Cardi B is a Mommiana above all else.
In an interview with Vogue Singapore, the Bronx native shared how she’s been adjusting to life as a bonafide superstar and mom of two.
“I’m exhausted, I’ve been overwhelmed and scared,” she said. Cardi shares two children with husband Offset, 10-month-old son Wave Set and 4-year-old daughter Kulture Kiari. The rapper shared that her children recently both fell sick around the same time, leaving Momma Cardi spread pretty thin.
While unfortunate, the experience has given Cardi a renewed sense of empathy for her mother, who she says likely experienced similar challenges with Cardi and her younger sister, Hennessy.
“I started to think about how my mum had to go through this a lot because my sister and I used to always fall sick at the same time. I’ve never appreciated my mum more — having kids helps you see things a little bit different,” she said.
As tough as raising two children under 5 can be, Cardi wouldn’t trade being a hands-on parent for the world, sharing that she’s never had a nanny for Kulture.
“When the baby got here, I couldn’t even think about getting a nanny because I was afraid of anybody being around her besides my family. I’ve never had a nanny for Kulture,” she told the magazine.
Cardi certainly wouldn’t be able to balance a bustling career as an entertainer, creative director and whipped cream enthusiast without some help, and credits her family for being a large part of the reason she is able to do so what she loves, comfortably. However, she is still careful to make sure her responsibilities as a parent never fall too heavily on the shoulders of her parents.
“Your parents have already lived their life and raised their kids. They are older and don’t have the same energy as someone in their 20s. I’m never far from my kids because that’s my responsibility as a mother,” she said.
The 29-year-old star says that the care and compassion she has learned from becoming a mother is an inimitable reward.
“I’m more compassionate for people. I feel like I understand people more,” she said. “I have so much compassion — and love and appreciation — for all mothers in the world. There is no excuse, we have to do it. I have compassion for good mothers who get up and hustle and work, or even not work — having kids is work. Raising a kid is work.”
Not on Cardi’s list of faves? Absentee parents.
“I have so much hatred for deadbeat mothers and fathers. It’s like, yo, bringing a baby into this world isn’t just like ‘I’ll figure it out.’ You have to be ready because you as a parent is all they got and all they want,” she said.