I know singer Elle King from her single “Ex’s and Oh’s,” which came out way back in 2017 and seems like it should have a title with plural instead of possessive nouns. She’s also Rob Schneider’s daughter! Until I learned this fact I thought she was British honestly, but she’s American and she turned out OK considering everything we know about her whackjob dad. The last time we reported on her Elle was opening up about being in an abusive marriage, but that was back in 2018 and she seems to have escaped and to be in a better place. Elle is 33 now and she has a 13-month-old son with a cartoon character name, Lucky Levi, with her partner Dan Tooker. She talked to People about motherhood, patience and what she’s learned. This interview was very similar to what we’ve heard from other celebrity moms as she said she’s a different, better person after having a baby.
“Motherhood has made me a gentler person, a stronger person, someone who tries to be … I’m still working on being less reactive, but I’m happy,” she shares. “I’m joyous.”
King candidly admits that being a mom “will f—ing humble your ass.”
“Parenthood in any sense, whatever caregiver anyone is in that position, it will f—ing humble you. You have to learn empathy,” she explains, noting how she tries to model the behaviors she wants her son to learn.
“I tell [Lucky], ‘You have to wake up. You have to brush your teeth. You have to eat. You have to love yourself. You have to be kind to other people. You have to be kind to yourself.’ I have to show him this,” she continues. “And so I have learned to be patient.”
Celebrating that she has “an incredible partner that believes in me,” King says she’s “never been so happy” as she is living back in Nashville and teaching Lucky so many new things.
“I want my son to see that he has two parents with dreams and they work really, really hard to do it,” she adds.
I like that she’s framing this as her experience and isn’t generalizing it to everyone or saying that you’re not a woman until you have kids or something. She also took care to mention other caregivers, not just moms, which is nice. Reading between the lines, it’s like she’s saying that it’s super challenging though. “I’m trying to be less reactive,” “I have learned to be patient.” Kids are a PITA! I’m raising a puppy now and while it is not comparable – I can leave him alone when I leave the house – it brings me back to that time when my son was little and I was at the end of my rope. Maybe I should focus on how it’s making me grow as a person, like Elle is saying. Is that a silver lining or just inevitable? You either get more patient and empathetic or you use unhealthy coping mechanisms that can hurt your child.
Elle has a new single called Try Jesus. I didn’t realize she was a country artist now. She also has a song with Dierks Bentley that came out earlier this year called One Shot, about getting drunk and reconciling or something. I hate songs that glorify drinking but it’s catchy.
Photos credit: Xavier Collin/Avalon and via Instagram
Her statement is very thoughtful. Motherhood has made me a very anxious person. When they are young you worry about small things. With teens you have bigger concerns. Im a teacher, and I always thought I’d be an awesome mom. In reality, it’s a very, very humbling job. I never feel I’m doing enough and always second guess my decisions. My oldest has mental health issues. My husband and I still regret pulling her out of a small private school 14 years ago. Parenthood is tough.
It’s interesting that you mention your occupation FHMom in relation to parenting. I’m a social worker & thought for sure parenting would be a breeze … but whoa. It’s been anything but and I too live in an anxiety filled environment regarding my kids. Parenting through the Instagram age has been a hellscape. So here’s to us, the parents in the Age of Anxiety. You’re not alone. Long live the self assessed Mediocre Parents.
The whole album that Ex’s and Oh’s was featured on is good. Hubby and I are music nuts and always felt like it was underrated.
I’m at the end of the raising children part of my life (my youngest is a HS senior) and yeah, parenting is tough. It forces you to grow up in a lot of ways. My parents checked out when I was a pre-teen, so there was a lot of raising myself so I could raise my kids. I can get behind Elle’s comments about parenting.
I like that album too, I really like her voice in general. Haven’t heard her country stuff though, not my favorite genre.
I also thought she looked British. Best of luck to her family. She’s super-talented.