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Gabrielle Union on the ‘hardest part about being a working mom’: ‘Felt so awful’

Union, who is a mom to 3-year-old daughter Kaavia, said that she had to miss a school event because of her work schedule.

Gabrielle Union-Wade is getting candid about her life as a mom to her 3-year-old daughter, Kaavia James.

The L.A.'s Finest" star — who is currently working on the "Cheaper By the Dozen" reboot that's set to come out in 2022 — has found herself divided when it comes to splitting her time between work and her family.

Union revealed what that was like in a new post she shared on Instagram on Friday.

"Hardest part about being a working Mom is missing important events in your kid’s lives," the "Fearless" star wrote alongside four pictures of her and Kaavia smiling together. "Today I missed @kaaviajames' holiday program at school and felt so awful to disappoint her. So I did the next best thing and I became her hype woman before I left for work. 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰."

Kaavia is Union’s only biological child, and she and husband Dwayne Wade are raising several of his children from previous relationships.

Since welcoming Kaavia via surrogate in 2018, Union has been very open about her life as a working mom. During an April appearance on Gwyneth Paltrow's "The Goop," podcast, Union revealed that Wade's three older kids — Xavier, 8, Zaya, 14 and Zaire, 19 — once asked her to stop working and be a stay-at-home mom.

“They had gotten into this stage as pre-teens where they just wanted us to be like other families,” she explained. “They had looked up how much their dad made and they thought that I should not work. I should just be at home like the other moms of their friends because ‘Dad is rich and you should just stay home and we should be a normal family like everyone else.’”

But Union couldn't entertain that thought. Instead of letting her career go, she explained to her stepkids why some women love to work.

“Sometimes, women want to work and have a career and just do other things, and this is what makes me who I am," she remembered telling them. "It doesn’t mean I love you any less or I don’t want the job or I don’t love being your stepmother. I will do my best to be here for all of the things that you want me to be here [for] while at the same time, making sure that space for mom or dad is there."

"It is the golden seat of honor, always," she added.

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