Jennifer Garner Reveals the Hardest Part About Raising Teens in Vulnerable New Interview

“Don’t lick your brother.” “Say, ‘Thank you.’” “Did you brush your teeth?” — as a parent of three kids ages 8, 6, and 3, I feel like I’m constantly giving them direction (on even the most common sense of things). Parenting kids in early childhood is truly deep in the trenches, and it can feel never ending. But what’s even weirder is not telling them what to do. That’s what Jennifer Garner is experiencing now as a mom of teens: Samuel, 13, Seraphina, 16, and Violet, 20, with ex-husband Ben Affleck. She opened up about the hardest part of raising older kids, and it’s sounds so difficult.

In a new interview with Marie Claire UK, the 13 Going on 30 star revealed that the most surprising things about her kids is that “they’re just so cool,” while the hardest part is not constantly giving them advice.

“Parenting now has shifted. It’s more about parenting with a button on my mouth….” she told the outlet. “You have to let them grow up and make their choices. You don’t get to control it.”

I just thought telling them to pick up their dirty laundry and wash their hands after going to the bathroom was hard — it’s going to be even harder to watch them make decisions (and, inevitably, mistakes) and not be able to say anything. Because how else will they learn?

Overall, though, Garner is proud of her kids. She gushed that she’s “so proud of how they walk through the world, and proud of them for trying hard.”

This isn’t the first time Garner has mentioned this struggle. The Last Thing He Told Me Star told PEOPLE in 2024 that it’s “so hard” to let her kids make their own choices.

“I mean, my parents did too, and I’m so amazed by that,” Garner said. “I have a really hard time not saying, ‘This is what I see you as,’ and ‘I think you should.’ I really have to sit on my hands.”

It may be difficult, but it seems like the right move. Garner told the outlet, “They’re really solid right now” about her kids. “I’m just watching them in this new phase of life where they’re figuring out who they’re going to be and what they’re going to study,” she continued. “And I’m so interested in them. All the time, I’m interested in everything about them.”

There’s no better approach to have when it comes to kids! Teens will be independent adults before you know it, so watching them with curiosity and letting them make their own mistakes is a great way to prepare them for the future; even if it feels completely the opposite of our natural parenting instincts!

Before you go, check out where your favorite celeb parents are sending their kids to college.