Gwyneth Paltrow admits this one thing about parenting is likely to give her “a nervous breakdown.”
Paltrow has seemingly done it all during her long career. She starred in several successful movies, won an Oscar, and built a wellness brand known around the world. And on top of all that she is a mom of two, who has successfully co-parented with her ex-husband, singer Chris Martin.
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Paltrow opened up about her kids who are now adults.
In 2022, Paltrow’s oldest child, daughter Apple, moved out to attend college. Now, her son, Moses, is preparing to do the same thing this fall.
The mom admitted the thought of it all is likely to give her “a nervous breakdown.”
“It’s kind of giving me a nervous breakdown, if I’m honest,” Paltrow said while discussing being an empty nester soon. “I started being like, ‘Oh my God, and I need to quit my job and I need to sell my house and I need to move.’ It’s sort of putting things into turmoil.”
Paltrow admitted for the last 20 years, her “identity has been being a mother.” So much so that Paltrow once said people would be “shocked” to know the roles she turned down in order to raise her kids.
“I’ve oriented my whole life around them and their schedules and when school starts,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “You start to let go in increments when they’re driving themselves around or doing certain things. It is a slower process.”
“I feel really lucky because I have a close group of mom friends and we all raised our kids alongside one another,” she added. “So we’re kind of in it together.”
Now, Paltrow says she’s working with a psychologist-astrologist to reframe what it means to be an empty nester. “Psychologist-astrologist Jennifer Freed said, ‘I would like you to think of it as being free birds instead of having an empty nest.’ And that resonates,” Paltrow admitted.
“Instead of creating a sense of loss, what if I were free? And I could say yes to a girls’ weekend, because I didn’t feel guilty. That kind of thing.”
In the end, Paltrow told Hoda and Jenna in a separate interview that “it’s funny because it didn’t feel like a sacrifice to me at the time,” when talking about the roles she turned down when her kids were younger, “but if I look back at it through a cultural lens, I think like, wow, if people know that I didn’t do this movie or that movie, they’d be quite shocked.”
But now that she’s a soon-to-be empty nester, will Paltrow consider returning to the big screen? “Never say never” she admitted.
Mamas Uncut is THE online place for moms. We cover the latest about motherhood, parenting, and entertainment as well – all with a mom-focused twist. So if you're looking for parenting advice from real parents, we have plenty of it, all for moms from moms, and also experts. Because, at the end of the day, our mission is focused solely on empowering moms and moms-to-be with the knowledge and answers they’re looking for in one safe space.