Gabrielle Union opened up about balancing her work and home life.
The Bring It On star shared a candid message about missing an important event in her 3-year-old daughter Kaavia James Union Wade's life, alongside a series of pics of herself hanging out with the adorable toddler.
In the sweet pics, she and her daughter, whom the actor shares with her husband Dwyane Wade, smile at each other and make wistful faces for the camera, before the actor has to leave for the day.
"Hardest part about being a working Mom is missing important events in your kid’s lives. Today I missed @kaaviajames holiday program at school and felt so awful to disappoint her," the L.A.'s Finest actor wrote.
"So I did the next best thing and I became her hype woman before I left for work 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰," she added.
Union and Wade married in 2014 and welcomed their daughter Kaavia in 2018. The Being Mary Jane actor is also a stepmother to Wade's children Zaire, 19, Zaya, 14, and Xavier Zechariah, 8, though she recently revealed that she finds the stepparent moniker "very annoying."
"The stepparent label was put on me by the kids' school because you have to describe yourself: Who are you if you're not their mother? It's very annoying. It's not a word that I use," Union said during an appearance on Glennon Doyle's We Can Do Hard Things podcast.
She explained that she became the "additional adult" in the children's lives when Wade was awarded full custody of his kids shortly after they began dating in 2008.
"I wanted to make sure I was consistent in their lives," she added. "Whatever personality I was trying on that day, or whoever I was, I just needed to be consistent so they can get used to me. They've already gone through so much upheaval, moving states away, not knowing anyone, having gone through a divorce. I knew I needed to be consistent. I just didn't know what my role was."
"I knew that when I married him, I was married to them. What I realized very quickly is you will never, ever, I don't care if the other parent is dead, you will never be able to replace the other parent. Don't try to replace the other parent. That is not your job. Your job is to be consistent. Just be consistent so they know who you are… and kids adapt," she said.
Quinci LeGardye is an LA-based freelance writer who covers culture, politics, and mental health through a Black feminist lens. When she isn’t writing or checking Twitter, she’s probably watching the latest K-drama or giving a concert performance in her car.
