Aside from expressing her regret in allowing her eldest daughter to have cell phones at 13, the 'Material Girl' hitmaker also complains that the 22-year-old doesn't have the same drive she has.
- May 6, 2019
AceShowbiz - Madonna fears social media has made her daughter Lourdes Leon a little complacent as she pursues her modelling career as the child of the pop superstar.
The "Vogue" hitmaker regrets allowing her two eldest kids, Lourdes, 22, and her half-brother, 18-year-old Rocco Ritchie, to have cell phones when they became teenagers, because it's made them more aware of social standing instead of focusing solely on their own personal and professional goals.
"(Lourdes) is insanely talented," the mother-of-six told British Vogue. "I'm green with envy because she's incredible at everything she does - she's an incredible dancer, she's a great actress, she plays the piano beautifully, she's way better than me in the talent department."
"But she doesn't have the same drive, and... I feel social media plagues her and makes her feel like, 'People are going to give me things because I'm her daughter.'"
Madonna has previously admitted her determination to succeed partly stemmed from her tough childhood, so she realises things won't be quite the same for Lourdes.
"I try to give her examples of other children of celebrities like Zoe Kravitz, for instance, who have to work through that 'Oh yeah, you're the daughter of...' - and then eventually you are taken seriously for what you do. You just have to keep going," she shared.
"But does she have the same drive that I have? No. But she also has a mother, and I didn't. She grew up with money, and I didn't. So everything is going to be different. But what can I do? I can't fixate on it. I just have to do my best."
Madonna is trying to raise her four adopted kids a little differently, and for that reason, has avoided buying a cell phone for her 13-year-old son David.
"I'm going to stick that one out for as long as possible, because I made a mistake when I gave my older children phones when they were 13," she explained. "It ended my relationship with them, really. Not completely, but it became a very, very big part of their lives. They became too inundated with imagery and started to compare themselves to other people, and that's really bad for self-growth."
And her strict rules are already paying off as she likens David's work ethic to her own: "What he has more than anything is focus and determination," the proud mum said. "I'm pretty sure he got it from me. He's the one I have the most in common with. I feel like he gets me; he has more of my DNA than any of my children so far. Let's see what happens - it's still early days for everyone."
Madonna shares Lourdes with actor Carlos Leon, and Rocco with her director ex-husband, Guy Ritchie, while she also went on to adopt girls Mercy, 13, and six-year-old twins Estere and Stella.
