Reese Witherspoon Said She Didn’t Have a “Lot of Support” When She Had Her Daughter
She said she doesn't think having a kid is a "one-person job."
Reese Witherspoon may be one of the most influential women in the film and entertainment industry, have her own clothing line, and operate a very prosperous book club, but above all else, she’s Ava’s, Deacon’s, and Tennessee’s mom. While the actress has certainly lived a bountiful life, her early days as a first-time mom are not filled with the happiest of memories. During August 27th’s episode of Dax Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert, the mom of three spoke with hosts Kristen Bell and Monica Padman about the struggles she faced early on in motherhood and opened up about the moment that made her realize “this is not going to work.”
“I was lucky enough to have money saved and I didn’t have to work,” Witherspoon recalled, thinking back to her first year as a mom. Her film Cruel Intentions premiered in 1999, the same year she and her ex-husband, actor Ryan Phillippe, welcomed their first child, Ava.
Even though she was able to stash some of her own earnings aside, money wasn’t so much the issue as was the lack of support. I did not have a lot of support with my first baby, and I learned really early, like, this is not going to work, she said.
It came to a point where Witherspoon stopped sleeping, just trying to keep up and “muscle through” the first few months of Ava’s life. There was a five-month period where she said she “became delirious. …But it’s just not a one-person job. I would even say it’s not a two-person job.”
Four years later, the former couple welcomed their second child—Witherspoon’s first son—Deacon. This being her second go-around, Witherspoon had a better idea of what to expect but things still weren’t where they needed to be. In 2006, the Hollywood stars went their separate ways, and Witherspoon went on to marry her now-husband Jim Toth. The two welcomed their first child together, a son named Tennessee, in 2012.
Now, Witherspoon has three mini-mes running around her home, and we don’t think she’d want it any other way.
