Mindy Kaling Gets Real About the 'Exhausting' Reality of Traveling with Toddlers

Mindy Kaling may have an enviable Hollywood career, a gorgeous home in Malibu, and about a handful of Emmy noms under her belt, but deep down, she’s just like us. In fact, the busy mom of two recently confessed during an interview with Today that while she loves her kiddos more than life itself, she gets seriously overwhelmed by traveling with them — especially when it comes to her toddler.

Kaling, 43, is the proud mom of Katherine, 4, and Spencer, 1 1⁄2

And while she wouldn’t change her situation for the world, she nearly lost her cool during a trip to the East Coast.

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According to the actress, comedian, and writer/producer, taking “a one and a half year old for six hours on a plane” was … “a lot.” (You can say that again.)

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In fact, at one point she nearly swore off traveling altogether

(Well, at least for a *little* while.)

“I was like, ‘I’m not doing this again. My son will not see outside of the greater Los Angeles area for about three more years,'” she said with a laugh.

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For Kaling, it wasn’t about embarrassing toddler tantrums or epic diaper explosions. (Though those could have certainly played a role.) Instead, she says that traveling with her toddler is “exhausting” in a different way.

Kaling describes her son Spencer as “a very social person,” and suspects that (much like her) both he and his sister will have pretty big personalities one day. That said, this can be pretty tiring when you’re the parent who’s constantly kid-wrangling all day long, with barely a second to sit down.

… Sound familiar?

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It’s the non-stop, up-and-down of it all that can really take its toll

Making things even trickier is the fact that Spencer apparently refuses to sleep on a plane and shows little to no interest in watching his iPad. (A true rarity among toddlers.)

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Instead, Spencer just wants to socialize with literally anyone who will give him an audiance.

“He’s not unhappy a lot of the time, but he will come up to you — like, if you’re on a plane, he’ll come up and put his finger in your soup,” she shared. “He doesn’t have boundaries. But he’s cute and he’s friendly. But that’s a lot for six hours on a plane.”

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“He just wants a lot of interactions,” Kaling told Today. “[But it’s] exhausting.”

(Exhausting, yes — but also kind of adorable.)

When it comes to her daughter Katherine, the iPad works like a charm

In fact, she admits that sometimes it works a little *too* well.

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During a recent panel discussion sponsored by Zelle, Kaling confessed that while she tries to limit her daughter’s screentime when they’re in public, some of her “rules” go out the window when they get home.

“I will say it’s funny with the iPads, because I think there’s like a public persona where you’re like, ‘They get 15 minutes of a TV a day, I try not to keep them on screens,'” the writer shared. “And then there’s the version of me at home where my daughter is watching six movies in a row on day six of eating sour straws.”

“But don’t tell anyone that’s how I raise my children!” she added with a laugh.

(Don’t worry, Mindy — we’ll keep that one just between us.)

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