Mindy Kaling holds a lot of titles right now. Actor. Writer. Producer. Director. Friend. Daughter. She’s loved for all of them and celebrated by her friends, family and fans for all the things she does while she wears each of these unique hats. But perhaps the most exciting hat Kaling wears these days is the hat that reads, “Mom,” because, as of December 15, 2017, Kaling has been a single mother to her first child, daughter Katherine Kaling.
While Kaling’s pregnancy was shrouded in a certain level of mystery (for example, she never revealed who Katherine’s father was and to this day has yet to do so), her life as a new mom has been lived very publicly and candidly. Kaling has opened up about the perks of motherhood as well as the roller coaster that is adjusting to life with a little one.
And while she’s had a ton of great mom moments so far, the following moments are the ones we really love the most. Check it out.
Showing Off Her Homemade Baby Food
Over the summer of 2018, Kaling began showing her Instagram followers all the delish homemade baby food she was whipping up for baby Katherine. She even posted about it in August, showing off the reusable silicone tray she uses, filled with individual portions, captioning the photo, "Hey guys, it's Sunday and I’m making baby food on Foood highlight #IGStories. I'm basically a chef now!"
On Embracing Life as a Single Mom
During her 2018 commencement speech at Dartmouth, her alma mater, Kaling opened up about the friends and family that rallied around her to support her as a single mother and what that meant to her.
As reported by Elle, Kaling told the class of 2018: "After my daughter was born in December, I remember bringing her home and being in my house with her for the first time and thinking, 'Huh. According to movies and TV, this is traditionally the time when my mother and spouse are supposed to be here, sharing this experience with me.' And I looked around, and I had neither. And for a moment, it was kind of scary. Like, 'Can I do this by myself?' But then, that feeling went away, because the reality is, I'm not doing it by myself. I'm surrounded by family and friends who love and support me. And the joy I feel from being with my daughter, Katherine, eclipses anything from any crazy checklist."
On the Best Perk as a New Mom
Kaling got very candid in February 2018 while chatting with Entertainment Tonight about what she loved most about being a new mom. "I'm busy right now but when I see her and get her to smile first thing in the morning, oh my god. It's the best feeling," she told the outlet, making us even more curious to see what Katherine's smile is like.
On Basking in the Glow of a Major Milestone
Speaking of smiles, Kaling couldn't help but gush about the one tried-and-true way she can make Katherine burst out laughing these days. While speaking with Hoda Kotb during a Today interview, she revealed, "[Katherine's] whole thing now is just constant smiles… she’s incredibly easy to make laugh… I just sing from The Sound of Music for her and she’s cracking up. It’s the best."
On Hilariously Predicting Her Daughter’s First Words
While chatting with Shape magazine in May 2018, Kaling made a crack about her chatty nature, joking that her own constant talking would result in her daughter having some funny first words.
"What’s great for me is that my doctor told me that incessant chatter is good for a baby, and I’ve lived my whole life waiting to have a captive audience… So, I spend the days narrating to her. I’m constantly doing voice-over for her, as I did in The Mindy Project. Honestly, I feel like her first words are going to be, 'Just stop. Please!'"
On Her Biggest Transformation as a New Mom
During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Kaling revealed that being a new mom has changed her in one major way when it comes to relating to and being around children.
"It’s really profound and strange [being a mom now]. I was not a kid person at all. I was the person, if you had a baby at a party, I would go up to them and shake [the baby’s] hand and be like, ‘Hello.’ So I didn’t know [or] understand how to be around babies. I was on planes [and] when babies would cry, I would be mad at the families. Now I’m like, ‘Oh, let them cry. Let them do whatever they want. They can sit on me and poop if they want. Whatever they want,'. Now I know more."
On Her Mom’s Spirit Guiding Her, Even Now
During an intense and emotional conversation with A Wrinkle in Time costars Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon on an episode of OWN's Super Soul Sunday, Kaling opened up about her spiritual connection to her own late mother, for whom her daughter is named, and how that connection guides her now.
"I have been surprised at how my relationship with her has continued even though she's not here. I think that comes from the fact that when you know someone so well, you know what they would think in any situation," she opened up, going on to speak about the ways her mother still speaks to her, even in her dreams. "I had a dream… [that] I was five-and-a-half months pregnant. I woke up and said, 'I know that you're supposed to have weird pregnancy dreams, but this one is like I was an investigative journalist with my own mother in the dream.' Like, 'This isn't real, mom!' She's like, 'No, but it is.' She was telling me she was all right. So, I do believe my relationship, both when I'm asleep and in my decision-making — she's always there."
On the 2 Things She Was Most Looking Forward to Doing as a Mom
One of Kaling's cutest mom moments happened before her daughter had even arrived. During an interview on the Sunday's installment of Today back in September 2017, Kaling revealed the two things she was most looking forward to as a new mom.
"Right now, I just feel so anxious,” Kaling told host Willie Geist. “But I'd like to be the fun mom. I know I'm gonna be the dorky mom. So it could be kind of fun too. I think that would be nice."
She went on to reveal the other hilarious new perk she was ready to indulge in too. "It’s so easy to criticize parenting until you’re a parent, so one of the nice things about becoming a parent is that I’ll be able to openly criticize other parenting because I will have a child," Kaling quipped.
On Mixing Work & Motherhood
Just a few months after giving birth, Kaling got real candid about like as a working mother when she shared a photo of her breast pump in the green room during her Wrinkle in Time press junket on her Instagram Story in February. Kaling captioned the shot with two jokey remarks that perfectly summed up her feelings about her new workflow, writing first, "The loneliest breast pump," before continuing, "That all day press junket new mom life."
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