Janet Jackson says being a mother is the “most important thing” she’s done with her life.
Janet Jackson says being a mother is the ‘most important thing’ she’s done with her life
The 58-year-old singer is mum to seven-year-old son Eissa Al Mana, who she has with her husband Wissam Al Mana, 49, and has now opened up about how the child has had a “beautiful impact” on her life.
She told The Guardian: “The most important thing I’ve done, the biggest thing I’ve done, is become a mother, and it’s had a beautiful impact on my life.
“I wanted to have three children, but thought, ‘I should stop there, that’s probably all I can handle.’ Because you have to give all of yourself.
“Obviously, you have to work, but you don’t come first any more.
“Your life completely changes. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Janet also said she was bringing her boy up completely differently that she was, after she was thrust into fame aged eight when she appeared on ‘The Carol Burnett Show’ with her singer brothers.
She says she and her son’s childhoods are already “completely different” as she worked and he hasn’t.
Janet went on: “I want him to experience being a child, because you don’t get to do this over.
“You’re an adult for the rest of your life, so I want him to enjoy each and every minute of being a child.”
Janet had her son on 3 January, 2017, aged 50, and added she is passing on different values and lessons to the child than she got from her parents Katherine Jackson, 94, and her late dad Joe Jackson, who is said to have brutally beaten and verbally abused her brothers as he drove them to fame and fortune.
She says she’s aware as a mother of “some things you wish your parents had done differently”, adding: “Because if they had done this with me, it would have been much better for me as a child.”
Despite her hard upbringing Janet said: “I hated it as a kid, but I’m thankful for it now. I have to give credit to my parents for keeping me grounded.”
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