Sisters Michelle and René Marsh have a lot in common, from their work as on-air journalists — Michelle with WJLA and René with CNN — to the way they approach parenting. The duo spoke with Northern Virginia Magazine about career pressures, raising young kids, and the advice they live by.
You both have demanding jobs and young children. (Michelle has a 1-year-old son and René has a 2-year-old daughter.) How do you decompress?
René: Journaling is something that I enjoy doing, because I love writing. It really does help kind of center me and relax me in certain ways, because I can better make sense of all those thoughts once I put [them] down.
Michelle: I rediscovered my love for tap dancing. I would like to get more active and work out more, but I haven’t really had the time for that. So, when I have maybe 30 minutes, and I don’t think I’m going to be too loud and wake up [my son], I’ll play around and see what I can still do.
What’s the best parenting advice you’ve received?
René: Trust your gut and your instinct, your maternal instinct — that’ll never steer you wrong. And then also just remembering to be present. I try to be really intentional — even though we are currently in the throes of terrible twos — just being present and remembering that these are going to be the moments that I fantasize or think about as fond memories.
Michelle: For me it’s been give yourself grace, and it’s not a balancing act. Some days you’re going to be really good at one thing and you’re going to fail at the other. And other days it may switch. I think giving yourself grace and knowing that I’m doing the best that I can at that moment, that’s been something that I kind of retreat to on the days where I feel like, ‘Oh, I didn’t do my best at x, y, or z.’
Looking back, what advice would you give your younger selves?
René: Take the time to do the things that make you happy and bring you joy, which is spending time with people you love and doing things that you love to do.
Michelle: I would tell my younger self not to put as much pressure on myself in terms of certain timeline expectations. I came into motherhood much later than most of my friends, being in my 40s. And I feel as though I am more aware of who I am, and I can be a better mom to Denver now that I’m in my 40s. I think worrying about timing can sometimes just drive me nuts, and that’s something that I would tell my younger self: ‘Everything is going to time itself out perfectly.’
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Feature image courtesy René and Michelle Marsh
This story originally ran in our July Issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
