Drew Barrymore opens up on 'devastating' reality of raising children without traditional family structure
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Drew Barrymore is opening up about the struggles of raising her daughters, Olive, 12, and Frankie, 10, outside of the traditional family structure.
On the Friday, March 21 episode of 'The Drew Barrymore Show', the 50-year-old actress spoke with Moon Zappa, daughter of Frank Zappa, about the challenges of parenting without a clear roadmap.
Drew Barrymore reflects on the impact of divorce on her daughters
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Zappa was promoting her new book on parenting, which sparked Barrymore to reflect on her personal experience.
During their conversation, Barrymore asked, "Do you think that we also are so determined to be these capable moms, these accountable, these trustworthy... and did you beat yourself up about every little thing along the way?"
As Zappa affirmed, Barrymore continued by revealing how deeply she struggled with the dissolution of her marriage to Will Kopelman and its impact on her daughters.
Drew Barrymore reflects on her own childhood and the pain of divorce
Barrymore shared that her own upbringing, marked by instability and a lack of parental support, left her longing to provide a different experience for her children but the end of her marriage disrupted that dream.
"Everything to me was very devastating and took me a long time to recover from if it wasn't in the traditional family dynamic that I swore I would do for my family because I did not grow up that way," she said.
She recounted moments from her childhood that reinforced her desire for stability.
One particularly painful memory was watching her classmates call their parents when they were sick, something she was never able to do.
"It's weird stuff like that. It's soup when you're sick. I remember all the kids at school would go into the office to call their parents when they were sick, and I could never get a hold of anybody,: she recalled.
"And I was so jealous of those kids who would call and be like, 'Mom, Dad, come pick me up.' I just would sit there and be like, 'What's that like?'" Barrymore shared.
Drew Barrymore's journey to finding confidence as a mother
Barrymore has previously spoken about her deep emotional connection to her daughters.
In January, during an appearance on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert', she provided an update on Olive and Frankie, expressing how they have transformed her perspective on life.
"They’re really, really good. Every day is different. Every hour is different. They’re my North Star, my compass. I love that in the life that I got to live before I knew them, my priorities were different. And ever since I came into the world, I understand what the purpose of my life is. It’s wild," she said.
Barrymore also reflected on how becoming a mother, especially to daughters, reshaped her understanding of her own childhood.
"I found out I was having a daughter with Olive, and I thought, ‘Oh right, okay, karmically that makes sense.’ There’s a lot of, ‘Okay, I’m having a girl,'"she said.
She then explained how learning she was having her second daughter, Frankie, was a profound moment of realization.
"When I found out I was having Frankie, my second daughter, it humbled me in a way that I’ve never known," Barrymore recalled.
"I’ll never forget the moment because I realized I was put on this planet to raise girls. And that everything in my life was captured in a butterfly net to try and get this right," she shared.
Barrymore admitted that the pressure of breaking the cycle of instability was initially overwhelming, according to People.
"If you don’t grow up in a perfect way with a perfect family, you fear the blueprint and you go, ‘I want to do things differently.’ I felt unconfident, like this was the stakes of my life, and it took a few years, honestly, to have that confidence," she said.
