Cecily Strong has been a self-professed night owl her entire life. How could she not be? She spent 11 seasons on Saturday Night Live, a job that doesn’t exactly pander to early risers. But now Strong has a 17-month-old daughter, and as all moms know, toddlers wake up whenever they please.
So the fact that Strong is currently fronting a campaign for Thomas’ called “Join the Morning People” — a 21-day challenge to become the kind of person who gets up and eats breakfast on purpose — is both deeply ironic and exactly the point. She’s in the midst of the new-parent pivot: trying to figure out how to weave the person she was before into the mom she is now. (Her preferred morning carb, for the record, is an English muffin with cottage cheese, a habit she learned from her mom and one she now shares with her daughter.)
We recently sat down with Strong for a quick Zoom catch-up, where she shared some of the ways this first year of parenting has changed her.
Scary Mommy: You play a lot of roles in this commercial. You’re a triplet mom, an all-night gamer, jet lag traveler. Which one of those do you relate to the most now, and would that answer be different for you from five years ago?
CS: Oh, 100%. I mean, I am definitely relating to that busy mom. I was just saying last night, my daughter has a cough right now, which I think is going to happen every other week for the next five years. That’s my new lofty goal: not till 18, till kindergarten. But I think if I would’ve done this three years ago, I would’ve been the jet-set traveler. Flying everywhere. And I flew with my dog. That was my only baby then.
SM: They say it takes 21 days to form a habit, but I’m curious: Are there any habits you’ve actually broken in the past year that you’re excited about?
CS: I can’t think of any habits that I’ve broken, but I definitely think there are certain things that I’ve been trying to do and be better at. I think just coming off of having a baby, you have to relearn everything. I was like, ‘I just want to be able to get off the floor by myself at some point.’ And I have a great Pilates movement instructor who’s helped me learn how to get off the ground. So I think just relearning your own body and how to nourish it and how to treat it after having a kid is a huge thing that I certainly didn’t know much about going into this.
SM: You’ve been a self-professed night owl your entire adult life, and now you have a 1-year-old who is effectively setting your alarm. Has that brought you around a little bit more to being a morning person, or does it make you appreciate your night-owl tendencies because you can survive?
CS: That’s a great question. That’s tough. I go to bed earlier, but also 6:30 feels like 11:30 … she does make me have to get up early, so it’s good. And now I’m having breakfast when I have to get up early with her. So she’s helping drive some good habits, I suppose. I’m not a great sleeper. I try to get in bed early, but I still have a hard time getting myself to sleep.
SM: Same. Well, the first year of your baby’s life is so much happens. What was a milestone that surprised you, or that you were surprised by your reaction to?
CS: Gosh, I mean, I think for myself, it really selfishly was just physically how different, how out of touch with my body I was for a long, long time. And I remember — I think she’s OK with me name-dropping this — I saw Busy Philipps at the Tonys in 2025, and she was like, ‘The year after you have a baby is the ugliest year of your life. So if you’re worrying about yourself, don’t. You’ll love yourself again in a year.’ And it’s kind of true. I’ve been coming back into the ‘Oh, I’m recognizing myself again’ time.
And I also get this really fun 17-month-old who’s hilarious at the same time.
SM: That’s such a good age.
CS: Oh, it’s such a good age. She’s so funny. She’s my stalker. She’s very clingy to mommy right now. I love that. She practices her words in bed … she’s just like, ‘Mama. Dada. Bubble.’
SM: Bubble is the cutest! With my kids it was ‘fish.’ They’re 13 and 15 now, so their choice of words is much different these days.
CS: Yeah, I bet. You’re like, ‘Where did you learn that?!’
SM: Sadly, most of the time it is from me.
CS: Not even sadly. I hope. I hope my daughter gets all her best curse words from me.
SM: That’s true. A well-timed F-bomb? I can’t even be mad.
CS: Yeah, no.
SM: Do you do any bits for your daughter? Like, do you break out any of your SNL characters out of retirement?
CS: Absolutely. I don’t know that any of those characters are good. I don’t know that. I’m still learning what makes her laugh, and I’m jealous of anyone else that makes her laugh when I’m like, ‘My thing was much funnier. Why aren’t you laughing at my thing?’
SM: To get a little sentimental for a minute, you were the longest-tenured woman in SNL history, and for so many funny girls, you’re going to be the reason they want to be on SNL when they grow up. What would you say to them, to the funny girls?
CS: Well, number one, I would say I’m honored. I’m humbled. That’s amazing to hear, and to get to be a part of anybody’s journey and finding themselves and finding their voice would be a total honor. And I think what a way to live life, to be able to have laughed as much as I have. So I wish that for all of them that want that.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
