It happens. One day, they insert their headphones and turn their heads. Suddenly, the bedroom door is closed behind them, or they’re pulling out of the driveway — behind the wheel this time. Even when you’re an international pop star and the subject of public fascination like Britney Spears, seeing your kids grow up causes your heart to swell and burst a hundred times over.
In an Instagram post that had some fans fooled they were about to read a pregnancy announcement, Spears began, “My baby is getting bigger.” The puppy face emoji that followed these words, however, clarified that she was talking about her fur baby, a blue-eyed Australian Shepherd puppy that she brought home from Maui after vacationing there with fiancé Sam Asghari in February. Spears announced the pair’s engagement on Instagram last September.
On Sunday, Spears posted a series of photos of herself in a black, red heart-adorned dress with ruffled off-the-shoulder sleeves. The dog appears in the final shot. Spears compares the growing pup to her now teenage sons — Sean, 16, and Jayden, 15 — who she shares with ex-husband Kevin Federline.
“I will just say it just like when my boys got bigger … IT LITERALLY SUCKS. They don’t need me anymore … I’ve cried oceans for my boys and I’m not lying !!!!” Spears wrote.
Moms of teens, many of us who grew up listening to Spears’ music and following her saga in the media, could relate. While of course it’s a joy watching your children grow up, there’s something about them never being as dependent on you as when they were babies that gets the waterworks going every time.
Britney Spears on Instagram.
Referencing the lack of images of her sons on her social media account, Spears continued, “Hopefully one day I can show recent pics of us but in the meantime, I respect their wishes ?️ !!!!”
A user named dione_drew commented, “good for you for respecting their wishes. you know how much that means to a kid and the impact it will have on them as adults. ️ proud of you for modeling behaviors you didn’t get yourself.”
Spears, who was kept under conservatorship for more than a decade, testified before a judge in June 2021 regarding her wishes to have the arrangement terminated. She said she hoped to marry Asghari and have more children one day.
“I have an IUD in my body right now that won’t let me have a baby and my conservators won’t let me go to the doctor to take it out,” Spears said, to the alarm of advocates for personal autonomy everywhere who have coalesced around the campaign #FreeBritney.
The conservatorship was officially terminated in November.
There isn’t a new baby or a pregnancy to report just yet, but Spears appears to be looking forward to a future in which she makes her own choices about who to include in her life, both publicly and privately.
The pup was a no-brainer. “Sawyer,” Spears wrote at the end of her post, “yes, he’s bigger but he will always need me and I like that ? !!!!
