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Jennifer Garner, Boyfriend John Miller Share Rare Kiss in Sweet Outing
Jennifer Garner capped off a five-star weekend with John Miller.
The Five-Star Weekend actress and her boyfriend stepped out for a rare outing Aug. 2, walking to Sunday dinner in the oceanside neighborhood of Santa Monica, Calif.
Tapping into the coastal chic trend, Garner, 54, donned a light gray crewneck sweater with white cropped jeans and matching sneakers. Meanwhile, Miller, 48, kept it casual in a sage green button down, which he pairs with light blue jeans and dark brown boots.
As the couple of seven years made their way to the restaurant, Garner showed some love to the tech entrepreneur by sweetly placing her hand on his back.
And it's not often Garner—who first sparked romance rumors with Miller in October 2018—packs on the PDA. After all, she is notoriously private about her dating life after her 2015 breakup with Ben Affleck, with whom she shares kids Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, and Samuel, 14.
In fact, the Alias alum once said "the hardest thing" about her divorce from the Oscar winner was the public interest in what went wrong.
“You have to be smart about what you can and can’t handle," she shared in a January interview with Marie Claire U.K., "and I could not handle what was out there."
Plus, as Garner put it, "The actual breaking up of a family is what was hard. Losing a true partnership and friendship is what was hard."
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That's why the 54-year-old made a conscious decision to shift her attention from tabloid rumors and online speculation to spending time with her family and friends.
"I make a big, concerted effort to see my people as much as I can, because that's what matters," she explained. "That’s where your resilience is: it's in your relationships and in the people who carry you through."
These days, she and Affleck, 53, have a friendly co-parenting relationship.
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“So much about my life surprises me,” Garner mused. “That I’m still working, that I’m still alive, that my kids are healthy, that my work relationships—which are more like familial friendships— are still the same as they were 25 or 30 years ago, but richer and deeper and stronger."
"And then, yeah, that I’m able to co-parent at this point in time with peace and equanimity and a partnership that I didn’t know I would ever get back to," she added. "Time is the opportunity to heal. Time is the opportunity to forgive, to move on and to find a new way to be friends."
Keep reading for more on how Garner co-parents with Affleck—in her own words.
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United Front
When it comes to co-parenting, Jennifer Garner will always maintain a cordial relationship with her ex-husband Ben Affleck for the sake of their children: Violet, Seraphina and Samuel.
“It’s not Ben’s job to make me happy," Garner shared in a 2016 Vanity Fair interview. "The main thing is these kids―and we’re completely in line with what we hope for them."
She continued, "Sure, I lost the dream of dancing with my husband at my daughter’s wedding. But you should see their faces when he walks through the door. And if you see your kids love someone so purely and wholly, then you’re going to be friends with that person.”
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Humble Beginnings
Though she and Affleck are both successful actors, Garner doesn't want their kids to live inside a Hollywood bubble.
"It's really important for my kids to see that everyone doesn’t have the lives they see in Los Angeles," she told Southern Living. "That doesn’t reflect the rest of the world. I want them to grow up with the Southern values I had―to look at people when they say hello and to stop and smell the roses."
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Model Behavior
And that's why her parenting style is very hands-on.
“I think teaching your kids anything is a lifelong job and certainly values are something―you can’t just say, ‘Here, have values!’" she previously told E! News. "You have to show them that you have values."
Explaining how setting a good example is the "most important job," the Alias alum added that she and Affleck—who she split with in 2015 after 10 years of marriage—hope that their kids "see and appreciate the work we do."
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Go With the Flow
Of course, there is no one standard way of parenting.
“As much as you think that, ’OK, I’m going to follow what this person says,'" Garner noted during a 2016 appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers, "it’s not up to you, dude."
Advising parents to "let it go" when it comes to their worries, the 13 Going on 30 star continued, "You’re going to struggle. It’s going to suck—just like for everyone else."
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Parenting With Purpose
For Garner, the key to maintaining a good structure for her kids is setting up boundaries and rules.
"You just have to do it," she explained to Us Weekly. "It’s not pretty. I don’t think that I’m always the best at it, but I try my best to be consistent and for them to know what they can expect from me."
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No Worries
And when she does experience a roadblock in her parenting journey, Garner believes "every day is a fresh start."
"You always can say, ‘Today, we’re going to try this!'" she told People. "And if it goes horribly, you can say, ‘Today, we’re throwing that out, and we’re trying this!’"
The actress added, "That’s part of what I like about being a mom in general."
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Mom Life
Garner's motherhood joy extends into the cinematic universe as well.
"I’m really glad that I’m playing moms," she told Today, "because there’s no more rich time in women’s lives than when you have your babies."
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