When her husband was killed, Kumaratunga was left to bring up her children on her own as a single mother. For her, it is as the children have grown older that juggling family and politics has become most difficult:

 "But in my particular case as a woman, as a single mother I came into politics during the most difficult time of my children's life which is when they were teenagers and when they needed me most. So that was very difficult because I believe that parents should take care of their children properly and not just abandon them to the world, and that is the kind of relationship I had built with them. And the fact that I couldn't be there with them in the last five years I was very frustrated and my children weren't happy at allÉso how you balance the two is a problem one shouldn't marry at all if one wants to be in politics"

She is concerned that her children shouldn't feel that they must continue the family tradition she does not want them to continue the dynasty.

"I have counselled them in fact brainwashed them as much as a mother could out of wanting ever to do anything to do with politics. I think we have given up ourselves for four generations to the cause without any personal gain, except the pleasure of seeing problems solved and I think it's about enough, someone else should take the burden."