Eva Mendes wants to stop 'yelling' at her and Ryan Gosling's daughters to quit difficult parenting pattern

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Eva Mendes, known for her fiercely private nature when it comes to her family, has always been open about the challenges of motherhood.

As the proud mother of two daughters, Esmeralda and Amada, whom she shares with actor Ryan Gosling, Mendes is candid about her parenting journey, as per HOLA Magazine.

Despite her reluctance to share photos or personal moments publicly, she has often spoken about the emotional toll of raising children and the lessons she’s learning along the way.

Eva Mendes reveals her commitment to breaking the habit of yelling with her daughters

During a recent heartfelt discussion on the show 'Parenting & You With Dr Shefali', Eva Mendes opened up about one of her biggest parenting challenges—breaking the habit of yelling.

"I don't yell in a harsh way, like telling them to 'shut up', but it's still yelling," Mendes confessed. "It's not about being mean, but it's the yelling itself that feels cultural to me."

While reflecting on her past, the actress grew emotional, tearing up as she expressed her deep desire to parent differently from how she was raised.

"I really don't want to raise my kids with fear," she said. "I hope I don't look back in 20 years and regret it because it's so unfair to them."

Mendes, who was born to Cuban parents Eva Perez Suarez and Juan Carlos Mendez, has often discussed how her upbringing shaped her approach to motherhood.

She was raised in a home full of love, but also one marked by chaos and frequent yelling.

The actress shared how this dynamic affected her, saying, "In my 20s, I was determined not to be like my parents. But now, I'm shocked at how much I'm like my mother. I adore her, but my childhood was full of anxiety and turmoil, even though my family was loving."

At 50, Mendes has realized how difficult it can be to break away from behaviors learned in childhood.

One of the hardest aspects of parenting for her has been the pressure of rushing and the tendency to raise her voice in frustration. "It's something I'm really struggling with," she admitted during the interview.

The actress also expressed a deep sense of empathy for her mother, who endured a traumatic upbringing.

Mendes spoke about the guilt she felt growing up in the US after her family fought hard to create a new life there. "I think about how good I have it compared to what my mom went through, and it makes me feel ashamed," she confessed.

Eva Mendes stepped away from the big screen to focus on motherhood

Eva Mendes has been away from the big screen for several years, but her choice to step back from Hollywood came easily.

She explained that choosing to focus on her children during their early years was "the easiest choice I've ever made."

Mendes believes that these formative years are crucial in shaping her daughters' futures, and she wanted to be fully present for them.

Reflecting on her earlier years, Mendes noted that motherhood wasn’t something she was ready for in her 20s.

"In my 20s, I wasn't ready," she said. "I was too wild and immature. Now, I'm in a much better place to raise kids."

Her appreciation for becoming a mother later in life has been reflected in various interviews, including one with HOLA! USA, where she revealed how motherhood has intensified her anxiety.

Mendes revealed that she already had anxiety as a child, but it intensified after she became a mother.

"It took so long for me to relax a little bit after [giving birth]," she shared. "I had one baby after another, and I remember it so viscerally, like, I would spend nights just staring at them and going, like, 'Oh, my God, what if something happens to me?'"

The intensity of these feelings led Mendes to discover the concept of matrescence—a term describing the process of becoming a mother.

She found solace in discovering that what she was going through had a name.

"I started looking stuff up because after I had my babies, I was like, this is so overwhelming, these feelings," Mendes said. "So it didn't feel like I was depressed; I was anxious. There's this wonderful word called matrescence, and it's basically the process of a woman becoming a mother."