From playing Kitty Softpaws in the animated flick Puss in Boots to being a busy mom to an adorable 3-year-old daughter, Salma Hayek is no stranger to working hard. The actress recently sat down with modernmom.com and opened up about sharing her work with Valentina, her mommy-daughter activities and balancing work with motherhood.
On allowing Valentina to watch Puss in Boots: "I did a movie that I love as a grown up. It’s a family movie but I do have to monitor and censor - 'You can only watch parts of it that are really funny...' and I let her watch some parts, but I have to be really careful.
Even watching television, she’s going on three and she wants to watch all these teen movies. She has seen great stuff but all I find is that she’s got the attitude and imitating the way they talk. So, even some stuff that seems that you’ve censored it still makes them want grow up faster, and so I have to really watch that, not to mention the radio. And you never really understand what that is, because everything changes when you have a child. So I’m very proud of this film. Very, very funny, it’s quite sophisticated. There’s a lot of adventure - I am proud for her to watch."
On what they like to do together: "Well, I am a crazy mother. I actually do dress up with her and we play cards. My daughter likes to play actress, which is not very convenient because sometimes I work the whole day and I just want to go home and be me. I did four movies this year, and I know I have to come home and be the gardener or, I have even been a chair or a table. She loves to play different roles and she sort of a director in it, because she tells you what your name is, what is it about - you should be doing this and that. We love to dance together, we love to make little houses. I love to draw with her and she loves to read. We love to scare each other, oh my God, we really to love to scare each other. Thank God I have a healthy heart because she’s really getting good at it. We love to sing together, too. And we cook together. I make her do chores all the time - she likes it. So, you know what she’s beginning to do? I am so proud of it, she sees that I’m very busy so she wakes up and she goes, 'Mommy, how can I help you today?'"
On balancing work demands with motherhood: "The most important thing about the balance is that you cannot see it as equally balanced, because you have to understand that motherhood has to be your priority. It’s important work. You've got to have priorities and when it’s time to make a decision, it’s easier to make a decision if you understand your priority. So, for me, a way of keeping the balance, is understanding very well that that’s my priority. I have a support team, but it’s never enough. Everybody would agree with me right? I really do believe that kids have to be raised by their parents. And so, it’s good to get some help but there’s got to also be a balance at a very high percentage over the parents taking care of their children and if you have that philosophy, then - even though you have a great support team, it’s not comfortable, like I never go on a trip and leave my child with a nanny. I’ve never done that in my life. She’s most of the time with me. I think that’s important. I think that it’s also important for kids to feel that it’s you taking care of them. That’s because sometimes when I was very busy, I said of the most important quality time is for me to play a lot and do fun things and then I said, 'Oh no, that’s not right.' The most important thing is that she sees is I cook for her, that I give her the bath, that I brush her teeth... I think it’s important to combine those things - it’s a nice experience for a working mommy so far."