"If I have a choice between putting my kids to bed and going to a party, I'll put my kids to bed. If I have a choice of going to a restaurant or having friends round, I'll have friends round. Every time"
About this Quote
The subtext isn’t just “I love my kids” or “I prefer home.” It’s a corrective to an industry narrative that assumes fame comes with compulsory availability: to photographers, to parties, to a social calendar that treats women’s time as communal property. “Putting my kids to bed” is also a coded flex of stability and competence, the kind of moral capital celebrity culture rewards when it wants to soften a high-gloss image with “real life.”
Her second comparison is sneakier: restaurant versus friends. That isn’t simply anti-elitist; it’s pro-control. Restaurants are public, performative, surveilled. Friends round is private, curated, safe. The sentence suggests a life engineered away from the camera’s demand for spectacle and toward chosen witness.
“Every time” closes the loopholes. No exceptions, no “when work allows,” no apology. It’s a boundary presented as taste, which is a savvy way to make self-protection look effortless rather than defensive.
Quote Details
| Topic | Parenting |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Macpherson, Elle. (2026, January 16). If I have a choice between putting my kids to bed and going to a party, I'll put my kids to bed. If I have a choice of going to a restaurant or having friends round, I'll have friends round. Every time. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-i-have-a-choice-between-putting-my-kids-to-bed-95327/
Chicago Style
Macpherson, Elle. "If I have a choice between putting my kids to bed and going to a party, I'll put my kids to bed. If I have a choice of going to a restaurant or having friends round, I'll have friends round. Every time." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-i-have-a-choice-between-putting-my-kids-to-bed-95327/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"If I have a choice between putting my kids to bed and going to a party, I'll put my kids to bed. If I have a choice of going to a restaurant or having friends round, I'll have friends round. Every time." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-i-have-a-choice-between-putting-my-kids-to-bed-95327/. Accessed 17 Feb. 2026.




