Pete & Chasten Buttigieg Are Feeling A Bit Emotional About Their Kids Starting Daycare

In a speech on the White House lawn on Monday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg began his speech addressing President Joe Biden’s Trucking Action Plan by announcing a big personal update about his little ones at home. “I have to share, this is a big day in my own household because it was our first time taking our kids to daycare,” he told the crowd.

Buttigieg then segued into his discussion of the action plan by noting the ways that truckers had made the day possible. “As I was getting ready for that, I kept looking around at all of the physical items that surrounded us and thought about how they got here,” Buttigieg said Monday at the White House. “The bottles, the little jars of baby food, the spoons we were using to feed them, the high chairs that they were sitting in, even the family minivan itself, got to us because truck drivers brought them where they needed to be.”

Buttigieg shares 8-month-old twins, Penelope and Gus, with husband Chasten Buttigieg, who retweeted the family announcement on Twitter adding, “If anyone saw me walking around Target looking a little confused and sad earlier today now you know.”

“When our kids were born early they were just four pounds,” Chasten added. “I could rest both of them on my chest while cradling them with one hand. Now they’re sitting and scooting and babbling precious monologues on the way to daycare. Slow down!”

Penelope and Gus were born premature in August of 2021, and required time in the NICU — especially Gus, who was “in and out” of hospitals for several weeks due to medical complications. At the time, Secretary Buttigieg drew ire from conservative pundits and politicians for taking a two-month paternity leave. The couple nevertheless held firm that family leave was important.

“I'm not going to apologize ... for taking care of my premature, newborn, infant twins,” Buttigieg told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “The work that we are doing is joyful, fulfilling, wonderful work. It's important work, and it's worth it. Every American should to be able to do it when they welcome a new child into their family.”