Brand Founders On Emma Grede’s “Three-Hour Mom” Approach: Smart Boundary Or Parenting Red Flag?

Emma Grede told the Wall Street Journal last month that she’s a “max three-hour mum” to her four kids on weekends. Instead of spending the entire day with them, after seeing them from 9 a.m. to noon, she moves on to other activities that “fill my cup.” She also doesn’t read school emails or engage in activities she considers “overparenting,” like cutting sandwiches into star shapes.

Her comments quickly polarized social media, with supporters applauding her candor and detractors slamming her as selfish. Beauty Independent’s audience includes plenty of ambitious women founders with demanding schedules, and we were curious about their take on Grede’s three-hour-mum stance. So, for the latest edition of our ongoing series posing questions relevant to indie beauty, we asked 18 founders directly for their thoughts on it.

Christina Peng, founder and CEO of Havyn, an allergy-aware and sensitive skin fine fragrance line, was asked to share her thoughts. She says the following:

"I appreciate her honesty. Balancing work and family is something so many parents are actively trying to navigate and hearing different perspectives and approaches can be helpful for people as they determine what works best for their own families.

For me personally, work and motherhood is much more blended, as our approach is to literally take our kids along for the ride. Our kids have actually come with us on business trips, store visits and even meetings, and they observe us strategizing ideas, pitching buyers, but also doing whatever it takes, no matter how small the task.

At the same time, we still try to intentionally be fully present together through certain moments of connection that matter deeply to us, like dinner and bedtime routines. Every family is different and has their own rhythm, and what matters is not simply the quantity of time, but the quality. By putting a number on it, it actually says to me that she’s being intentional about carving out time for her children.

I do think we also need to recognize how much expectations around parenting have shifted over the past couple of decades. Parents today are often expected to be endlessly available, deeply involved in every aspect of their children’s lives, emotionally attuned and somehow still professionally successful and balanced through it all. In many ways, the standard for modern parenting, especially for mothers, is far more intensive than it was even 10 or 20 years ago. While there’s value in greater involvement, I think it has also created a great deal of pressure and guilt for many parents.

And, candidly, the fact that there’s so much conversation around this does indicate there is still a different standard for women. If a man spoke about building a company while reserving a specific amount of time to be fully present, many people might even be impressed by his dedication or his intentionality. Yet when mothers say similar things, the conversation often takes on a different tone that leans toward judgment or guilt.

Children benefit from presence, attention and connection, but I also think there is tremendous value in them witnessing purpose, creativity and hard work modeled by their parents. Seeing a mother build something meaningful can give them vision and shape them in beautiful ways, too.

Most parents are simply doing the best they can with the season of life they’re in. My hope is that we can extend more grace toward different approaches to parenting and work, because there’s no single formula that defines a loving or devoted mother."

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