Emma Thompson Recommends Mothers Take a Year Off Work to Spend More Time With Their Kids

"You can't be a great mum and keep working all the time," actress says

By Zach Johnson May 27, 2014 2:04 PMTags
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Emma Thompson's parenting tips may not be applicable to most moms.

The two-time Oscar winner told Britain's Daily Mail Saturday that she recently took a year off to "spend more time with my family," calling her self-imposed sabbatical a "birthday present to myself." According to the 55-year-old Saving Mr. Banks star, "I didn't actually act or write. I was just a mum."

What has Thompson been up to during her time off? "I taught drama at my daughter's school, cooked meals and had fun," she revealed. "I highly recommend others to do the same if they can afford it."

"You can't be a great mum and keep working all the time," Thompson said.

She isn't concerned with balancing her professional and personal responsibilities. "Sometimes in life you'll have some things, at other times you will have other things. You don't need it all at once," said the star, mom to son Tindyebwa, 26, and daughter Gaia, 14. "It's not good for you. Motherhood is a full-time job. The only way I could have continued working would have been by delegating the running of the home to other people. I never wanted to do this as I find motherhood profoundly enjoyable."

Once-divorced Thompson also described her current husband, Greg Wise, as a "great aesthetic pleasure." According to the Nanny McPhee star, "He is the only luxury I can't imagine ever being able to give up. Because he can cook, wash up, clean, entertain children, understand math homework, put up shelves, take them down and put them up elsewhere and repair the little holes left behind, garden with a purpose, drive sensibly but very fast on motorways and let me get on with my life."

Today reached out to Thompson's rep for further comment but has not heard back.

(E! and Today are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

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