Jacinda Ardern Has Very Public Parenting Moment

NZ prime minister's toddler interrupted her during a COVID update to the nation
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 10, 2021 9:30 AM CST

Robert Kelly had his moment. Now Jacinda Ardern is having hers. The New Zealand prime minister was giving her nation a COVID update this week when she had a parenting moment that many who've had to work from home during the pandemic can relate to. Per CNN and NBC News, Ardern was in the midst of an eight-minute Facebook livestream on Monday evening when a tiny voice could be heard off camera imploring, "Mummy?"

Ardern can be seen in the video turning to the voice, which belonged to her 3-year-old daughter, Neve. "You're meant to be in bed, darling," Ardern tells the little one, who'd apparently flouted her nighttime routine. "Pop back to bed, I'll come and see you in a second." She then asked a persistent Neve to return to "Nana" before turning back to her audience and apologizing. "Well, that was a bedtime fail, wasn't it?" Ardern also asked other parents if they could relate: "Does anyone else have kids escape like three, four times after bedtime?"

A short time later, another relatable incident: Neve was back, and Ardern acknowledged the livestream was taking a lot of time. "I'm sorry, darling, it is taking so long," she told the toddler, before noting she was ending her broadcast. The Guardian notes that Ardern and Kelly aren't the only parents who've had their working hours interrupted by "the realities of domestic life": In August, a cabinet minister in New Zealand saw her own livestream disturbed by her son, who came into the room "excitedly brandishing a phallic carrot." (More Jacinda Ardern stories.)

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