YO U Ñ C o v e r S t o r y
ParentsÕ Lightning Round BOOK I READ TO RILEY I’ve Loved You Since Forever, by Hoda Kotb. SONG I SING TO HIM “You Are My Sunshine.” B E S T B A BY A DV I C E I’VE RECEIVED When my pediatrician tells me all Riley’s weird things are normal.
R I L E Y ’ S L AT E S T T R I C K Squeezing his hand as he says bye-bye and kissing! W O R KO U T M O T I VAT I O N I look at Riley and think, “I’m going to do anything I can to live forever.”
run my schedule with me. He’s too good to be true,” Trainor says. Trainor went back to work when Riley was 3 months old, cohosting Peacock’s Top Chef Family Style, in which young chefs compete, with parents as cooking partners. Going to work so soon after the birth was “scary at first,” she says, “but it really helped that the team included so many other moms.” The crew gathered around her during breaks, asking if she needed to pump, to rest, to see the baby—since Riley was spending his days in the trailer. As transitions go, it was a good one. “I think about moms who don’t get to bring their kids to work, which is pretty much everybody, and it’s crazy to me,” Trainor says.
PA R E N T S
60 M A R C H
2022
After Top Chef wrapped, Trainor judged Clash of the Cover Bands, a singing competition that streams on Hulu Live TV. By the time it was over, she felt run-down and guilty about missing time with Riley. Her therapist gave her a pep talk. “‘No, you’re not a bad mom, you’re a working mom, and you’re working to support your family and to love your family,” Trainor recalls her saying. “I think when you have a kid you just realize, ‘Wow, life is beautiful and precious. I want to be the best for my kid.’ I’ve never been more motivated.” Trainor is currently developing a sitcom for NBC based on her life, which she will star in. But the goal of growing her family is never far from her mind.
“I’m gonna try to get to four,” she says, speaking of kids. “I’m gonna try to create four. We’ll see what happens after three. I’m not doing less than that. I need three.” Then she recalls her reaction to seeing Riley for the first time. “When I saw Riley in the NICU, all hooked up to these wires, I just saw the most adorable baby redhead I’ve ever seen,” she says. “And I thought, ‘Oh! We have to make more.’ ” Trainor says that Riley has inherited Sabara’s sense of zen and her own good sleeping habits. As he grows, Trainor says they will teach Riley to “ ‘treat people with kindness,’ as Harry Styles says,” referencing Styles’s 2019 hit. Ultimately, her dream is simply to sit down on her couch, watch TV, and cuddle with her fam. “That’s my true happy place,” she says. “I don’t want to be on a beach somewhere. I want to be indoors with air-conditioning and blankets, food, and happiness. That’s my joy.”
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B E S T PA R T O F S H A R I N G T H E B A BY L OV E O N I N S TA It becomes a digital photo album. I always go back and look!