Serena Williams reveals her 'extreme' parenting rule
Tennis legend Serena Williams has revealed she has an "extreme" parenting rule as she refuses to go more than 24 hours away from her children.
Serena Williams refuses to be away from her children for more than 24 hours.
The 44-year-old tennis legend is mother to two daughters, Olympia, eight, and Adira, two, with her husband Alexis Ohanian and Serena has revealed she is determined to be a "present parent" so she will never be parted from her kids for longer than a full day and night.
During an appearance on the IMO podcast, Serena explained: "I really try to be a present parent. And sometimes that’s hard, especially with the lives that we live; it’s very hard to be present, but I try to be extremely present.
"I’m never gone more than 24 hours, ever. I didn’t leave Olympia until she was 6 for 24 hours. That may have been a little extreme, but that’s who I am."
Serena - who retired from tennis in 2022 - went on to insist she wants to be around for her children as much as she possibly can.
She added: "I show up as much as I can every single day for the girls. Because I feel like they mean the most to me, and I feel they need me, and they need to make sure, I wanna raise my children.
"I’m a person that’s raising my kids, and that’s teaching them how I want them to live and how I want them to be."
Serena previously opened up about her hopes for Olympia''s future and revealed she doesn't want her daughter to follow in her footsteps by becoming a competitive tennis player.
She told Vogue magazine in 2018: "I would hate her to have to deal with comparisons or expectations. It’s so much work, and I’ve given up so much.
"I don’t regret it, but it’s like [1998 movie] Sliding Doors: Go through a different door and lead a different life. I’d like her to have a normal life. I didn’t have that."
She added: "I think sometimes women limit themselves. I’m not sure why we think that way, but I know that we’re sometimes taught to not dream as big as men, not to believe we can be a president or a CEO, when in the same household, a male child is told he can be anything he wants.
"I’m so glad I had a daughter. I want to teach her that there are no limits."
