Halle Berry has a lot of thoughts about parenthood.
The actress, mother of 10-year-old Nahla and 4-year-old Maceo, has been sharing her parenting experiences and wisdom throughout her time as a mom.
In honor of her birthday, we’ve rounded up 13 lovely quotes about motherhood from Berry.
On Balancing Work And Parenthood
“You don’t ever balance it completely. It’s a constant struggle of a little more time there, a little more time here, and feeling a little bit guilty all the time. I just keep telling all my mom friends who work that it’s OK to give ourselves a little slack sometimes and not let the guilt sit on us so heavily and know that we are doing the best we can.”
On Having A Child Later In Life
“I’m a much better mother at 46, or 41 when I had her, than if I were 21 or 25. I was just a little baby, just trying to figure it out, trying to figure out who I was, let alone have the responsibility of trying to help another little soul develop and grow. I’m so glad I waited.”
On Working Moms
“Having careers and being fulfilled that way makes us better mothers. It makes us better able to operate in our careers with a sense of compassion and empathy that make us better businesswoman. We have to have them both and we have to keep trying to figure it out. And we get it wrong sometimes. And guess what, that is OK too.”
On Her Mother’s Influence
“I hope my child will have the strength of my mother, which my mother passed on to me. If not, I’ll spend my life trying to impart it … If I can be half as good a mother as my own mother was to me, then I’ll be doing well.”
On Her Sources For Parenting Advice
“Every book that Michele Borba writes, I’m reading it.”
On Making Small Moments Count
“When I happen to have free time, I am always thinking about what can I do with [Nahla and Maceo]. What can I do to have those moments really matter? I want that quality time because I know quantity is sometimes limited.”
On Feeling Ready For Parenthood
“I knew from playing a mother in this movie and having two adorable, smart children around me all the time that I was meant to be a mother. It’s no mystery that right after we finished the movie it manifested itself in my life because I think I subconsciously knew, ‘Yes, I can do this. I’m really, really ready.’”
On Wanting Her Daughter To Be Kind
“Let her be sweet because I believe beauty is as beauty does. My hope is that she is sweet and kind because no matter how beautiful you are, ugly ain’t cute.”
On Going Back To Work
“I’ll probably go back to work soon after I’ve had the baby because I know that in order to be a good mother I have to be a happy, fulfilled, well-rounded person, and my career is very much a part of that. I want to keep working, but my dream is to become the mother I am dreaming of being, and I believe I can be, so I’ll probably be working on that for the rest of my life.
On The Lessons Of Motherhood
“For me, motherhood is learning about the strengths I didn’t know I had, and dealing with the fears I didn’t know existed.”
On Her Greatest Accomplishment
“My kids ― I have had two in my 40s. I have managed to have two beautiful, healthy children, like that’s the best I think I could ever do in life.”
On Her Hopes For Her Daughter
“Hopefully she’ll grow up in a world where it’ll be easier than I had it. I had a rough time. I was accused of stuffing the ballot box for my high school prom-queen election because they couldn’t believe the only black girl in the school won.”
On How Having Kids Changes Everything
“It’s wildly affected my life. I haven’t worked as much since I had my daughter. I have another priority and she’s it. But I do want to send her the clear message that working is important and doing something that you love ― that validates you, or makes you feel you are giving yourself to the world ― is really important, so I will keep working.”