Working moms have it tough, man. Juggling how to care for a child and advance your career is a balance that isn’t always intuitive. And while we may assume that celebrities and movie stars probably have it easier, parenting is parenting! Everyone’s just trying to get through it.
In the meantime, childcare isn’t cheap, no matter who you are. Sure, you can drop your little one off in the nursery at the gym while you work out, and maybe you pay a college kid $10 an hour to feed the tot some chicken nuggets during date night once a month, but full-time, 9 to 5 care? It’s basically like sending the kid to college before they can even walk.
More and more workplaces are becoming more lenient when it comes to employing mothers, offering more work-from-home opportunities, extending maternity leave or offering unlimited time off policies that allow for more flexibility. Even so, it’s nice to see someone like Jessica Alba, a prominent enough name that you’ll pay attention to her, setting the kind of example she is.
The mom of three (to Honor, 10, Haven, 7 and Hayes, 1) is teaming up with BFF Gabrielle Union (who also recently welcomed a baby girl, Kaavia) for a new show called “L.A.’s Finest” based on the “Bad Boys” franchise. Alba is also serving as executive producer on the program, meaning she has a good amount of say in how the show is run.
During an appearance on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” last week, Alba explained how the set is “family-friendly,” sharing how during a teacher’s strike, a solid amount of the crew was struggling for childcare.
“There was a teacher’s strike, and some of the crew members didn’t have childcare, and we didn’t even bat an eye when they brought their children to set,” she said. “And in Hollywood that’s just unheard of. But when two women are executive producing...it’s a family-friendly show!”
It isn’t, of course, a difficult concept, but like Alba said: It doesn’t happen very often that children are invited to and cared for on set. We can’t help but applaud her for paving the way for hopefully more and more flexibility when it comes to helping out working parents.