These days, Jennifer Garner is a professional at being a mother. The 51-year-old actress has three kids with her ex-husband, Ben Affleck. The former couple share 17-year-old Violet, 14-year-old Seraphina and 11-year-old Samuel.
And during a recent cover story for Allure, Garner admitted she was a “nightmare” when Violet was born.
I was such a first-time mom. My eldest daughter didn’t have a shot. She couldn’t have a free thought—I was all over her. I was a nightmare for everyone around me.
I think every first-time parent looks back at those early years and thinks, “I could have done better,” and that’s a good thing. At least they recognize their mistakes. It’s much better than someone believing they perfected it the first time around.
Garner also revealed she has a lot of faith in her kids, even if she doesn’t always agree with their decisions…
Your kids will really figure out who they are and what they are when they’re older, and most likely they will hew toward lovely. I have a lot of faith in my kids. I don’t love every behavior all the time, always. It’s gnarly growing up. We didn’t have the eyes on us that our kids have.
Ain’t that the truth. Nearly everything you do is on camera these days. If we had cameras on us 24/7 as teenagers, well, we’d probably have some explaining to do.
Garner says she always knew she wanted to be a mother.
Being a mother was one thing I knew I was going to be. I really could have been a mother in any way. I could have adopted, I could have fostered, but there was no doubt I was going to be a mom. I mean, I was the kid with the doll everywhere I went.
