Blake Lively has revealed why she believes it is important for her three daughters to see her working.
The Gossip Girl star, 34, who shares daughters James, six, Inez, five, and Betty, two, with husband Ryan Reynolds, spoke candidly about the importance of being able to show her daughters that she has an identity outside of motherhood during a conversation with People.
“I want to be as present of a mother as humanly possible and I want them to feel my presence, but I also think the best way to be the best mother is to show them that you can have a life and have a passion and have an identity outside of just being a mother,” Lively said.
While the actor acknowledged that being a mother is “completely all-encompassing”, and that there are many mothers who don’t have the opportunity to work as well, she then noted that she thinks it is integral that her daughters grow up understanding that having their own identity is “very important”.
“And teaching them that they can maintain themselves and that everything is possible [is crucial],” she added.
According to Lively, teaching the lesson to her daughters requires making sure that they see her working, with the actor revealing that she often brings her and Reynolds’ children with her.
“I bring them everywhere. It’s so inappropriate, but I’m very lucky to be at a job that allows me to do that,” she continued, joking: “I mean, it’s amazing they’re not hidden under my skirt right now.”
Lively’s comments come after Reynolds previously revealed that the couple prioritises a work-life balance by taking turns working, with the Deadpool star explaining during an appearance at AOL Build in May 2018: “For me, it’s really about prioritising. We’re lucky enough – and this is an obscene luxury – that we can avoid sort of saying: ‘Okay, well, Blake you’re gonna go to shoot a movie in Thailand, while I’m shooting this movie in Vancouver.’ We sort of trade off.”
However, Reynolds recently announced that he plans to take a break from acting in an effort to spend more time with his family.
“I’m just trying to create a little bit more space for my family and time with them. You know, you don’t really get that time back,” he told The Hollywood Reporter, jokingly adding: “For me, it’s really about getting some quality time with my kids before they’re teenagers who loathe me.”
Lively and Reynolds began dating after meeting on the set of Green Lantern in 2010, before marrying in 2012.
