Shawn Johnson East says she'd support her kids if they wanted to go to the Olympics
Shawn Johnson East says she'd support her kids all the way if they wanted to pursue the Olympic dream, just like her own mom did with her over a decade ago.
The former Team USA artistic gymnast and Olympian, who won a gold and three silver medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, spoke out in a new episode of the ABC Audio podcast "Pop Culture Moms" about how motherhood has changed her in the years since she retired from gymnastics. Johnson East and her husband, former NFL long snapper Andrew East, are parents of three.
"My husband and I have talked a lot about this. We feel such an immense pressure as our children's parents to help them find what they were meant to do. Truly," Johnson East said.
"My daughter loves art. My daughter loves singing. She loves fashion. She loves ice skating. My son loves BMX and motorcycles and all these things. And I think if [my daughter] came to me and she's like, 'Mommy, I want to go to the Olympics in ice skating,' I'd be like, 'Cool. I'm your biggest cheerleader. I will support you. Let's figure out what the route is to that,'" the 32-year-old continued.
At the same time, Johnson East acknowledged the pressure that falls on Olympians and their families and said she couldn't imagine how her own parents felt when she was competing on the world stage.
"I don't know how [my mom] did it. She's a rock star," Johnson East said. "She put a lot of faith in my coach, who's a godsend, and he was like a second dad to me. But sitting in the Olympics, watching your baby compete? No. No, no, no. I'm having a heart attack."
Johnson East said her transition from being an athlete to a parent has been a big change in her life, one that used to be dominated by control.
"I think moms get set up on the wrong foot going into birth. People are like, 'Make sure you write out your birth plan and what you're planning to do afterwards' … And then you just kind of like, comedically laugh your way through it all because you kind of have a choice, but you really don't," she said.
"After my first kid, I felt like I really tried to control everything. And then my second kid didn't allow that room. And it was like, the most beautiful gift," she continued. "And now with three, it's like, you know what? It's going to be OK."
She said she has also let go of some expectations she had initially set for herself and her family, including embracing fast food and less healthy choices in moderation.
"I feel like I've relaxed a lot, because my attention is so much on them, and it's not on me anymore," the mom of three said. "But it's also this idea of, like, I don't want them to grow up seeing me obsess over [food]. I want to teach them moderation and how to live and to be worried more about playing than what they're going to have for lunch."
Even though the Easts, who vlog on their "Shawn & Andrew" YouTube channel and co-host the "Couple Things" podcast, offer fans a close-up look at their family life, Johnson East said she has honed in on what's important to her and her family instead of worrying about outside judgment.
"Social media has opened up this ability for us to get millions of opinions on a daily basis. That's not normal. And I think as a parent, it's just this mixture of like, one, I don't care, because I've heard it all. So, I know what's true at home and what's not," she said. "But two, it's made me protective over what we do post and what we don't post and what we show and what we talk about."
CHECK OUT THE NEW PODCAST! They've been best friends for 20 years, and pop culture aficionados for even longer. Now, as moms of toddlers, Andie Mitchell and Sabrina Kohlberg are taking their obsession with TV and movies to the next level by talking to celebrities, writers and fellow "scholars" of pop culture about what they can learn from the fictional moms they love most. New from "Good Morning America" and ABC Audio, the first season of "Pop Culture Moms" posts weekly through May. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or your favorite podcast app.
