Ask any parent raising young children during the pandemic and they’ll happily share with you what their saving graces are to get through the day.
For actress Eva Mendes and her partner Ryan Gosling, the Hollywood couple look to an iconic Australian children’s cartoon to help entertain their two daughters, Esmeralda, six, and Amada, four.
“They love Bluey! Bluey is huge in our house. Huge,” Eva tells Now To Love in an exclusive interview as she announces her latest role as the McHappy Day Ambassador.
“It’s really beautiful, I really love Bluey. They get kind of this crazy energy afterwards and they play tricks on us. They really love the frozen statue thing. But they love Bluey and we love Bluey and we watch it a lot,” Eva explains of the endearing ABC kids’ show, which follows the adventures of a family of Blue Heeler dogs and has grown a cult following among children and parents alike.
“I think we’ve seen them all like twice over. We’ve binged Bluey,” she laughs.
In fact, the 46-year-old’s eyes light up when we suggest she could lend her voice to a Bluey cameo appearance.
WATCH: Eva Mendes says her two daughters’ favourite TV show is Bluey. Post continues after the video…
Speaking from her Los Angeles home, Mendes confesses that parenting through a pandemic, while challenging, has been one of the happiest times of her life.
“I know that I’ll be looking back at this time as maybe, ironically, as one of the best times of my life just because I have my family together, we’re safe and we’re all here,” she tells us.
“I feel like they’re [Esmeralda and Amada] doing well because we’re home with them. We’re not working and they just have us where they want us. They force me to be very present. All day and I’m in it with them,” she muses.
“It’s maddening and beautiful and crazy-making at times but they keep me present. Really only when they’re asleep and the house is clean that I realise: ‘What is happening?! What is happening to the world?'”
Hollywood tick of approval: Eva admits to “bingeing” every episode of Bluey with her two daughters.
(Images: ABC, supplied)The Hitch star also reveals her two young daughters have inherited a very special trait from their famous father – his artistic flair.
“Ryan is such an amazing actual artist… So I really see that [in the girls] coming from his side. He’s always drawing with them. I like finger paint but he actually draws and he’s just an amazing artist. They take their little sketchpad and they sit with him and they draw together. It’s great that he has that to offer them,” she says.
For any parents who may be struggling looking after little people in what can only be described as an unprecedented time, Eva has some sage words of wisdom to share on her and Ryan’s parenting philosophy.
“Someone told us early on, a friend of ours, he said: ‘No matter if it’s good or bad, whatever you’re going through with them is just a phase. So either like, it’s going to pass soon, or really just cherish it.’ And we’ve held onto that for a good six years. It’s helped us get through the harder, more challenging no sleep times… And it’s helped us get through the ‘ugh right now is so precious [times],'” the mother-of-two shares.
WATCH: Eva Mendes says Ryan Gosling loves painting with their daughters. Post continues after the video…
Right now, Eva says she’s in awe of her oldest daughter Esmeralda’s development.
“Our six-year-old is saying some really beautiful things. I mean they both say amazing things but you know, we’re like ‘wow she’s a person with her own thoughts.'”
“The four-year-old is still a little tantrumy… She’s got her own opinions but like, the six-year-old has formulated thoughts! She said to me the other day, ‘Mum I have a hypothesis.’ I was like ‘WHAT! A hypothesis?! Let me hear this…’ And she was using the word correctly,” she says proudly.
Family is at the forefront of what motivates the star and is what makes her latest role with the Ronald McDonald House Charities all the more special.
“I’m so proud to be the 2020 McHappy Day Ambassador. I first learned about Ronald McDonald House Charities through my cousin, when her baby boy was only a year-and-a-half, he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. And she had to make the move from Los Angeles to New York to be close to the hospital there,” Eva explains of her personal connection to the charity.
The actress says partner Ryan Goslings loves paining with their girls.
(Image: Getty)“At the time I was just becoming a mother myself for the first time and she was going through the nightmare of all nightmares and we said, ‘What can we do?’ She said, ‘I’m really OK, I’m at the Ronald MacDonald House and I have a support system here and I’m really happy here.’ And that just stayed with me because I thought, ‘Wow this must be really amazing if she wants to stay there and feel so supported.'”
Thankfully, her cousin’s son made a full recovery but it has inspired Eva to help raise much needed funds for the organisation so they can continue to carry out their incredibly important work, including accommodating families of seriously sick children in Ronald McDonald Houses around Australia.
With the pandemic putting a hold on international travel, Eva has been connecting with Aussie families leaning on the charity over Zoom.
“[Chatting to these families] is so emotional and inspiring. You realise how strong these kids are, it’s really unbelievable,” she tells.
Jo Feeney, Marketing Director of McDonald’s Australia, has urged Aussies to get behind the initiative and help donate in any way they can.
“I think it’s times like these Aussies come together and show their Aussie spirit. I think everyone’s been doing it tough but no one more so than the families of these kids. The houses have had to really adapt and change the way they operate to work in COVID times because unfortunately, kids don’t stop getting sick or injured,” she says.
Want to throw your support behind McHappy Day?
Pick-up a pair of $5 Silly Socks, or Helping Hands for $2, $10 or $50 from your local Macca’s, buy a Big Mac on McHappy Day (Saturday 14th November) from your nearest McDonald’s or via McDelivery, with $2 from every Big Mac sold on McHappy Day going directly to RMHC, or make a donation online by visiting www.rmhc.org.au/give
The actress has been inspired after chatting to several families in Australia staying in the Ronald McDonald Houses.
(Image: Supplied)
