The Carter household is one that many of us admire. After all, just imagine what Beyoncé's home looks like. She's one of the most popular musical artists of our time, so you can imagine that her house is quite extravagant.
But it's also probably filled with tons of love. Since Beyoncé has such a close relationship with her own mom, who helped manage her career, it's without a doubt that she's tight with kids Blue Ivy, Rumi, and Sir. Blue Ivy has been the most public, but that's likely due to her age.
Blue Ivy's arrival was also a big moment in pop culture history. Beyoncé famously announced she was pregnant for the first time at the 2011 Video Music Awards.
But Beyoncé wasn't the only one whose life changed forever due to the arrival. Husband Jay-Z also grew a lot with fatherhood. For one, he recently admitted that Blue Ivy's birth inspired him to finally learn how to swim.
Jay-Z admitted on The Shop: Uninterrupted that Blue Ivy's arrival made him realize that learning how to swim should be a priority — and it would also be very big for Blue Ivy's own safety. "I didn't learn how to swim until Blue was born," he admitted. "There goes everything you need to know. This is a metaphor for our relationship."
"If she ever fell in the water and I couldn’t get her, I couldn’t even fathom that thought," he said. "I gotta learn how to swim. That's it. That was the beginning of our relationship." And it's a big one. While everyone changes due to the birth of a baby, Jay-Z realized that it was no longer just an inconvenience to not know how.
Many Black families in the United States haven't always had access to swim lessons like other families have. While Jay-Z might have had the desire to learn when he was younger, he may not have had the resources available. It's important to sit back and realize that something so many of us take for granted isn't offered to all kids of a certain age. While Jay-Z now has the resources, he likely didn't have a reason to learn to swim until becoming a father.
It's good to know that not only did he prioritize swim lessons, but he realized why they were so important. Having kids around water can be terrifying, and drowning can happen very easily. By learning how to swim, Jay-Z upped his dad game more than he might have realized. He prepared himself to be ready in case of an emergency.
Blue is currently 9 years old, so Jay-Z has almost a decade of swim practice down. The two of them seem to have an excellent relationship, with Jay-Z taking her to sports games pretty often for daddy-daughter time. Ever wonder what it's like to have two famous parents? Blue doesn't seem phased by the popularity of her dad and mom.
"I got the [Hall of Fame] announcement, I was taking Blue to school, I was like, 'This ain’t no celebration,'" he said. "She walked away, I was like, 'Yo, give me a kiss I'm in the Hall of Fame!' She’s like 'Bye, dad.'"
Maybe Sir and Rumi were slightly more impressed.
Jay-Z has been pretty sentimental about his kids recently — maybe it's the fact that Father's Day just passed, or the fact that he got to spend more time with them in 2020. He spoke out about his kids in an interview with The Times, expressing what he thought their futures would be like. Of course, they're all still quite young — so it's up in the air as to whether or not they'll pursue fame like their parents.
Since Blue has already been in the spotlight and has shown her star power, it would actually be a bit surprising if she didn't choose a life of music or even modeling. In 2017, Jay-Z released a song called "Blue's Freestyle/We Family," which had fans chatting.
While Blue lent her voice to the track, it wasn't the first time she had done so — it was likely just a bit more obvious based on the song's title. She also helped her dad in a track called "Glory." But she's not just tied to Jay-Z's projects.
She helped her mom with her recent Ivy Park fashion campaign as well. The brand is her mom's athleisure line, and Blue proved that she has what it takes in front of a camera. She has a lot of star power and a big future ahead of her. Not many celebrity kids are already household names.
Fame aside, it's great that Jay-Z admitted that he had a big problem to solve when facing parenthood. And it's great that he followed through. He should be a good example for other parents-to-be. During the time of pregnancy, it's a good idea to work on certain skills, or bad habits, that you want to put in the past before starting a family.
For other dads-to-be who might not know how to swim, there's nothing embarrassing about learning as an adult. As far as your child is concerned, it may be the difference between life and death. Even those who've already learned how to swim can always use a few refresher courses. Remember, when it comes to your kids, being prepared is always a top priority.
