Angelina Jolie Reflects on Her Decision to Become a Parent: ‘I Never Thought I Could Be Anyone’s Mom’

Actress Angelina Jolie is opening up about what it takes to be a parent.

The 44-year-old got candid about being mother in a special edition of Time’s Parents newsletter as its contributing editor.

In an open letter addressed to parents as a part of her guest-editing stint for the publication, Jolie — who is mom to Maddox, 18, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 13, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 11 — shared that she wasn’t always so confident in her skills as a guardian and a caretaker.

“I was not a very stable youth. In fact, I never thought I could be anyone’s mom,” she wrote. “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. What was hard was knowing that from now on I needed to be the one to make sure everything was okay. To manage it and make it work. 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.”

Working from her home, along with her six children being homeschooled, Jolie went on to empathize with “all the mothers and fathers with children at home” amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis, who are presumably “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. 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. They love you. They want to help you.”