Angelina Jolie shares it is ‘impossible’ to be a ‘perfect’ parent and ‘answer all needs’ during coronavirus pandemic
Angelina Jolie thinks it is ‘impossible’ to be a ‘perfect’ parent.
The Maleficent star has Maddox, 18, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 13, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 11, with her ex-husband Brad Pitt.
She has now written in Time magazine’s Parents newsletter that parenting her six children during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has taught her it’s not possible to ‘answer all needs’ all the time.
Doing her best: Angelina Jolie thinks it is ‘impossible’ to be a ‘perfect’ parent; she is pictured at last year’s Hollywood premiere of her film Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil
She said: ‘Now, in the midst of this pandemic, I think of all the mothers and fathers with children at home. All hoping they can do everything right, answer all needs, and stay calm and positive. One thing that has helped me is to know that’s impossible.’
Angelina insisted children ‘don’t want’ their parents to be ‘perfect,’ as long as they can be ‘honest’ about their mistakes.
She added: ‘It is a lovely thing to discover that your children don’t want you perfect. They just want you honest.
‘And doing your best. In fact, the more room they have to be great where you are weak, the stronger they may become.’
Family photo: She is pictured with her four younger children Vivienne, 11, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 13, and Knox, 11; she also has Maddox, 18, and Pax, 16
The film star explained: ‘They love you. They want to help you. So in the end, it’s the team you build. And in a way, they are raising you up too. You grow together.’
The 44-year-old star also reflected on her ‘decision to become a parent’ when she adopted Maddox from Cambodia in 2002, and said it ‘wasn’t hard’ to ‘dedicate ‘her life to another human being.
She said: ‘I remember the decision to become a parent. It wasn’t hard to love. It wasn’t hard to dedicate myself to someone and something greater than my life.’
Balancing at: She has written in Time that parenting her six children during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has taught her it’s not possible to ‘answer all needs’ all the time
Angelina elaborated: ‘What was hard was knowing that from now on I needed to be the one to make sure everything was OK. To manage it and make it work.’
She continued that she had to figure parenting out: ‘From food to school to medical. Whatever would come. And to be patient.
‘I realized I stopped my constant daydreaming, instead staying always ready for any break into what I was doing or thinking to answer a need. It was a new skill to acquire.’
Her eldest: Angelina is pictured with Maddox and Pax at the New York premiere of her film First They Killed My Father in 2017