The Gossip Girl alum is opening up about how having children has turned her life around.
In a chat with her husband Adam Brody for Interview Magazine, Leighton Meester was asked how motherhood is affecting her career. She shares an 8-year-old daughter Arlo and a son, whose name has not been revealed yet, with Brody.
The 37-year-old actress and singer told her husband, “It’s inevitable that it’s changed it, and we’ve had these conversations endlessly,” adding, “I wouldn’t change anything and I’m proud of the mom I am.” She continues, “But I also feel like I’m open to a lot of self-doubt and worry, and to more extreme hyper-vigilance and neurosis. So all I can do is take it a day at a time. But when I’m with the kids, our kids, I feel like all I can do is be present. Then when I’m working, I miss them like crazy.”
She further added in her revelation, “It’s hard not to feel as a mom that you’re not doing enough and I think that’s always going to be reinforced by our society.” Additionally, she laughed saying, “It gave me a lot of compassion, and this whole other level of appreciation for other people and a sensitivity that I don’t think I ever had before. Particularly, when it comes to children. It’s not like a regular job. You work for 3 months, nonstop, day and night, and then not at all for the rest of time. It’s preferable.”
In an August talk with People, the Good Girls Go Bad singer spoke up about how her parenting journey raising her two kids has “made me reflect on my own upbringing and childhood.” She said at the time, “It’s all just so intimate and private. It’s something that I could never put into words, really. It’s such an emotional journey to have children, and it certainly has made me reflect on my own upbringing and childhood,” adding, “Having children, I want to give them all that we never had when we were growing up, but also to be candid and open about how grateful we should be for everything that we have.”
The Exmas actress also added to the outlet that she was suddenly getting the hang of the back-to-school feeling after “an interesting last handful of years.” She said of her children, “To me, going back to school is great. My kids’ birthdays are in the summer, so that’s when they get the new clothing items that they can grow into versus all the stuff that’s getting a little bit tired on them,” adding, “It just shows that they’re growing so much.”
She continued, “We get the school supplies, maybe a new backpack. We’re definitely getting excited about going and seeing friends, the fun field trips and all the things that they’ll learn,” adding, “For me, I definitely try to get organized and get excited and wrap my head around the new routine — waking up early or getting ready the night before, packing lunch and packing up the backpack. We get geared up as much as possible ahead of time.”
She concluded jesting, “For me growing up, the new school year was always like, ‘This is the year I’m going to be cool.'”