Angelina Jolie shares parenting advice, saying you don’t have to be perfect

Award-winning actress Angelina Jolie has penned a letter to parents, offering advice during the coronavirus pandemic.

“I am thinking of you. I am imagining how hard each of you is trying to get through your days,” reads the letter published in Time magazine’s Parents newsletter.

“How much you want to lead your loved ones through this. How you worry. How you plan. How you smile for them, when inside you feel at times you are breaking.”

Jolie, a mother of six, joined the magazine as a contributing editor last year. She writes monthly on topics including displacement and human rights.

In the letter published Friday, she opened up about her childhood and her decision to become a mother.

“I was not a very stable youth. In fact, I never thought I could be anyone’s mom. I remember the decision to become a parent. It wasn’t hard to love. It wasn’t hard to dedicate myself to someone and something greater than my life. What was hard was knowing that from now on I needed to be the one to make sure everything was okay.”

The 44-year-old continued about parents at home with their children during the pandemic, “all hoping they can do everything right, answer all needs, and stay calm and positive.”

One thing that has helped her is realizing it’s impossible to be perfect.

“It is a lovely thing to discover that your children don’t want you perfect. They just want you honest. And doing your best.”