Jennifer Garner Says She’s ‘Chilled Out’ as a Mom Despite Cooking Her Kids Elaborate Meals

It looks like there’s not repeating history in this family. Jennifer Garner sat with Katie Couric at an INBOUND panel on Thursday, September 5, where she disclosed that her current parenting technique is a lot different than the one she grew up with.

“I have chilled out and stopped trying to be my mom,” the 47-year-old actress told the journalist, 62. “I can’t really complain about my kids. They’re pretty awesome. They humor me.”

Although Jen has tried to be a more relaxed parent than her mother, there is one habit she can’t break — the tradition of cooking elaborate meals.

“We’d say, ‘Please can we have a Little Debbie snack cake?’” the 13 Going on 30 star recalled. “I would have killed for a Pop-Tart,” adding, “My mom made every bite of food my sisters and I had growing up. That was her way of doing it. She was so frugal.”

It seems like the roles have reversed as Jen insists on cooking everything for her kids. “Here I am making homemade Wheat Thins like a nerd, and my kids don’t want them,” she said to the TV personality. “The harder you work on whatever you’re making for your kids, the less apt they are to eat it.”

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Jen is known for being a very hands-on parent and is always spotted out with her kids and ex-husband, Ben Affleck. Despite splitting up after 10 years of marriage in 2015, the two make an effort to coparent their three children.

Although Jen’s main priority is her kids, she still manages to make time for herself and her new man, Cali Group CEO John Miller. “She’d said she never thought she’d find love again,” a source close to Jennifer revealed to In Touch back in January 2019. “But now John has proven her wrong,” the insider added. “Jen is head-over-heels in love with him.”

Ben, 47, has even “become a better parent” due to her new man’s influence, a source told Us Weekly. “He ultimately just wants to be the best father he can be and part of that is continuing a loving relationship with Jen,” the source added. We’d say those kids are pretty darn lucky!