Brenda Song Reveals ‘Big Lesson’ She Learned as a Mom of Two (Exclusive)

• During an exclusive conversation with PEOPLE, Brenda Song opens up about what she’s learned since becoming a mom of two
• The actress says becoming a mom gave her “real purpose” in a life that was already “so full and wonderful”
• The Running Point star and Macauley Culkin share two boys together: Carson and Dakota

Brenda Song has learned a major lesson since becoming a mom.

During a conversation with PEOPLE about her partnership with DoorDash ahead of Mother’s Day, the Running Point actress, 37, opens up about life as a working mom of two. Song welcomed her two boys, Carson, 2, and Dakota, 3, with Macaulay Culkin.

“As moms, you are running around all the time,” she tells PEOPLE. “You have so much on your plate, even when you don’t realize it, just because your kids. I mean, these little people depend on you, [and] you do everything for them. And you forget to sometimes take care of yourself.”

“That’s what I really love about a day like Mother’s Day, where it’s just you take a second to just take a deep breath. And you know what? We deserve a little bit of appreciation. Moms do a lot,” Song continues, adding that since becoming a mother she’s been able to sympathize more with her own mother’s journey.

“I look at my mom and I’m like, ‘I don’t know how she does it,’ ” she adds. “I remember, two weeks after having my first son, I looked at my mom and I was like, ‘Mom, I’m so sorry for anything I’ve ever done to upset you or hurt you or anything.’ ”

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The actress says that as a working mother, she has come to appreciate the moments where she can relax and not worry about everything all at once. For her, it is the very thing that makes her partnership with DoorDash so special.

“I never want to compromise my time with my children, so yes, I do DoorDash a little too much because I would rather play with my kids and not have to worry about dinner,” she tells PEOPLE. “It’s taken me a second to sort of let go of that mom guilt, … [but] I think that’s a big lesson that I’ve sort of learned being a mom is just letting go and allowing the help where I can get it.”

For The Suite Life of Zack & Cody alum, becoming a mother to her two boys gave her “real purpose” in life. She tells people that while her life was “so full and wonderful” before becoming a mother, the moment she had children changed everything for her.

“I realized what true responsibility was, what it really meant, [and] what the true meaning of life was,” she says. “I realized that the only legacy I truly leave behind are my children. And it has been such an empowering time in my life.”

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“Everything else could go away, but my family life is the most important thing,” she adds. “I always tell people, [motherhood] is the hardest, most exhausting, draining thing I’ve ever done, but it’s also the most rewarding, the most impactful, the most fulfilling, the most beautiful, the most important thing I’ll ever do in my life, … and it’s given me real, true purpose.”

With Mother’s Day around the corner, The Last Showgirl actress reveals the one thing she wants to do to celebrate her special day. “As a mom, I’ve realized that all I really want is to do nothing because I’m so tired,” she tells PEOPLE.

The Disney alum plans to spend her day relishing in relaxation, enjoying time with her mom, her nieces and her two boys.

“We are very simple,” she says. “It’s about spending time together. My mom’s a gardener, so we always go to a beautiful botanical garden or something like that.”