Sophie Ellis-Bextor on difficulties of being a working mother

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has said that her children sometimes “get really cross” with her if she has to work at home.

However, the singer-songwriter, who has five children with husband Richard Jones, said that working makes her a “better” mother as it gives her another purpose.

The Murder On The Dancefloor and Take Me Home singer told Red magazine: “A lot of working mums end up trying to be all things to all people. In our house, if I say I’m working, at least two of the kids get really cross with me, like, ‘Why don’t you tell them you can’t sing?’

“I say, ‘You have to stop punishing me for what I do. I love what I do.’

“I don’t want to make it about money. I say it’s good for feeling purposeful, for giving me something I love to do.”

She added: “Working definitely makes me a better mum.”

Ellis-Bextor, 40, welcomed her fifth son Mickey in January, and she described him as “our family mascot” while talking about getting back to work.

She said: “He just sits there in his highchair, grateful whenever anyone makes eye contact. But now he’s nine months, and I’m back to work properly and not always bringing him with me everywhere, it’s like, ‘OK, logistics.’

“But, it’s doable. It’s fine. We’ll make it fine. He’s here now.”

Ellis-Bextor, who released compilation album The Song Diaries two months after giving birth to Mickey, also revealed the marriage advice she once received from her mother, former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis.

Of her marriage to The Feeling star Jones, she said: “When I got married, my mum said, ‘Be selfish about your marriage and if you have a choice about what to be doing with your time, pick doing something with Richard’.

“When you’re a mum, you feel guilty about everything. If we’re going to have a night out, it alleviates that feeling because sometimes you do need to go out and spend time with each other.”

The full interview appears in the December issue of Red, available October 30.