How Maria Shriver assisted Katherine Schwarzenegger in overcoming 'nasty' mother-shaming

How Maria Shriver assisted Katherine Schwarzenegger in overcoming 'nasty' mother-shaming

Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt credits her mother, Maria Shriver, for teaching her how to be a "compassionate" parent.

The new mom, 31, said on Dear Media's "Meaning Full Living" podcast Monday that receiving parent-shaming remarks online was difficult at first. She and Chris Pratt had their first child, Lyla Maria, last summer. However, she claims that growing up in the spotlight with her parents, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, equipped her to deal with these critiques. 

"I consider myself fortunate in that I grew up in a home where my parents were extremely adept at dealing with criticism, whether it came from behind a screen, on paper, or in person," Schwarzenegger remarked. "They raised me with the knowledge of how to cope with it as well as possible."

Though she said that remarks criticizing "certain things that I do as a new parent" "hurt," Schwarzenegger shared an essential lesson Shriver taught her as a child: "Try to have empathy" for everyone, especially the haters.

"I try not to let such things impact me," she added. "It's tougher some days than it is other days, but my mother always said to me when I was growing up that when people write or say terrible things, they must be in a lot of suffering."

Schwarzenegger now says she doesn't allow "nasty remarks" to spoil her day and instead surrounds herself with people who believe in her.

"I know a lot of people look at those things and go, 'Oh my God, that's so cruel... But I always try to like, give them love, sort of detaching myself," she says.

She also praised Shriver for guiding her through her first year as a mother, saying she made it appear simple even when it wasn't.

"Growing up, (Shriver) had four children under the age of eight, a huge profession, and a large spouse," Schwarzenegger remarked. "I remember simply seeing her do everything with such ease and elegance while also having so much joy doing it; I spoke with her recently and she said, 'Oh, I was overwhelmed,' but she always made us laugh."

Shriver previously described Schwarzenegger and Pratt's wedding in June 2019 as an emotional roller coaster.

“As a mother, you must experience a wide range of emotions, right? So you're trying to be both joyful and sad because you're getting a new part of your family, but you're also losing your kid as they were,” she said in June 2019 on "Today With Hoda and Jenna." “So you're excited, and everyone says, 'Well, isn't this great?' 'You're like, 'Yeah, it's fantastic,' but it's also a little depressing.'

Despite the excitement, Shriver admitted that the wedding made her mourn her own mother, who died in 2009.

"I thought, 'What would she be thinking and going through, and what would she think of this? What would she say to me, and how would I manage it?'" Shriver said at the time. "She was of that emotionless period, but I'm not like that."