Summer Walker and Ciara know the struggles of “mom guilt.”
The singers addressed the topic in the latest episode of Over It Radio, Summer’s newly launched podcast series for Apple Music. At around the 16:50-minute mark, the host confessed she had difficulty leaving her children for work-related reasons but had to remind herself she was providing for the family. The songstress and London on da Track welcomed their first child together, Bubbles Renee Walker, in 2021. The following year, Summer gave birth to twin boys with LVRD Pharoh.
“When I tell you, girl, I had the biggest mental breakdown today at 4:00 a.m.,” Summer said. “I was out in the street with my wig off, crying, kissing my kids because they had to leave today. If I could take them to work… You just feel so bad. It’s not your fault, girl, you got to pay the bills. You just do not be wanting to leave them kids.”
Ciara empathized with Summer but said it was important for children to see their mothers thrive. The “Goodies” singer shares a 10-year-old son, Future Zahir, with her ex-fiancé, Future, and has three kids — 7-year-old Sienna Princess, 4-year-old Win Harrison, and 1-year-old Amora Princess — with NFL quarterback Russell Wilson.
“It’s hard. It’s really challenging,” Ciara admitted. “But to your point, I think there’s something so beautiful about them seeing us grind and seeing us do our thing. Having my kids on tour with me this past summer I think really opened their eyes so they understand better what mommy’s doing because otherwise they’d be like, ‘You just be leaving.’"
Summer said she was particularly nervous about her upcoming tour because she planned to hit the road with her kids.
“I need guidance on how to maneuver with them because, obviously, I’m not going to leave them. How do you tour with your kids?” she asked her guest.
Ciara said the old proverb, "It takes a village," still holds true, as she relies heavily on her relatives and longtime nannies
“I have to shout out my family and my team. My kids have had the same people in their lives for mostly all their lives as far as my nannies go,” she explained. “And I think normally sometimes people shy away from that. But for me, I’m going to celebrate my girls because I couldn’t do without my team.”
Ciara also gave a special shoutout to her sister-in-law, Anna, as well as Russell’s parents, who joined her on tour several times.
“Everyone ends up being in it together, it’s like we’re all on tour together,” she said before emphasizing the importance of downtime. “I was really big on rest so I wasn’t exhausted. So I would map my days out to where we got proper rest overnight, we would hop on the plane and take off.”
You can watch the full Over It Radio episode above.