This is a review article written after watching the broadcast.
Stars' Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant' Son Yeon-jae complained about the hardships of parenting.
On the 10th episode aired on KBS 2TV entertainment show 'Stars' Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant' (hereafter 'Fun-Staurant'), South Korea's rhythmic gymnastics legend Son Yeon-jae revealed her life living as a new mom.
Ending 17 years of athletic career, Son Yeon-jae, who now has an 18-month-old son, said, "I am a first-time mom in my second year of parenting, which is said to be the hardest," drawing attention as she shared daily life with her son.
She added, "I felt grateful thinking, 'My mother must have raised me like this, too.' Even so, watching my child's growth is a very checking and fun experience," she said.
In the video, Son Yeon-jae started her day by putting away her son Yeon-jun's toys and preparing baby food. She prepped meals by trimming ingredients one by one, revealing a meticulous side as she even kept a baby food diary and a calendar, drawing admiration.
Son Yeon-jae explained, "I do meal prep in advance all at once. He is now moving from 17 months to 18 months. Including snacks, he eats four times a day. I'm trying to balance carbohydrates, protein and fat well, so the variety is increasing."
But she soon complained about parenting, saying, "I try to make parenting fun, but it's physically exhausting. When I was an athlete I could manage my condition, but now that my life revolves around the child, the baby's condition changes every day. It's hard to notice those things quickly, so adjusting to them was difficult."
Still, she said there is happiness that parenting gives. Son Yeon-jae said, "When I was an athlete, of course I had to win medals and felt the joy of achievement as an athlete. Now I'm raising Jun-yeon and everything he does is for the first time. I'm feeling joys I could not have imagined before."
Meanwhile, Son Yeon-jae worried about her son, who has recently fallen into a picky-eating phase. Having followed strict diets throughout her gymnastics career, she said, "There are many ingredients I never tried before retiring, and he doesn't have much experience with foods. He is very picky."
She added, "They say children often take after their parents' eating habits. I thought it would be a disaster if he took after me, so I'm trying hard to cook to give him the joy of eating delicious food."
She even confessed, "My son wouldn't eat, so I twirled a ribbon. I was twirling it on one side while my husband fed him," provoking laughter.
Meanwhile, Boom asked, "Let me ask one thing: which was harder, your days as an athlete or parenting?" Son Yeon-jae answered without hesitation, "Definitely parenting," surprising everyone.
She explained the reason, saying, "Training was hard as an athlete, but I slept and ate well. Parenting is hard because there is no time to manage your condition. I thought, 'Parenting has no end.'"
[Photo] Screenshot from 'Stars' Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant' broadcast
[OSEN]