Jaime Lynn Spears is sounding much wiser and older than her years. The almost 21-year-old, who is of course the younger sister of pop singer and mom-to-be Britney Spears, shared her thoughts recently on being a teen mom, her life today with her 3 1/2 year old daughter, Maddie, and her plans for the future.
“These days, the only thing I’m afraid of is not being a good mom,” Spears, tells Glamour in their March issue. “As long as Maddie is healthy and she loves me, the rest doesn’t matter.”
As a teen, Spears says, she was embarrassed to see a doctor and ask for birth control — even more so because of her position as the star of Nickelodeon show Zoey 101.
“I was 16. I’d had one boyfriend. It doesn’t make it perfect or all right. But I was judged for something that probably most everyone does,” she notes. ”I was young. I was in love. I was like every other teenager, except I had this last name. And I made a decision that is forever my decision.”
But the criticism and negative comments she received after announcing her pregnancy hurt deeply, Spears confesses, even to this day.
“I did feel responsible for the young girls and the mothers who I probably confused and let down. I apologize for that. But I wasn’t trying to glamorize teen pregnancy. I hated when [the tabloids] said that. Everybody is dealt a hand of cards. It was my choice to play them the way I played them. But the hateful comments hurt.”
When she delivered her first baby at just 17 years old, Jaime Lynn decided she would stay out of the public eye as much as she could, and be the best mom she could be.
“I just wanted to get away from it as much as I could … move to a town in the middle of nowhere and just raise my child. All I could be was a good mother. If anybody had anything to say after that, there was nothing I could do,” recalls Spears. “I was very OCD about Maddie at first. I didn’t want anybody to watch her or touch her. I wanted to do it all myself. I breastfed for almost a year; I couldn’t leave her at all.”
“We tried,” she says of her relationship with Maddie's father, Casey Aldridge, who takes care of their daughter one weekend a month. “We really wanted to do it right. We loved each other. I will love him as Maddie’s father until the day I die.”
As for dating? Spears says that’s not her number-one concern right now.
“I’ve been on dates here and there, going to dinner or a movie, but nothing further than that. I’m a mother first,” she explains. “I have a little girl, and until I’m serious about someone, he’s not going to be around her.
I'm not going to say, "Come to the house, and let's watch a movie," because I have Maddie there. The one thing that does get me excited is one day having that relationship. I look forward to that—I really do. I just want to be a soccer mom. I want to cook dinner every night. I want the kids to come home and be dirty and make the house messy. At the same time, I have to be patient and wait for the right time and the right guy. I would have never known that until I went through what I went through. I'm just patiently waiting for Prince Charming.
For the full interview with Jamie Lynn, head over to Glamour.
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