The pair share a 9-month-old son, Dakota, and recently got engaged.
Brenda Song is giving fans a peek into her life at home. In an interview with The Cut, the 33-year-old actress opens up about parenting her 9-month-old son, Dakota, with her fiancé, Macaulay Culkin, and how she balances new motherhood with her career.
"My fiancé and I are very hands-on," she tells the outlet of parenting. "We don’t have a nanny, but my mom has been here with us since my son was born. He’s 9 months old now."
In addition to help from Song's mom, Mai Song, the Dollface star and Culkin make sure to split up parenting duties as needed.
"I think when you and your partner have kids, especially the first few months, you don’t have the patience to be polite with each other," she says. "Being communicative when you need help is so important. Instead of having set duties, we just feel each other out. I’ll be putting my son down and my partner is like, 'Let me feed the animals and get dinner ready.'"
As for a typical morning in Song's life, the actress says that "it revolves around" her baby boy.
"I wake up, get him out of his crib, change him, get our breakfast ready, and drink my matcha. As a new parent, I don’t sleep at all. I’m someone who likes to wake up and go-go-go," she says. "Now, it’s when I put my son down for his first nap that I get my work done. I take that time to do emails and plan my day. I try to do everything in his nap-time window. If I have time, I’ll work out -- I have a little gym in my garage and do a lot of circuit training."
"To be the best mom, I have to be the best me," Song continues. "And exercise helps me not worry or overthink. So I try to find a little time. Sometimes I’ll read and knit. I don’t do phones in the morning."
When Song heads off to work, her family is still on her mind. In fact, returning to filming just three months after her son was born "was harder" than Song thought it'd be.
"I pride myself on always being first on set. So to be like, 'Hey, I need 20 minutes to pump,' was difficult," she admits. "The hours away from my son took a toll on me. Learning my own boundaries while trying to take care of my son and my family -- that was hard."
"The biggest challenge is being away from family. I know everyone feels that way," Song adds of returning to work. "There were so many long days where I’d get home and my son would already be asleep. I put a lot of pressure on myself to keep pumping and breastfeeding him while I was working. I pumped throughout production."
While she was working, Song's mom would bring her son to set so she could "breastfeed and see him during the day." It's that "great support system" that gave Song comfort through challenging times.
"I knew my son was taken care of; I just had FOMO. Missing those hours with my newborn son, it pains me, but at the end of the day, Mama’s got to put food on the table. You’ve got to make those sacrifices," Song says. "Hopefully he’ll understand."
No matter what happens during the day, when it's time to wind down for the night, Song and Culkin have a special ritual that they both hold dear.
"My [fiancé] and I always get into bed and chat about our days and the next day. When I was working he’d wake up with me to chat. Now we do it at night, after our son goes down," she says. "It calms me. It sounds small, but I cherish it. It’s nice to wind down with someone you love."
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