Celine Dion is very open about the joy her children bring her and the challenges she has faced as a single mother.
The singer has three sons, René-Charles and twins Nelson and Eddy with her late husband, René Angélil. Since becoming a mother in 2001, she has opened up about fertility challenges, gender norms and parenting after losing Angélil to cancer.
In honor of her birthday, we’ve rounded up 12 thoughtful parenting quotes from Dion.
On Grieving Her Husband With Her Sons
“To be honest, they’re remarkable. They are helping me, I am helping them — it’s mutual. They cope with the loss of their dad very well. … I said to [René-Charles], ‘I never want you to feel the pressure of being the man of the house, you have your own dreams and he is always with you in your heart and I am here for you.’”
On Not Enforcing Gender Norms
“I thought they were going to go for the big superheroes. They were looking at princesses. And they all wanted to be Minnie Mouse. And then I said, ‘But what about Mickey?’ … I end up saying to myself, ‘You know what, it’s OK.’ You know why it’s OK? Because they’re talking, they’re finding themselves.”
On Parenting An 18-Year-Old
“He’s a normal teenager, growing, trying things, exploring ― and I think that’s the way it should be. Sometimes you try to embrace them, sometimes you’re trying to help them to find their path, but they have to find their own way at one point because if you pull the cable too, too much, they can really go wild and off. … He’s good in everything he’s trying. He doesn’t know exactly ― I don’t think yet ― and it’s normal not to know, just turning 18 what you’re going to be, what you want to do, what you’re going to become in life. But when he tries some things he gets his whole self into it.”
On Considering More Children
“The only reward that would mean anything to me is my children. There’s nothing that can top being a mother. I would like more but I don’t know if it could happen. I want the twins and me to have quality time.”
On Becoming The Sole Parent
“When he left, he came inside of all of my kids’ hearts and mine, he gave the rest of his 50% for me to be complete, to continue the rest of my life, to feel strong and to believe that I can still do this and he will always be with me. I feel stronger. I stand up for my kids and I feel like I’m the leader of the family.”
On Trusting Her Grown Son
“As any teenager, they have to try things because if you say no to so many things ― they will turn around and still do them. So I am giving him more space. I trust him. He does stuff sometimes that I have to say, not necessarily agree with what he chooses to try, but as long as he’s using his intelligence and his mind and brain, I trust him.”
On Using ‘Up’ To Explain Loss
“I asked for some books for children to help me to guide them through this. And it kind of, like, shook me up so much. It was not my way of wanting to talk to my children. … ‘Up’ saved my life. I said [to the kids], ‘What is the movie that Ellie died in?’ And they said, ‘Ellie died in the movie “Up,” mom.’ … Papa is now with Ellie. He went up. Everybody goes up — they don’t have tubes and they’re never sick.”
On Fertility Struggles
“I had to deal with it. I was going to do whatever it took and of course there was a window of doubt. I was 95% positive, 5% doubting. I didn’t want the doctor to call me and say, ‘I’m sorry, it’s not going to work.’ I needed to protect myself a little by thinking that I already had one child. I couldn’t make all my life, my spirituality, my strength, my happiness, dependent on the next pregnancy. I would say to René-Charles, ‘I hope you are going to have a brother or sister,’ and each time when it didn’t work I’d tell him, ‘It didn’t work, we’ll try again.’”
On Her Twins’ Namesakes
“They were a little jaundiced at first, so we had to stay in the hospital, but they were fine. We named Nelson after Nelson Mandela and Eddy after my other hero, Eddy Marnay, who wrote all my French songs for me at the beginning of my career.”
On Seeing Her Husband In Her Sons
On Her Twins
“They have very different personalities but both of them love to wake up first thing in the morning and go to their closet and decide what they will wear.”
On Supporting Her Grown Son
“His dad’s sending him good energy. I told him that I will always have my heart and my hand for him to hold onto because we love him so much and we wish him the best in whatever he decides to do in life as long as he’s happy, because he’s a great human being.”
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