Madonna celebrated her daughter, Mercy‘s, 17th birthday with two blowout bashes! The 64-year-old pop legend shared several images from Mercy’s special day on her Instagram Story on Monday, Jan. 23 and called her third-youngest child her “precious beautiful talented daughter” with text written on a photo of them together, as seen below. Mercy appeared to have two separate celebrations: one at a dimly lit restaurant and one at home. The above-mentioned photograph was taken at the restaurant and also included Mercy’s siblings, David, 17, and 10-year-old twins Estere and Stella. Madonna also shared a solo pic of Mercy smiling at the wooden table and wrote, “H.B. Mercy James!” in text and “SLAY!” in pink with her own handwriting.
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Mercy’s siblings seemed just as excited for her birthday as she was in the footage Madonna shared from the celebration at home. A video from the party showed Mercy and her above-mentioned siblings singing their hearts out to “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran with birthday balloons surrounding them. The “Like a Prayer” hitmaker gave a better look at the birthday balloons in her Story as well. She not only had dozens of blue balloons blown up for her daughter, but she also had her name spelled out in silver letters. How cute! “Happy birthday Chifundo,” the doting mother wrote on the balloon arrangement snapshot. “We love you!!”
Happy Birthday Mercy! Madonna’s beautiful children! #ItsACelebration pic.twitter.com/MrvhXzYNaA
— Drew S. (@DrewSrivanlop) January 23, 2023
Another photo from the fun night showed the four kids dressed to the nines in front of the balloon setup. David looked dapper in a black tuxedo, the twins wore metallic black gowns, and the birthday girl looked beautiful in a strapless black floor-length dress that was covered in a white, green, and pink floral print.
Madonna is also the mother of 26-year-old Lourdes, and her 22-year-old son Rocco, but they were not present for the celebrations. She shares Lourdes with fitness trainer Carlos Leon and Rocco with English filmmaker Guy Ritchie. She and Guy, 54, adopted David from Malawi in 2006 while Madonna was on a humanitarian trip in the country. Madonna adopted the rest of her children from Malawi as a single woman, bringing Mercy home in 2009 and her twins home in 2017.
Although she clearly receives a great deal of joy out of being a mother, Madonna opened up about parenthood as a “challenge” and “battle” for the Spanish, Italian, and French Vanity Fair “Icon Issue” covers this month, per PEOPLE. “Today I am still struggling to understand how to be a mother and do my job,” she admitted. “Because, whoever you are, having children and raising them is a work of art. And no one gives you a manual. You have to learn from mistakes. It is a profession that requires a lot of time. And it is exhausting because there is never rest.”
Speaking on the positive side of motherhood, the Grammy winner said she’s loved watching her kids explore their interests and develop as unique individuals. “And to see them happy, to witness their growth, to watch them evolve and then to find the things they love,” she gushed. “Most of my happiness comes from my children. And much more from the inspiration that some artists give me.”