Jennifer Garner has opened up about motherhood and her next big challenge – parenting a tween.
Mother to Violet, 10, Seraphina Rose, 7, and Samuel, 4, the actress spoke to TODAY about her latest film - family comedy Nine Lives.
Also starring Christopher Walken and Kevin Spacey, the movie explores a topic Garner – and many parents – can relate to: the juggle between work and family life.
"I just love the idea of celebrating that parenting is about time,' Garner told TODAY. "You can't buy parenting, no matter what. You have to actually get down on the floor and spend some time together."
For Garner bedtime is sacred, the mother-of-three aiming to spend some "alone time" with each child every night where she can. She does admit, however, that it's not always possible.
"I work, and I have a job that means sometimes I have to go out at night," she says, "and sometimes I need to go out at night just for me."
The 44-year-old, who recently split from husband Ben Affleck, is currently facing all the challenges that come with raising a tween – her daughter, Violet.
"We just had back to school night," she says, "and I said afterwards, 'Do they need a computer?' They need some kind of device or computer to complete their homework."
Violet, she explains, is the only child in her class who "doesn't have any of those things", adding that she found an old laptop for her daughter to use.
And the mum admits she's feeling "panicked".
"She's not on social media yet – her school has a no social media policy until 6th grade –but I know it's coming."
As her children get older, Garner said that she's aware of being a good role model and leading by example.
"I try to be the best version of myself and to have faith that they're watching me as carefully when I do something right," she says, "as they do when I roll through a stop sign."
And now, more than ever, Garner says her growing kids need her to be emotionally present.
"They need you to focus, and they need your attention, and you never know when they are going to drop some nugget of insight into their brains that you have been waiting for," she says.
The mother-of-three describes that when it comes to helping her children open up about issues that might be bothering them, she's learnt that it's about being there "In a chill way" until they're ready to talk.
"I give it all I can," she says.