Raising one child, let alone six, is no easy feat. And while all mothers out there are thankful for the guidance of a parent, friend or kind stranger when it comes to helping their own little ones take on the world, Angelina Jolie only wishes she could turn to one person for help.
“She would have thrived as a grandmother,” Angelina Jolie tells Elle France of her late mother, Marcheline Bertrand, who tragically died of cancer at age 56 in January 2007.
“I know how much she would have contributed to their lives and I am sad they will miss out on that,” she says.
“I would give anything for her to be with me at this time. I’ve needed her. I talk to her often in my mind and try to think what she might say and how she might guide me.”
“It is the greatest gift and responsibility.”
But the actress, who shares Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Zahara, 12, Shiloh, 10, and 8-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox with ex Brad Pitt, was able to take away one very important lesson when it comes to parenting from her mother before her death – to listen attentively.
“I try to lead by example, being conscious of others and being responsible. And to help them have a broader view of the world,” the 41-year-old explained.
“But really the only way I know to raise them is to really listen. It’s perhaps the most important thing any parent can do.”
WATCH: Angelina’s moving message to kids in the video player below. Post continues…
More than once the couple’s children have found themselves at the centre of their parent’s high-profile split. Through this, it’s been Ange’s main priority to shield and guide them through where she can.
“They are resilient children but they are children, and as much as they need help to understand the hard truths in life they also need what we all need–protection and love.”
The couple’s split shook Hollywood.
Brad Pitt recently broke his silence about his split from the humanitarian, nearly seven months after news of their separation first made headlines.
“I’m personally very retarded when it comes to taking inventory of my emotions. I’m much better at covering up,” the actor said in a candid new interview for GQ Style.
“I grew up with a Father-knows-best/war mentality — the father is all-powerful, super strong — instead of really knowing the man and his own self-doubt and struggles.”
The 53-year-old explained that he’s spent the last few months taking stock of his emotional well being, looking at his weaknesses and his failures in an attempt to open up for the sake of his six children.
“It’s hit me smack in the face with our divorce: I gotta be more. I gotta be more for them. I have to show them. And I haven’t been great at it,” he said.
The Allied actor, who now lives in Hollywood Hills, California, with his bulldog, Jacques, added that he won’t stand for an ugly custody battle.
“It’s just very, very jarring for the kids, to suddenly have their family ripped apart. If anyone can make sense of it, we have to with great care and delicacy, building everything around that… Our focus is that everyone come out stronger and better people — there is no other outcome,” he shared.
He added: “I don’t want to live that way.”
Despite the tumultuous circumstances, in a pre-taped interview recently aired on Good Morning America, Angelina continued to describe her estranged husband as “a wonderful father.”
WATCH: Angelina Jolie speaks about life after divorce on Good Morning America. Post continues…
When quizzed by the show’s co-host, George Stephanopolous, as to whether she still thought Brad was a good parent, she said: “Of course, of course. We will always be a family. Always.”
She added that the Jolie-Pitt brood are committed to focusing on the continued “health” of their family. “We will be stronger when we come out of this because that’s what we’re determined to do as a family,” she explained, seemingly holding back tears.
We wish the Jolie-Pitt family all the very best.
