Serena Williams says she wasn’t planning for daughter Olympia to begin tennis lessons so young

When a person who is truly great at something becomes a parent, the questions are almost inevitable. “When are you going to start piano lessons?” or “Do you hope she’ll follow in your footsteps and excel in dance?” are the kinds of things you can expect to hear. And it makes sense: Many parents want to share their passions with their children.

But sometimes, being the child of a great athlete or artist can come with a lot of pressure. And for that reason, along with a whole slew of others, parents may not always want their kids to do the things they’ve done. See: Serena Williams, who recently enrolled her daughter in tennis lessons—much to the mama’s chagrin.

It all started in a way that’s pretty darn relatable to most parents out there. Williams and her husband, Alexis Ohanian, wondered how they’d keep their 3-year-old daughter, Olympia, occupied during the pandemic.

“Honestly, we started because it’s a socially safe sport, and when COVID happened, it was like, we’re just in the house with a 3-year-old, what do we do?” Williams told PEOPLE. “There was only one answer, to my dismay.”

It’s certainly not the reaction most people would expect from the mama, but we love the candor! And, as we mentioned above, we understand that essentially asking your child to follow in your footsteps doesn’t always feel like the right move.

Time will tell if Olympia becomes a tennis pro herself, but it does look like the toddler has taken to the sport, at least if a commercial for migraine medication UBRELVY is any indication. The mother/daughter duo star in the commercial, which features them playing together on a tennis court. She looks pretty natural to us!

According to Williams, Olympia “likes going” to her tennis lessons as well.

Back in October, the athlete shared a series of Instagram stories about enrolling her daughter in the sport. “I signed Olympia up for tennis lessons. Don’t even start with me because I’m not giving her tennis lessons, I signed her up for some,” she said at the time. “But the lady has no idea that it’s my daughter, so we’ll see how that goes. I’m not a pushy mom, but I know how I like techniques, I want to make sure she’s good at teaching Olympia some techniques.”