Life as a mom in Russia is going more smoothly for Candace Parker now that her daughter is nearly 5-years-old. The WNBA star can, however, remember a time when parenting wasn’t so easy.
“When I first came [to Russia] I had a six-month-old,” says Parker. “It was just survival mode, you know, I was a new mom in a new place. My first time coming here I had like 10 bags because I wasn’t sure if they had diapers here.”
Adjusting was even more difficult without her husband, Shelden Williams, and mom to help her through the rough spots. “I was able to be a mom at a young age so that helped with the transitions and the balancing act,” explains the star of her experience as mother and athlete in the States. “Obviously my husband was great and my mom.”
Although she’s had to learn the meaning of self-reliance, Candace says that Russia is a perfect fit for her and her daughter. “Lailaa’s a great kid,” gushes the WNBA player. “She’s ahead of her years. She loves Russia; she loves the snow and she loves her school there.”
Lailaa is Candace and Shelden’s first child together. The couple wed in 2008.
