Ali Wong says her mother and ex help her balance career and motherhood

• Ali Wong said she takes her mother and children with her on tours.
• She said she sometimes finds it difficult to be perceived as an “unconventional” mother by her own mother.
• But Wong still credits her mother and ex-husband's support for looking after the children when she's on tour.

Ali Wong learned to lean on her mother and ex-husband to raise her two children, and that has helped her continue her success as a working mother.

In an interview with InStyle published Tuesday, the comedian said that she brings her mother and children with her on her stand-up tours.

“I met Lauryn Hill a few years ago and talked to her about touring with kids, and she told me she took her mom everywhere too,” Wong, 42, said.

Wong, who has daughters Mari, 8, and Nikki, 6, with her ex-husband Justin Hakuta, didn't see motherhood as the end of her career. “It was this expansive beginning of so many new chapters. They have to be grateful for that too,” Wong said.

But the Always Be My Maybe star said her 84-year-old mother had different expectations for balancing career and motherhood.

“In their time, you weren’t supposed to live a life for yourself. It was just about sacrificing and serving everyone else before you,” she said.

After having children, Wong continued to pursue her career as a comedian and actress. She won two Emmy Awards for her role in the Netflix series “Beef.”

While she said she doesn't care what others think, she worries about how her own mother feels.

“It is largely thanks to her and the father of my children that I have been able to do everything I do,” she said. “But it's also because of her that sometimes it's hard for me to be 'non-traditional,'” she said of her mother.

Still, taking her children on tour has allowed her to spend more time with them.

“It’s so nice to take children with you when you travel. It's the opposite of film and television, where I'm just out and about all day,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023.

“It's a really fun family adventure because I perform mostly at night and then during the day we go on adventures at the children's museum or gardens or meet family friends. It's really cool that they've seen so much of America.”

Compatibility of work and parenthood

Many parents rely on their grandparents For child care, the high costs of day care can be mitigated.

Stephanie Ross, an attorney and mother of triplets, previously told Business Insider that her mother moved into her home to provide child care.

She said buying day care would have cost the equivalent of a second mortgage. “Mom is happy. She has formed an incredible bond with her grandchildren,” she said.

But not all grandparents are willing to babysit. Nirmala Sequeira, a grandmother of five, never takes care of her grandchildren. She feels like she has already fulfilled her duty as a parent. “I feel no guilt or obligation. I feel sorry for the grandparents who do this,” she wrote.

For some parents, outsourcing help can free up more time for their careers. Jennifer Biggs, who works full-time, relies on a “paid village” to help with her three children.

“Paid childcare means I don’t burn out under the pressure of having to do everything. It protects my mental health so I can work and raise children without relying on grandparents,” she said.

A representative for Wong did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.