Special Features

Slowing it down with Sarah Lahbati-Gutierrez

by Jana Blanco
December 16, 2020

We spoke to this modern mother-of-two about the joy of being a boy mom and why she’s loving all this extra time with her kids

“It blows my mind sometimes that I’m a mother of two darling kids,” writes Sarah in her blog.”I love how my two boys are best friends. When Zion’s around Kai, you can see Kai’s eyes light up and his big smile go even wider.” At 27, Sarah is positively radiating happiness and we know that glow only happens when you’re in love. And she’s living her best life — she’s made it official with the love of her life, Richard, and is content spending the day with her sons.

Indeed, given that Sarah has built a career on looking amazing, she’s adept at continuing to do so, by surrounding herself with those who bring out the best in her. And now that includes her husband’s family and her newfound sisters, Alexa and Ruffa. Here, we speak to Sarah Lahbati-Gutierrez about why she’s in love with being a mom, how she’s making the most of the lockdown, dealing with mom guilt and crushing it on social media…

A secret superpower

Sarah celebrating her 27th birthday with her family

Since becoming a mother to seven-year-old Zion and two-year old Kai, the unflappable Sarah Lahbati has discovered a new vulnerability within herself. Some of it is born from the struggle most working moms grapple with — “I feel like I never have enough time to really be there for my kids. It flies by so fast — there’s always something new happening with my boys and I’m missing it,” she says, “There was one point where I thought, OK, I’m doing this for my family and Chard supports it but I’m always away…“ But since the pandemic hit, she’s been able to make up for the mom guilt by spending all the extra down time being with her children. “This year made me realize what’s important to really slow down, live life, reset and reassess, be grateful for all the little things — which are actually the greatest things.”

And this vulnerability might just be Sarah Lahbati-Gutierrez’s greatest superpower. When we ask Sarah how the pandemic has changed her family life, she captures it perfectly. “This year is all about meeting halfway. Whatever it is you’re going through, it’s all about being patient and waiting for that silver lining. Being apart from my kids stressed me out so much before and now I’m happy that I get to have a healthier balance of work and family time.”

The joys of motherhood

A peek at Sarah’s Instastories transports you into the world of fashion interspersed with cute videos of Zion and Kai — Sarah Lahbati-Gutierrez might not be your typical boy mom but she is very much involved in the boys’ disciplining. “I’m usually the bad cop,” explains Sarah. “Chard is the good cop. We try to balance it out but it always ends up with me as the disciplinarian.” But apart from being Mr Nice Guy to his kids, Sarah says she can rely on him to be very hands-on. “There was this one time during the lockdown that I was so stressed out, I just wanted to lie down and cover myself with a blanket. I asked Richard to take over homeschooling that day, and he did.”

And just like every other mom in trying to make it out of lockdown with our sanity intact, she’s also grateful for board games and simple pleasures like building a blanket fort with her boys. “We’ve really had to get creative, but I’m not complaining. I’m lucky we have a home and food on our table.” Sarah says.

The ultimate modern mom

Inspiring and upbeat are the first words that come to mind when you look at Sarah’s Instagram feed. And despite being a model and actress, it’s also totally relatable — especially her family photos. You have the super silly Kai (who Sarah says reminds her of Chard) and Sarah’s mini-me, Zion, who’s edging his way into boyhood.

And with 6.9 million followers and growing, there’s no doubt that everyone is living for Sarah’s content. Which is why she feels its her responsibility to be accountable for what she posts — and that includes being sensitive about what she posts: “I think it’s important to be responsible about what you post on your platform — and that includes thinking about the current situation and how it might affect others. It’s definitely a lesson I’d like to pass on to my sons.”

Experiencing a pandemic as a mom has undoubtedly changed Sarah Lahbati-Gutierrez. It’s allowed her to work on making better choices for herself and her family and examine her motivations, wants and desires. It’s also put a spotlight on self-acceptance — and as moms, it’s something we constantly strive towards. We’ll all get there someday…