Being a working mom of two can come with its challenges, even for actress Danielle Fishel.
Best known for her role as Topanga Lawrence on the 90s sitcom Boy Meets World, Fishel was part of the cast of Season 34 of Dancing With the Stars until her elimination in Week 8 during Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Night.
However, in a recent episode of her podcast “Pod Meets World” recorded before her elimination, Fishel revealed that during her training and time spent filming the show, her 6-year-old son Adler had an extremely difficult time coping with her being away.
At one point, Adler was struggling so much that it was affecting his behavior in school, and Fishel received a call from his teacher.
Adler’s teacher informed Fishel that he expressed that he was feeling “very stressed” and claimed his “dad inputted a lot of information on the computer wrong and then got fired” before adding, “Also, my mom died.”
Of course, Fishel clarified on the podcast, none of what Adler said to the teacher was true.
She also recalled another time that Adler wanted her to hang out with him and his 4-year-old brother Keaton, but she had to leave for dance rehearsal instead.
Fishel recalled him saying, “I hate this job! Why did you take this job? All you do is dance, dance, dance, dance. That’s all you do! You never get to hang out with me and Keaton anymore. I want you to quit. Are you going to quit or not?”
Over time, Adler continued to double down on wanting her to quit.
“He said, ‘I just need to know if you’re going to quit your job,’” she continued to explain on the podcast. “I said, ‘Mommy’s not going to quit her job.’ And he said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘Well, a couple of reasons. One, mommy really loves her job. And two, because this job is not forever, and I made a commitment to the job.’”
Online, the story sparked backlash from those who felt like Fishel and her husband, Jensen Karp, should have done a better job mentally preparing the kids for what their mom being away would be like before she began rehearsing.
“Good God! Did nobody have a talk with this kid about the fact that mom is gonna go away but she’ll come back? It’s an adjustment but you’re supposed to help them adjust,” one commenter said on an Instagram post from Buzzfeed about the story.
However, some others, particularly fellow working moms, chimed in to say that Fishel’s struggle is actually fairly common and relatable.
“Kids just want their mom,” one commenter said on the same Buzzfeed post. “As a working mom, I feel this. Doesn’t matter what your job is, they just want mom.”
“Parents being away for big chunks of time is hard on kids, no matter what the career is,” another commenter added. “I’m guessing the family just didn’t realize the impact it would have on them and may not have prepared them for it, thus… this response. It’s not an abstract concept for a child to be upset and angry about a parent not being around when they previously had access to them every day.”
For better or for worse, Fishel was eliminated from Dancing With the Stars not long after the podcast episode was recorded, giving her plenty of time to spend with her sons once again.
