Cameron Diaz is opening up about the frustrations of parenting a toddler.
It's something all toddler moms know about but so rarely talk about because, well, mom guilt. But cute and funny as they may be, toddlers are full of emotions and, as a parent, those fiery outbursts can be tough to navigate!
Cameron is learning this with her 2-year-old daughter, Raddix, whom she and husband Benji Madden welcomed in early 2020.
Cameron absolutely loves being a mom. But she just opened up on The Kelly Clarkson Show about some of its tough moments. She says she's not immune to totally "losing her [expletive]" with her little one.
Of course, Cameron understands that kids will be kids. “They’re not actively trying to be bad,” the 49-year-old actress said. So she tries hard to figure out what's happening by going down her “mom checklist” of “Did she eat? Is she tired? What time is it?”
“You just kind of start there, and you go, 'What just happened? Is there something she's trying to communicate to me?'” she explained. “And I feel like as a parent, my job is to just help her find the words to her emotions, her experience, what she's going through and be able to help her identify that and move through it.”
Cameron is absolutely intent on being a communicative parent. She says that if she does have a mom meltdown, she makes sure to apologize. It’s “really imperative,” she said. “If you do blow up, just to repair that and say, 'Oh my God, mommy lost her [expletive].' And, 'I didn't mean to say that to you. If I hurt your feelings or if I upset you, I just want you to know that mommy's human too.'”
Cameron became a mom later in life, and for that reason, she says she really feels lucky. She has a lot of perspective to bring to parenting. That's likely why she keeps her child's life mostly private.
After announcing Raddix's birth in 2020, she and Benji shared a statement about the fact that they would be trying to keep their daughter out of the spotlight. "While we are overjoyed to share this news, we also feel a strong instinct to protect our little one's privacy," they wrote. "So we won't be posting pictures or sharing any more details, other than the fact that she is really really cute!!"
