Serena Williams has lifted 23 Grand Slam singles trophies and played on the biggest stages in Tennis for more than two decades. While most of us would imagine Williams in sports jerseys, sporting the ball and racket, she posted a humbling photograph from the most humbling side of her life.The picture had no stage and no spotlight at all, instead, it gave a peek into the back seat of a car. The 45-year-old sat there with her daughters, the youngest, Adira, 3, on her lap, while Olympia, 9, rested her head beside momma. Serena held both girls with her eyes closed, and her caption read, “Unfiltered. Raw. Just a tired mom with a full heart.”
30 Sept 2026 | 13:16
Does your child come to you when upset, or do they prefer to deal with their emotions alone?
There is something very familiar about that photo. Every parent knows that quiet moment when the day has been long, the kids are finally still, and nothing else matters. This shows that the woman fans remember for power and precision is, at home, simply a mum holding her whole world.That feeling is not new for her. It has shaped the way she lives, and this takes us back to a promise she spoke about earlier this year.ID@undefined Caption not available.ID@undefined Caption not available.
“I do not leave my children for more than 24 hours”: Serena Williams shares her parenting rule
Serena Williams never set out to follow a perfect parenting method, but earlier this year, she joined Michelle Obama for a live taping of the podcast IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson, where she shared that she had never thought much about a step-by-step parenting philosophy, laughing that “Venus is a planner,” pointing to her sister Venus Williams. Whereas Serena’s style is more about instinct than checklists.What guides her instead is simply being there. Serena said, “I really try to be a present parent,” further explaining she said, “and sometimes that’s hard, especially with the lives that we live; it’s very hard to be present, but I try to be extremely present.”She further shared, “I’m never gone more than 24 hours, ever”, and that she didn’t leave her older daughter, Olympia, for even 24 hours until Olympia turned six. For someone who travelled the world for years to play tennis, that is a big promise to keep, specifying, “That may have been a little extreme, but that’s who I am.”
So why does she do it?
Serena said her daughters mean the most to her, and she feels they need her. She told Obama she wants to show up for them as much as she can, every single day, “I’m a person who’s raising my kids.” She explained that this means teaching her girls how she wants them to live and who she hopes they will become.ID@undefined Caption not available.ID@undefined Caption not available.Earlier this month, she posted photos of Olympia and Adira shopping, standing in front of huge black-and-white pictures of her playing tennis. She joked that mama is always watching.
