Mindy Kaling talks about being a single mother and advice from B.J. Novak. Image Source: Pop Sugar
Mindy Kaling talks about raising her children as a single mother and parenting advice from B.J. Novak.
During a recent chat with the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, on her new podcast show, "Archetypes," actress Mindy Kaling spoke about how her best friend and The Office co-star B.J. Novak’s advice to her in terms of raising her daughter. B.J. Novak is also the godfather to Mindy Kaling’s children.
Mindy Kaling revealed that as a child, she felt like an ugly, overweight, othered person, but she makes it a point to tell her four-year-old daughter Katherine that she is beautiful, and B.J. Novak advised her to compliment her daughter with other things as well. She said that she was always told that she was smart and confident and mentioned that it’s funny how she was focused on telling her that she was beautiful the most.
The actress shared with Meghan Markle that every morning she wakes up and tells her daughter that she is beautiful, to the point where she can think that it might not be healthy, but adds that, according to her, that’s how people can sort of change things. She also discussed how she manages to raise two lovely children on her own and noted that when a woman of a certain age is single and attending parties, it kind of bums people out because as soon as the woman who is confident in herself enters the room that is full of married people or just a regular party with single guys or something, she tends to feel that maybe she is sort of changing the vibe in there as everyone is sad for her and worrying about her. She stated that she considers herself to be a single person.
Mindy added that even though she is a wealthy, successful lady with stylish clothing and a wonderful family, many still believe that she needs a guy to be happy and have told her that there is no happiness better than being in bed with a man you love. People would try to fix her up with some loser they might know. She added that she is a very conventional person who comes from a really happy nuclear family and she wanted that for her as well, but when she was hired on as Kelly Kapoor for The Office at the age of 24, she felt that she was not ready to put her job at risk for anything personal.
Mindy shared with Meghan that she was in most of her relationships for companionship and when she would think about them and wonder if she saw a future with them, the answer would always be a no. She said that she understands the desperation in women after they reach a certain age as they wish to settle down, build a family, and are like that they would marry the person they are with, but she did not want that.
The actress-writer-show runner shared that she waited until she was 30 to have kids because she knew that she needed the resources to be able to do that comfortably and not everyone has that privilege, and she is grateful for the fact that she did. She also acknowledges that she has a community that allows her to have that decision, and she is very thankful for that. She added that she had a live-in nanny for the kids and that her father and stepmother were picking her daughter up from camp on the day of the recording.
Recently, during a Marie Claire interview, Mindy Kaling was asked if the rumors about B.J. Novak fathering her two kids bother her. She said that it does not bother her because he is the godparent to both the kids and they have a great relationship, and so far any rumors or speculation have not bothered her, her kids, or B.J’s happiness at all.
Mindy Kaling, who welcomed daughter Katherine in 2017 and son Spencer in 2020, said that she would not like to speak about the kids’ conception until the little ones want to know those details themselves because she wants them to be old enough to talk to her about it and tell her how they want her to talk about it.
