"My biggest challenge as a mother is..." Genelia Deshmukh speaks the truth about raising two boys

Even celebrities who can provide the best of everything for their children- top schools, nutritious meals, comfortable lifestyles- are not immune to parenting struggles. Because no matter how privileged a parent may be, parenting comes with self-doubt, emotional exhaustion and the constant worry of whether you are truly understanding your child. One of the hardest parts of parenting is realizing that what works for one child may completely fail with another.

In a candid conversation about motherhood and parenting challenges, Bollywood actress Genelia D'Souza Deshmukh opened up about the emotional balancing act that comes with raising two children. Genelia, a mother of two boys says, “Every day is a new challenge. Every day you're trying to do your best. Every day you sometimes feel like you're the worst mom ever, but you're trying to do better.” It is a feeling many parents, especially mothers, relate to.

Genelia's sons are 10 and 8, close in age but, as she describes it, worlds apart in personality. And that's where her real challenge begins. Not in providing for them, that part she has got covered, from good education and nutrition to sport and art. Her deeper struggle? “How do I personalize my approach as a mom?”

What works for one child won't always work for the other

This is something most parents figure out the hard way. The parenting style that works like a charm on one child can completely backfire on another. “They have two different personalities,” Genelia says. “I need to do what's best for each child without generalizing it.” One child may respond well to firm boundaries, the other may need patience and a softer touch. One may want space when upset, the other may need a hug. Experts have pointed this out for years. Siblings may grow up in the same home, but their emotional needs, temperaments, and ways of seeing the world can be completely different. Treating them identically is not the same as treating them fairly.

The parenting labor nobody sees

Beyond packing lunches and helping with homework, there is another layer of parenting that is completely invisible. To constantly read the room, catching a change in the child's mood, noticing when something's off even when nothing's been said. Mothers especially tend to carry this mental load in silence. The guilt of feeling like you gave more emotional energy to one child than the other on a particular day accumulates over time. And it rarely gets talked about, because admitting it feels like admitting failure.

Genelia's honesty about feeling like the ‘worst mom ever’ gives voice to something many women experience but rarely admit, because admitting it feels like failure. It isn't. It is just parenting.

What children really need: to feel seen

Child psychology has long emphasized this. Kids don't need identical treatment, they need individual attention. A child who feels constantly measured against a sibling often starts pulling away, or losing confidence. But a child who feels genuinely understood for who they are? They tend to open up, to feel safe, to grow with less fear. The goal is simply to recognize that two children raised in the same home can have completely different emotional needs.

As Genelia puts it: “My biggest challenge is to take care of their needs individually and together. That ‘and together’ is the part that doesn't get enough credit. Keeping family harmony while also carving out individual emotional space for each child, that's a daily act of balance most parents quietly perform without anyone noticing.

You don't have to be perfect

Here's what no one says enough: self-doubt doesn't mean you're failing. It often means the opposite. The parents who worry they're not doing enough are usually the ones paying close attention. Children don't need flawless parents. They need parents who are curious about them. Because sometimes, the most important part of parenting isn't the path you plan for them; it's the way you grow alongside them while figuring it all out.