Broadway Star Lea Michele Readies Her Home for Baby Number Two
Nearly four years ago, Broadway and television star Lea Michele embarked on her most challenging role yet: motherhood; and she has some sage advice as she readies her home and heart for her second child.
After returning from a highly successful year on Broadway as the irrepressible vaudeville performer Fanny Brice in the musical Funny Girl, she is enjoying her time with her four-year-old son, Ever, and looking forward to more nesting.
Michele, the star of the popular show Glee, an author, actor, songwriter, and expectant mom, has teamed up with Children’s TYLENOL® to share how parents can be prepared for their baby’s first fever, ear infection, and teething.
She also wants to tell parents about the importance of maintaining their medicine cabinet — properly throwing away expired products and replenishing them so the family is always prepared when sickness strikes.
“I feel like what helped us so much, was being as prepared as we could be. You can do your best to stop your child from getting sick, you can wash hands and put purifiers in your home and do all those sorts of things,” Michele explained.
“But, at the end of the day sickness does happen,” she added. “I found that the best thing I could do is just be prepared and to just make sure that our house is always filled with all of the necessary items that we need, especially within the first aid department and having our Infants’ TYLENOL® on hand because it provided me with so much relief.”
The following is an exclusive Q and A with Lea Michele:
I have to know Funny Girl was your dream, so give me a taste of what that felt like doing it on Broadway.
Lea Michele: Oh, my gosh, look, I’m just so grateful having had — coming back to New York when I did in 2020 and having my son and being able to live out this dream of playing Fanny Brice in Funny Girl and having completed that, and now having my second child. I’m just so grateful to be back home, back in the city that I was born and raised in with my family, and returning to Broadway, which I’ve been doing for quite some time now.
I have to know, was your son old enough to see you as Fanny Brice?
He sat through the entire show when he was two and a half and loved it!
Wow, that’s impressive! Do you think you will watch Glee with your kids when they are older?
The fact that he saw Funny Girl for me was honestly such a dream come true.
Why is Children’s TYLENOL ® a good fit for you? Especially as the mom of a young son who is eagerly preparing for baby number two.
Lea Michele: My son was born nearly four years ago and it was during the pandemic. We were living in California at the time. My doctor recommended the importance of stocking up on all of the first aid kits in your home. It was so interesting because I kept saying to myself, yes, but what about the baby swings and the baby carriers and all of these things?
It seemed to me so far away that we would be using any sort of medicine and thinking about your child getting sick for the first time. Before you know it, our son had his first fever or ear infection. I was so grateful that we followed our pediatrician’s advice and that we had our house fully stocked with Infant TYLENOL® Dye Free Liquid.
TYLENOL® is just such an amazing brand. It is pediatricians’ number one recommendation for fever and pain relief. When it came to our son getting sick for the first time, I was just so grateful that we were prepared. It can be so stressful, and as a parent, I at least know I was much more anxious than I thought I would be. But knowing that we were prepared was just such a relief.
What are a couple of the best parts of being a mom?
There are so many! Every day he’s getting bigger and reaching all different milestones and becoming such a little man and such a person. I can’t pick one thing. Some days are difficult and some days are fun. But every day is truly a gift. Becoming a mother has been the greatest dream come true for me. I’m just very excited now that we get to expand our family.
What are you doing specifically to prepare for your second child that might be different than for the first one?
The time has been what feels like a while since I had Ever, it’s been four years. So, there is an aspect of this that everything kind of comes back very naturally. And then there is a part of it, too, where you sort of feel like you’re learning things all over again and everything feels like the first time.
Also, we were in California before, now we’re in New York, so it’s much more of a pack up the stroller and walk around the city day-to-day than it is getting in your car and driving around LA.
Talk about the importance of self-care as a mom and things that you would tell a new mom to look out for or that might be helpful.
It’s so hard. Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom or a working mom, you’re so busy. There’s so much within a day of taking care of our children and working at the same time. I try to a lot even if it’s just 10 minutes. Yesterday I worked all day and I came home and I gave my son dinner and I put him to bed and I looked at the clock and it was super late. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t do my normal not long or luxurious bath, but still just I’ve got to get myself into bed.’
Even the simplest thing, I just lit a candle in the bathroom while I was taking a shower and it made me feel so much better. Even if it’s the littlest thing for me it’s like making a cup of tea at night, lighting a little candle in my bedroom. Of course, if I have more time I’ll take advantage of it. But even if it’s just five minutes doing a little something that I know will make me feel good I think it’s worth it because, first of all, we deserve it. Self-care is so important, especially when you are pregnant it’s important to remember yourself at the end of the day.
Do you belong to any mommy and me? I don’t know what they call them now, my son is 18. But do you have mom friends and children your son’s age who he can hang out with? Why is that important to you?
I think, first and foremost, the biggest part for us of moving back home to New York is just to be close to our families. We have my mom’s side a big Italian family in the Bronx. My dad’s side is Jewish. There are tons of cousins. I have 18 younger cousins just on one side of my family. So, my son Ever came back to the East Coast after being born in California to a huge family with open arms. My husband’s family is in Philadelphia. We have a big family here and I am so happy that he gets to be raised amongst his aunts and uncles and cousins and grandma and grandpa. That’s so important to me because I grew up with my family eating at the table together.
On top of that, in New York, we are so grateful to have such a wonderful community of other kids and other families and living in this amazing city where we get to take him to go see shows and introduce him to the theater and all of the wonderful culture in New York. Yes, we have a lovely community that I’m so grateful for.
I enjoyed your 2014 best-selling book, Brunette Ambition.
Thank you. I enjoyed writing it and I appreciated meeting the fans.
Do you have some favorite family fall traditions or things that you’re looking forward to holiday-wise or just things that you like to do with your son in the fall?
Definitely. We always go apple picking and go to the pumpkin patch in the fall. He keeps asking. He’s like, “Is it time yet?” I’m like please don’t try to rush us out of summer, let’s soak in the summer as much as we can. But we always go apple picking and to the pumpkin patch.
We love doing Thanksgiving in Philadelphia with my husband’s family. And then Christmas in New York. What’s better than Christmas in New York? We also enjoy Hanukkah with my father’s family, too. So, we certainly have a lot of wonderful times in store with family around the holiday season here in the city.
Talk about the peace of mind that you had having the Infants’ TYLENOL® when your son got a fever or an ear infection. As a young boy, my son had severe ear infections and I had my pediatrician on speed dial. I agree with you, Children’s TYLENOL® was a lifesaver.
Of course, and Infants’ TYLENOL® especially because we stocked up and made sure that we had everything that we needed in our house. But I kind of even forgot. And then next thing you know I don’t remember if it was a — I believe it was an ear infection. We called our pediatrician and she said, “Okay, make sure that you can get some Infants’ TYLENOL®,” and we already had it. I remember just exhaling and feeling so grateful that we were prepared and that we had exactly what we needed. And the great thing is that it works so fast. And that he was feeling better so soon thereafter.
Also, later on, as he got older and once I was working, knowing that if he ever were to get sick and I had to leave for work giving him something later on with Children’s TYLENOL®, I just always had the peace of mind of knowing that it would work quickly and that I could go to work with the peace of mind knowing that he was okay.
What are a few life lessons that you think you might want to teach your son? He’s going to be four, so obviously you’re not doing them right now, but as he gets older.
Wow, there are so many things. I’ve been saying this a lot, it’s sort of the theme right now for me, but I just really think about the importance of family and keeping family close and staying close to your family. That’s something that my parents and grandparents instilled in me.
I know that myself and my husband feel so strongly about keeping him so ingrained in his roots and where he comes from and the people that love him so much, and surrounding him with all of those family bonds. I think that that, for me, is definitely up there along with a very long list of other things that I hope to teach him and pass on to him.
Do you have any more favorite mom advice or other health and wellness tips?
As far as health and wellness, I’ve done everything from the wildest, craziest trends to the simplest stuff. But, at the end of the day, it’s so boring but it just comes down to — get enough sleep, drink enough water, wash your face before you go to bed at night. It’s those very simple things that I feel are the best and most important wellness tools.
As far as “mom advice” goes, I’m still figuring everything out as I go. I always lean on my mom. My mom is the absolute best and I get all of my advice from my mother. She is who I lean on and I am just so grateful for her.
