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It’s pretty clear that Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union are not your typical Black parents. They’re rich and famous for one. And as sad a commentary as this is, many Black parents may not be as open and accepting with a child who identified as trans.
But their unconventional nature doesn’t stop at their parenting. Turns out they’re pretty unorthodox in terms of gender roles in their home as well.
They’re not exactly traditional. And while they’ve arrived at this place after over a decade since they began dating and nearly seven years of marriage, it was a bit of an adjustment.
Reflecting on his upcoming anniversary, Wade explained the adjustment during a recent interview with Extra
“In relationships, we come in and try to change people to the way we want them to be… And I started taking a different approach in the relationship.”
“Early, I was like, ‘Okay, you get a two-drink max,’ bop, bop, bop… And she didn’t respond to that,” Wade continued. “There reasons for that, let me say… It’s not the man leads and the woman follows, that’s not what we live in this house. For me, I have a wife that works not just as hard, harder than I. She had her own career, her own life, before I came along. From my perspective, I was like, ‘How can I be a part of the growth, the evolution, of who she is?’ Not try to change her or stunt her growth.”
I’m not sure how D. Wade thought that was going to fly. But we’re happy he picked up on his mistakes sooner rather than later.
The couple recently released a children’s book about their spirited and “shady” daughter Kaavia called Shady Baby. If you’re like 1.7 million other people and follow her on social media or have seen clips of her on the internet, you know that homegirl is very opinionated and has been for some time now.
“From the second she got here she has been throwing shade… We noticed she would throw shade, if you will, in her reaction to something to have someone not respect her boundaries, not respecting her voice, so we were like, ‘Okay, there’s something funny that has a lesson there that your shade can be your superpower…It can be something that we celebrate.”
Shady Baby is now available everywhere books are sold.
