Sonsoles Ónega, recently awarded the prestigious Planeta Prize, has opened up about her experience as a mother in an interview with Joaquín Sánchez on the program Joaquín, the rookie. This conversation has uncovered a more personal and lesser-known facet of the Y Ahora Sonsoles presenter: the crude balance between her professional and family life.
The former Real Betis footballer, now turned interviewer, got the communicator to open up and talk about her role as a mother. Speaking about her two children, the result of her eleven-year marriage to Carlos Pardo, Ónega expressed with discouragement the absences that her work commitments have entailed. “The poor suffer from me, because I am an intense mother. And they take with resignation, above all, that I am late,” shared Ónega.
The conversation delved into the daily life of Ónega’s maternal experiences, highlighting the raw and complex reality of being a working mother in the media industry. Thus, Ónega described how her children, ages 10 and 13, have had to adapt to their late arrivals home, a circumstance that reflects the experience of many mothers in the world of work.
His hope is that, in time, his children will understand and appreciate the sacrifices he has made. “I hope the day comes when they tell me: hey mom, she has been worth it. It has been worth all the time that you have not been with us,” he commented to the legendary former green and white player.
As she acknowledged, the current leader of television afternoons is not a typical mother because she is not “a mother after school,” since she is live at that time. However, she confessed that she tries to “give them all the free time I have” and that is why she hopes that when they grow up she can hear them “say that I have done well.”
Ónega’s words highlighted a truth that sheds light on the challenges many women face when balancing their professional and family roles. “I have missed all their nights when they were little. All their baby baths. All their stories. Some activities at school,” declared Ónega. Despite these absences, she made it clear that she has no other choice: “When a woman wants a professional career and a family, you have to assume this.”
