Kaley Cuoco is openly discussing the challenges of motherhood!
The 38-year-old actress recounted a humorous experience of trying to get her 9-month-old daughter Matilda to sleep on her inaugural flight over Thanksgiving while appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
Cuoco shared, “I was so petrified. So I thought, ‘What do we do? We have to bring her sound machine on the plane.’ It’s the only thing she can go to sleep to.”
Describing the moment, she added, “So she’s crying. It was difficult. She eventually falls asleep, nestled on Tom [Pelphrey, Cuoco’s partner and Matilda’s father], with the sound machine on, and we were finally like [sighs].”
However, Cuoco revealed a surprising turn of events, saying, “The steward comes over and he’s like, ‘Hey, one of our passengers would love it if you would turn the sound machine off.’ And I’m sitting there, and I’m like, ‘Oh my god.’”
“And I can feel Tom be like, ‘Hey, ask the passenger if she wants to hold our screaming child when we turn it off.’ And I mean, the ice went into his veins.”
Cuoco expressed her disbelief, stating, “I couldn’t believe, by the way, she asked us to turn it off!”
Kimmel responded, “That is so crazy. And what a terrible job to have to be a flight attendant and have to deliver a message of that type.”
Reflecting on the incident, Cuoco shared, “We were so angry. So then we landed, and it was the woman right in front of us. And so we get up and she goes, ‘Oh, so your daughter does know how to smile.’ ”
In a light-hearted tone, Cuoco joked with Kimmel, “It was in that moment where I understood why women end up on Dateline.”
Cuoco also expressed empathy for parents traveling with infants, emphasizing, “You see all these things on social media where people are really, truly getting mad at these babies. Like, justice for babies! This is ridiculous … leave them alone!”
In a separate instance, Cuoco delighted fans by sharing a heartwarming snapshot of Matilda in a flower-printed onesie to kick off the new year.
Furthermore, Cuoco disclosed to PEOPLE in December how motherhood has heightened her emotional awareness, sharing a touching moment with Matilda that left her and her partner teary-eyed.