Tichina Arnold and her daughter, Alijah Kai, are breaking intergenerational patterns. The veteran actress and her 17-year-old daughter, who is getting into show business, recently gave insight into their mother-daughter relationship while sitting on the ESSENCE Wellness House Panel called “Breaking Intergenerational Patterns.”
“[I] never had mental health conversations with my mother,” Tichina shared. “That was the era where we didn’t really discuss certain things,” Arnold explained. “Alijah and I have a lot more discussions,” the celebrity mom revealed. “She forces me actually to have more discussions.”
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Alijah agreed that she and her mom have more open discussions. “She has a harder time expressing herself due to the fact that back then she wasn’t able to really talk about her mental health,” Kai said of her mom breaking through generational barriers to establish their relationship. “But because I take mental health into really deep consideration … I love to kind of force her to talk to me and force her to open up with me and force her to feel what I’m feeling,” Alijah shared.
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Kai went on to tell the panel how she believes parents can learn from children and vice versa. “Your kids can teach you a lot as well. You can learn from your kids just as much as they learn from you,” Alijah shared. “Just because we walk on two different paths doesn’t mean we can’t walk beside each other.”
Tichina agreed. “Being a mom is not perfect,” the actress revealed. “Every day is just a different situation,” Arnold added. “As long as I am her mother I’m going to be learning how to be a mother until the day I die.”
Alijah Kai is Tichina Arnold’s daughter with Carvin Haggins. She is presently discovering her gift as a singer in addition to acting and modeling. You can keep up with what Alijah Kai is doing by following her Instagram page.
Photo: @kwakualston
