Janet Jackson won’t be putting her son into showbusiness.
The 58-year-old singer — who has 7-year-old Eissa with her ex-husband Wissam Al Mana — has amassed huge success since starting out as a child star in the 1970s. While she is “so thankful” that she got the chance to be a mother, she has insisted that she will not be putting her little boy on the same path and will leave the decision completely up to him.
“It means everything. I’m so thankful that God allowed me to experience [motherhood] because it didn’t have to be. I do a lot of reflection; it’s amazing because kids don’t realize what you go through as a parent or what you have going on the back burner,” she said on U.K. TV show “Loose Women.”
However, if Eissa is particularly passionate about a showbiz career, Jackson won’t stand in his way once he’s an adult.
“It’s about him. If that’s what he wants, but I would say that he has to wait until he’s of age and still make sure that’s what he wants to do. Whatever you do is very difficult. The industry is very tough, but he would have to wait til he is 18,” she added.
The “Miss You Much” hitmaker is the 10th and youngest child of the Jackson family and recalled her brothers, including the late Michael Jackson, becoming child stars as part of The Jackson 5 and is “happy” that her father pushed her to follow the same career path but does wish she had had the chance to pursue education further.
“I am happy because he obviously saw something that I didn’t, but I still wish I would’ve experienced college. Or, I should say university. I always wanted to experience that. I was just a baby when my brothers were successful, so that’s all I’ve ever really known,” she said.
