Motherhood is hard, even for Madonna.
The 64-year-old Queen of Pop may make everything look so easy but she struggles with raising kids, just like all parents. She revealed as much in her cover story for Vanity Fair’s Icon issue, released in Italian, French, and Spanish versions.
“It has been the most difficult, the hardest battle,” Madonna, who has six children, admitted. She has a 26-year-old daughter, Lourdes, with ex-boyfriend Carlos Leon; a 22-year-old son, Rocco, with ex-husband Guy Ritchie; and four more kids adopted from Malawi: David, 17, Chifundo “Mercy,” 16, and twins Estere and Stella, 10.
“Today, I am still struggling to understand how to be a mother and do my job,” the Material Girl singer added.
She also described parenting as “a work of art.”
“And no one gives you a manual,” she continued. “You have to learn from mistakes. It is a profession that requires a lot of time. And it is exhausting because there is never rest.”
However, she acknowledged that being Madonna’s kid must be difficult, too, saying, “Growing up with a mother like me is a challenge.”
Despite the struggles, though, the Like a Virgin hitmaker is proud that each of her children has taken up their own creative pursuits without her forcing them to.
“I have never encouraged my daughter to make music or my son Rocco to paint. But I’ve always exposed them to art, to music,” she explained, adding that she was glad that “they’ve found ways to express themselves.”
Lourdes seems to be following in her famous mom’s footsteps. Last year, she released her debut single, Lock&Key, under the name Lolahol.
Rocco, meanwhile, has reportedly been selling his paintings for thousands of dollars.
As difficult as the job is, though, Madonna expressed that much of her happiness comes from being a mother.
Last year, the pop icon paid tribute to her own mother by getting a wrist tattoo showing the word “maman,” which is French for mom. Above it is an X and below is a broken heart. She lost her mother to breast cancer back in 1963, when Madonna was only 5 and the mom was 30.
