Observations: Jane Pauley and Samantha Bee on the impact of their parents' opinion

When our children are grown with children of their own and with full-fledged careers, does how we feel about their career choices and their appearance still have an impact on them?

Here are Jane Pauley  (currently the anchor of CBS Sunday Morning and the parent, along with Garry Trudeau, of three children) and Samantha Bee (host of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee on TBS and the parent, along with Jason Jones, of three children) to tell it like it is--for them and their parents. Comments are via an interview with Philip Galanes in the New York Times.

PG: Now I’m dying to know how Jane’s mother felt about her giant career.

JP: She didn’t trust journalists much. That was possibly inspired by Walter Cronkite coming back from Vietnam and saying that we had not been told the truth about the war. Still, she was absolutely proud of her daughter and son-in-law. Garry was this liberal satirist, and she loved him. Boy, could he make her laugh. But she had an issue with the media, and my being part of it didn’t resolve it for her.

PG: How about your parents, Sam?

SB: My dad is very in there; he watches the show regularly. My mom watches it after the fact. But they’re supportive. They live in Canada.

JP: What’s that supposed to mean?

SB: They’re low-key. It’s just the new reality: Their daughter has a TV show. They’re not overly impressed. My mom will still call me up and go, “I didn’t care for that red blazer.”

JP: Did your father ever tell you that you had to be a lady?

SB: Never! I spent a lot of time with my grandmother, who sounds a bit like your mom. She would see women on TV and think they were snippy or full of themselves. She would not enjoy the content of my show, but she would be so proud.

PG: The eternal distinction that parents make for us.