz TV, few years ago. And too bad for his first loves…
Decisions that can cause tensions within the family circle. “When we are in a notion of sacrifice, it can create ambivalence and it becomes complicated“, notes Marianne Bille. Children can be impacted despite themselves: “We can imagine that parents – without knowing it – expect their children to be perfect. The risk is that if the child does not meet expectations, there will be anger, aggression and resentment that can be projected onto him.“To avoid this scenario, dialogue with loved ones is essential:”It has to be talked about, explained to spouses, but also to children. If it is not spoken about, it can create tensions, misunderstandings and tensions because it is not understood as a vital need for the person..” Taking a break, as many artists have done, can also be a solution.
Take a step back to refocus on the essentials
From Elizabeth Hurley to Ryan Reynolds, via Marilou Berry, many personalities feel the need to take a break to reconnect with what matters most, namely their family. This is particularly the case of Mr. Pokora: “I took time for myself, for my family, for my loved ones. I took the time to come back down because I had been doing tours and albums for 15 years. It’s a job where things go at two thousand an hour“, he confided to NRJ, at the time of his big comeback, in March 2019. Like him, the actress Katherine Heigl is putting an end to her role in Grey’s Anatomy to enjoy more of his daughter, adopted in South Korea in 2009. “I started a family and it changed everything“, she assures Daily Telegraph in 2021.
“The way out is perhaps the idea of a break. Devoting yourself to your children during their first years and then reinvesting yourself fully in your work.“, observes the family therapist. While reconciling career and family life is not impossible, it is nevertheless necessary to find a balance. “When the person is at work, he or she should not feel torn with guilt on the family side. And when she’s with her family, she shouldn’t feel guilty about her boss’s demands.“, explains Marianne Bille. You still need to be able to implement this advice…
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