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Hosting the nightly news program Campbell Brown on CNN means that, more often than not, Campbell Brown isn’t at home to put sons Eli James, 18 months and Asher Liam, 3 months, to bed – but don’t feel too sorry for her! The 41-year-old television journalist tells Babble that her schedule is a mixed blessing. “For those who have tried to put a toddler down…Sometimes I look at my husband and go, “Oh, here, you put him down for his nap,” she admits. “Yes, on the one hand you go, ‘Oh…’ But don’t idealize how wonderful it is to put your kids to bed. Sometimes they will fight you tooth and nail.”
Campbell instead logs the bulk of her time with the boys during the morning. “I have a really supportive work environment,” she notes. “My morning conference call is from home. And God bless technology for allowing me to be online and checking in at home and still be with the kids.”
“The mornings are my time, having breakfast and playing and watching Sesame Street; you savor those moments. You really try to carve those out and protect them.”
To say the least! Later in the interview, Campbell reveals that she even enjoys waking up at 4:15 a.m. with Asher. “That is my most precious twenty minutes, because it’s just our moment together,” she explains before adding,
“It’s quiet. No one else is awake. And it is heaven. The older one does get jealous, so it’s really the only time that I can give complete and total attention to Asher. And I just treasure that time, at four a.m. Those little moments are what’s wonderful about motherhood.”
Eli also has a special bond with mom, which is evident when Campbell recalls one recent meltdown after she denied him a snack. “He was throwing himself on the floor, screaming, yelling, and I was just — ugh! — at my wit’s end,” Campbell concedes. “I finally plopped down on the couch and took a deep breath.” When she least expected it, however, Eli came through. “He just stopped crying, came over, put his arms around me, and gave me a kiss on the cheek and a big hug — for no reason, after pitching this horrible, horrible fit. And I thought, God this is heaven.”
Click below to read Campbell’s thoughts on raising two under two.
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