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Jennifer Garner Details Her 3 Kids’ "Ludicrous" Paparazzi Encounters
Once upon a time, Jennifer Garner had to build a new path for herself.
The Five-Star Weekend actress candidly looked back at the period following her and Ben Affleck’s divorce, admitting she initially wasn’t sure how she’d be able to balance a renewed focus on her acting career with raising their three kids Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, and Samuel, 13.
“I panicked when I was first out of my marriage and realized I had taken such a step back in my work,” Garner reflected on the Aug. 25 episode of Emma Grede’s Aspire podcast. “Suddenly, I realized: I don’t know how long I’ll be able to work.”
“This isn’t a career that’s like, ‘Hey, you’re 60. You’re 55. You’re 43, come on, let’s pay you more than you’ve ever made,’” she mused. “That’s not traditionally the role.”
But though her career had taken a backseat as she and Affleck expanded their family following their 2005 wedding, when they broke up a decade later, it was not only a new chapter for them as co-parents but also a wake-up call for her to take a hard look at her finances.
After all, the 54-year-old realized, “Wait a minute. I have to take care of myself. I have to take care of these kids.”
The realization led to a conversation with her business partner on the most feasible way for her to work but still be there for her kids.
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“I said, ‘I can work in Los Angeles. I can’t leave these kids for six months at a time. I would love to. I love going on location. That is not this time in my career,’” Garner explained. “It's like, ‘OK, what can we make happen? How can we do it?’ And we just got really targeted and still about it.”
So, she broadened her horizons, tapping into her business savvy to co-found the organic baby food company Once Upon a Farm in 2018, a decision that not only helped her with financial stability post-divorce but is still an important part of her career today.
“It’s not like you can just un-famous yourself. Life is expensive, and you still have to kind of figure out how you’re gonna live,” the 13 Going on 30 actress shared. “And just because you’re well-known by people does not mean that there is some great living being provided for you. And it became very serious to me really quickly as someone who had never given a lot of thought to money, like, ‘Oh, I need to be an earner here.’”
Despite the post-divorce panic, business and money aren’t topics that Garner wishes she thought about earlier.
Sean Zanni/Getty Images for Once Upon A Farm
“I was so lucky to be able to luxuriate in working some and being home and being a mom a lot of the time. I was really grateful for that opportunity,” she said. “I got to kinda have the best of both worlds. So I can’t really look back and complain about any of it. It just, it is what it is.”
And while she was able to take time for her children, the Emmy nominee also never felt it necessary to apologize to them when work kept her busy because working is such a part of who she is.
“When they were younger, I struggled with it so much,” the Alias alum admitted on Today With Jenna & Friends in July, “but now that they're older, they're like, ‘Thank you for showing us that work is something to be enjoyed.’ It doesn't have to just be tedious all the time.”
Thankfully, Garner was also able to let go of any guilt she felt, which she hopes others who are embracing their careers are able to do as well, noting that guilt “doesn’t serve anyone.”
For more about Garner’s thoughts on parenthood, keep reading.
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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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