Celebrity3 min(s) read
Published 12:55 28 Oct 2021 GMT
Angelina Jolie has become increasingly aware of her mistakes as a mother while raising her six children.
The doting mom spoke candidly about the missteps and mistakes she found herself making as a parent whilst being featured in People's 2021 Kindness Issue.
The star shares six children; Maddox, 20, Pax, 17, Zahara, 16, Shiloh, 15, and 13-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox, with ex-husband Brad Pitt.
Jolie and Pitt are in the midst of a heated custody battle after the pair filed for divorce in 2016 following a two-year marriage.
"I'm not a perfect parent by any means," the actress admitted.
"Every day I feel like I'm more aware of everything I don't do right. And I'm pretty tough on myself, because I feel often, 'Am I doing the right thing? Did I say the right thing?'"
One of the essential parts of her parenting approach is viewing her children as "six very individual human beings," she explained. And Jolie considers herself to be a family member among them, rather than above them.
"They're pretty great people, and because there's so many of them, I think they've had a very significant effect on each other. It's not like I'm the head of anything. I'm very honest with my kids. And I'm very human with my kids," she said.
Jolie said she hopes her transparency encourages her children to reciprocate openness back to her.
"We're supposed to help them figure out who they are. And you can't figure out who they are if you don't enthusiastically develop with them," she said.
"My children have done many, many loving things. My children's kindness has been very healing to me," Jolie added.
In September, the actress told The Guardian that going through the public divorce, which was finalized in 2019, and subsequent custody battle throughout the past five years has left her feeling "broken."
"I just want my family to heal," she told the outlet. "And I want everyone to move forward — all of us, including their dad. I want us to heal and be peaceful. We'll always be a family."
