After the much-publicized divorce, Angelina Jolie had to bounce back while the whole world watched her. But she never let it distract her from being a good mom.
Angelina Jolie is many things - actress, humanitarian, rebel. But there's one side of her that she cares most about - being a mother.
From juggling work and family to juggling work, children, divorce and breast cancer, it hasn't been a breeze for her. But looking at her and her brood, there is a certain curiosity as to how she handles being a single mom now that Brad Pitt is no longer her companion. After all, it seems like she has it sorted, which can be a bit of a sore point for a lot of other single mothers who might say that she has the money to do all of it. Well, she agrees.
"I'm not a single mom with two jobs trying to get by every day," she told The New York Daily News. "I have much more support than most people, most women in this world. And I have the financial means to have a home and health care and food."
"When I feel I'm doing too much, I do less, if I can," the Academy Award winner continued. "And that's why I'm in a rare position where I don't have to do job after job. I can take time when my family needs it."
"I actually feel that women in my position, when we have all at our disposal to help us, shouldn't complain," she added. "Consider all the people who really struggle and don't have the financial means, don't have the support, and many people are single raising children. That's hard."
But that doesn't stop her from just being a good mother to her children. According to Moms.com, Jolie is committed to being around for her children and that includes making breakfast and taking them to school. She understands the importance of spending quality time with her children and letting them be themselves. She told BBC Radio 4's Women's Hour, “You don’t know who your children are until they show you who they are,” she said. “They’re just becoming whoever they want to be.”
She said in an interview with Reuters, “Children should be allowed to express themselves in whatever way they wish without anybody judging them because it is an important part of their growth. Society always has something to learn when it comes to the way we judge each other, label each other. We have far to go.”
Having had a hard time with her own mom, this was important to Jolie. And one of the things that mattered the most was that she didn't want her children taking care of her. She told Vanity Fair, "I was very worried about my mother, growing up — a lot. I do not want my children to be worried about me. I think it’s very important to cry in the shower and not in front of them. They need to know that everything’s going to be all right even when you’re not sure it is."
However, she also knows the significance of putting herself first too instead of just worrying about the children all the time. This is because, she says, in order for you to function as a good mom and still be able to bear the responsibilities, you have to take care of yourself first. “I actually feel more of a woman because I feel like I’m being smart about my choices, and I’m putting my family first, and I’m in charge of my life and my health. I think that’s what makes a woman complete.”
And that isn't all. She wants her kids to know that the education and privilege they have isn't for show. She teaches them to value what they have and use their knowledge for good. "With my family, I'm trying to raise them to have respect for all people and make friends around the world and feel at home with the world and really live a truly global [life] because I think it's what forms them and it's really important to me," she states, according to Moms.com.
It's only fair to say that Jolie is doing the best with her kids the way we are doing the best with ours.
References:
https://www.moms.com/20-reasons-moms-should-consider-parenting-like-angelina-jolie/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03ym84l
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/07/angelina-jolie-cover-story
