I’ve never been big on celebrity crushes, but there is something so captivating about P!nk. The singer’s strong personality and give-no-you-know-whats attitude has always been refreshing to see, and her music is great. But my favorite P!nk moment came last night, when the performer took to the stage alongside her daughter Willow, 9.
P!nk and Willow were at the Billboard Music Awards, where P!nk was being recognized with the icon award. The icon award is for people who have “have made an indelible mark on music itself,” like Mariah Carey (2019), Janet Jackson (2018), Cher (2017), Celine Dion (2016) and Jennifer Lopez (2014), CNN reports.
P!nk started her performance at the event by walking onto stage carrying Willow. Maybe it’s because I have a daughter who is nearly Willow’s age, and I savor those moments when I can carry or cuddle her like the baby she was just a blink ago — but I felt teary already. Then, the duo then performed an aerial routine to “Cover Me in Sunshine,” the song they recorded together. The whole thing was adorable, right down to Willow jumping up and down excitedly at the end.
As a mom who is dedicated to her career, I think a lot about what I’m showing my daughters. Although I push back against it, there’s a narrative that women can be good moms or good at their jobs, but they can’t possibly be great at both. During P!nk’s performance with Willow the connection and love between them was palpable, just before P!nk transitioned into a rocking solo performance. She was shining in both roles, and showing other women (and anyone who doubts them), that it’s totally possible.
Earlier in the day I was listening to an episode of “Death, Sex and Money,” one of my favorite podcasts. The host, Anna Sale, a mom of two, was speaking with Avery Trufelman, host of The Cut podcast, who describes herself as “strictly, entirely on the fence about having a kid.” Normally, I adore listening to Sale’s interviews, which are thoughtful and engaging. But Trufelman seemed to focus on every troupe about motherhood: that moms are boring and couldn’t possibly be artists. As a mom who is also an artist and a breadwinner, this point of view made me want to scream.
Then, I saw P!nk, pairing passion and parenting in a way that is exactly what I hope to do with my daughters.
P!nk has been outspoken about motherhood, and the challenges of raising kids. But she’s also underscored the fact that women can make it work. In her new documentary, P!nk: All I Know So Far, P!nk tries to show other creatives how they can learn from her.
“Touring with kids is impossible — and I did the impossible,” she told PEOPLE. “For a while there were a lot of other pop stars that were emailing me and calling me for the playbook on how to tour with kids, so I wrote a playbook for other moms,” she said. “You just keep going. I’m just thinking about: ‘Am I raising a kind person? What’s it like to be my kid?’”
P!nk also shared that she wasn’t set on becoming a mother before having Willow and Jameson, 4.
“I didn’t really want to be a mom. I didn’t not want to be a mom. But it just wasn’t on my list of to-do’s,” she said.
Since becoming a mom, P!nk has been careful to preserve who she was pre-kids.
“The thing that I’ve realized, especially in the last year of being quarantined, is that I’m a person that needs, I need a minute sometimes,” she told TODAY.
Now, like most of us, P!nk is just figuring it out along the way.
“Life feels like a series of ‘we’ll just deal with it,'” she said.
