The Sweet Way Lucille Ball Went Above and Beyond To Support Her Children
According to her daughter, Lucille Ball wasn’t home a lot when she and her younger brother were growing up. But she was still an incredibly supportive mother. Whatever Lucie and Desi Jr. wanted to pursue, Ball was their biggest cheerleader.
Lucille Ball used to think she couldn’t have children
In an interview Ball did with The Washington Star in 1980, she spoke about having children “late in life.” There was a time when she thought she wasn’t going to be able to have children biologically at all.
“I’d lost two and I thought, my God, I’ll be too old to have children,” she said.
But her mother-in-law made a suggestion.
“During my ninth year of marriage, my mother-in-law, who was one of the most beautiful South American ladies ever, said to me, ‘You become Catholic. You have baby.’ So I went and had instruction and five months later I was pregnant,” shared Ball. “For me, the birth of a child, it was a miracle. I couldn’t believe it.”
And just like that, Lucie Arnaz was born. And, later, Desi Arnaz Jr.
Lucille Ball became a mother just before ‘I Love Lucy’ went on the air
Ball became a mother at a very busy time in her career.
“I was born six weeks before a big show called I Love Lucy went on the air and she was starring in that along with my father, of all people, who also was producing it,” Lucie told the Television Academy Foundation in 2016.
As a result, Lucie’s parents weren’t home a lot when she and her younger brother were growing up.
“They were very busy,” she said of her parents. “So I think up from birth through 7, they weren’t home a lot, I would say. Very late at night and weekends, and we were very fortunate to have some hiatus times, weekends off, and summers, summers off, when we had a house in Del Mar.”
Lucille Ball was a very supportive mother, according to Lucie Arnaz
While Lucie had been passionate about acting since she was young, she says her mother never pushed her to be involved in show business.
“Never, ‘You’re gonna be in this business.’ Never, never, never, never, never,” said Lucie.” If anything, it was the polar opposite.”
But Lucie says her mother was incredibly supportive of all of her and her brother’s passions. Whatever they wanted to pursue, Ball made sure they had the tools to go for it.
“Mom always supported any passions that we had. Like she thought I had a passion for putting on little plays, that’s why she built a little stage and gave me the light,” said Lucie. “If Desi had a passion for drumming, then she’ll buy him a set of drums. Whatever it was. If I had a passion for goldfish, she’d get me a tank. So whatever it was.”
Lucie went on to say that her mother’s unwavering support influenced her own parenting style.
“All you can do with your kids is open a door and say, ‘Here, I can help you do this much,’” she shared. “And if they don’t cut it after that, then you can’t push them. I don’t do that with my children, either.”
