--- title: Naya Rivera Opens Up About Motherhood and Son Josey description: Rivera released a new memoir titled Sorry Not Sorry, and most of her time and effort is going toward Josey Hollis, her 13-month-old son. canonical: https://time.com/4547465/naya-rivera-motherhood/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-27T13:12:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:42.241Z og:title: Naya Rivera Explains How Motherhood Made Her 'Truly Selfless' og:description: She hopes to 'instill good morals and values' in her son, Josey Hollis og:url: https://time.com/4547465/naya-rivera-motherhood/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9477648a5de683ba/6988abbccf40a8cc24c45536/naya-rivera-motherhood.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4482 og:image:height: 2521 og:image:alt: 23rd Annual Race To Erase MS Gala - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Naya Rivera Explains How Motherhood Made Her 'Truly Selfless' twitter:description: She hopes to 'instill good morals and values' in her son, Josey Hollis twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9477648a5de683ba/6988abbccf40a8cc24c45536/naya-rivera-motherhood.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Naya Rivera Explains How Motherhood Made Her 'Truly Selfless' by [Jen Juneau / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Jen Juneau / People Contributor Oct 27, 2016 1:12 PM UTC  BEVERLY HILLS, CA - APRIL 15: Actress Naya Rivera attends the 23rd Annual Race To Erase MS Gala at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on April 15, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images) BEVERLY HILLS, CA - APRIL 15: Actress Naya Rivera attends the 23rd Annual Race To Erase MS Gala at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on April 15, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)David Livingston/Getty Images by [Jen Juneau / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Jen Juneau / People Contributor Oct 27, 2016 1:12 PM UTC [Naya Rivera](http://people.com/tag/naya-rivera) is quite the busy woman these days. The actress and singer just released a new memoir titled [_Sorry Not Sorry_](http://people.com/tv/naya-rivera-abortion-anorexia-glee-stars-memoir-sorry-not-sorry/), and most of her time and effort is going toward [Josey Hollis](http://celebritybabies.people.com/2015/09/30/naya-rivera-ryan-dorsey-welcome-son-josey-hollis/), her 13-month-old son with husband [Ryan Dorsey](http://www.people.com/article/naya-rivera-marries-ryan-dorsey-wedding-photos). “It’s made me a much more observant person,” Rivera, 29, says about motherhood in [her cover story](http://mini-magazine.com/issue) for _Mini Magazine_‘s fall issue, adding the thing that has surprised her the most is “how truly selfless you become.” Rivera, most recognizable for her six-season stint as sassy Cheerio Santana Lopez on [_Glee_](http://people.com/tag/glee), explains that the most important thing in raising her son is that he becomes a good person. “I hope to instill good morals and values in him,” she says. “I want to teach him [to be confident](http://celebritybabies.people.com/2015/12/04/naya-rivera-attends-first-red-carpet-event-since-welcoming-son-josey/) but kind, strong but not proud, and to always be in love with life.” The newly minted author, who [blogged for PEOPLE](http://celebritybabies.people.com/category/naya-rivera-blog/) during [her pregnancy](http://celebritybabies.people.com/2015/08/06/naya-rivera-blog-third-trimester-i-can-see-the-finish-line/) and early stages of motherhood, describes her typical morning as one that is full of activity with her son: cuddling, hide and seek, brushing their teeth — and a coffee run for Mom, of course. “Breakfast is usually at 8 and now that Josey is older, we try to go out for breakfast a few times a week,” Rivera explains. “We also hit up Coffee Bean or Starbucks in the morning where Josey requests that I buy him a banana off the counter every time.” “We’re back by 9 for his nap \[and\] I get an invaluable hour break,” she continues. “I use that time to answer emails and call my mom to tell her all the [cute new stuff](http://celebritybabies.people.com/2015/11/26/naya-rivera-son-josey-thanksgiving-photo/) Josey did in the three hours prior.” Aside from her schedule, Rivera admits motherhood has completely [changed her](http://celebritybabies.people.com/2015/12/03/naya-rivera-blog-breastfeeding-son-josey/) — and that the biggest struggles come in finding [time for herself](http://celebritybabies.people.com/2016/01/05/new-mom-naya-rivera-has-dropped-almost-all-of-her-baby-weight-just-four-months-after-giving-birth/). “Taking the time [to not worry](http://celebritybabies.people.com/2016/04/18/naya-rivera-fit-pregnancy-cover-body-after-baby/) about your house or to-do lists or the baby is hard, but necessary,” she says, adding that she takes care of herself by getting her hair done or going out to eat alone once in a while. The challenges are completely worth it for the star, though. “The [love I get](http://celebritybabies.people.com/2015/10/31/naya-rivera-ryan-dorsey-introduce-son-josey-hollis-first-photo/) from him. Little things like the two kisses he stood up and gave me last night to say thank you for making him mac and cheese from scratch,” she says. “It’s a love never found anywhere or with anyone else.” Rivera can’t help having one big worry, though, even though it’s still a decade away: puberty. “I’m going to cry so hard when the day comes that he doesn’t want to hold my hand because it’s not ‘cool,’ ” she admits. While her son is too young to read her new memoir, Rivera does hope he’ll one day learn a few lessons from the book. “I hope he would take away [that growing up](http://celebritybabies.people.com/2015/06/30/naya-rivera-pregnant-nursery-photos/) has its challenges, but behind every cloud is a silver lining,” she says. _This_ [_article_](http://people.com/babies/naya-rivera-son-josey-talks-motherhood-morning-routine/) _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://www.people.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4547465/naya-rivera-motherhood/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4547465/naya-rivera-motherhood/"},"headline":"Naya Rivera Explains How Motherhood Made Her 'Truly Selfless'","datePublished":"2016-10-27T13:12:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:42.241Z","description":"She hopes to 'instill good morals and values' in her son, Josey Hollis","url":"https://time.com/4547465/naya-rivera-motherhood/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9477648a5de683ba/6988abbccf40a8cc24c45536/naya-rivera-motherhood.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jen Juneau / People"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9477648a5de683ba/6988abbccf40a8cc24c45536/naya-rivera-motherhood.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"23rd Annual Race To Erase MS Gala - Arrivals","caption":"23rd Annual Race To Erase MS Gala - Arrivals","creditText":"David Livingston/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4547465/naya-rivera-motherhood/","name":"Naya Rivera Explains How Motherhood Made Her 'Truly Selfless'"}}]}] ```