Celebrities Reflect On Parenthood

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

11 Dec 2006 08:03 PM

Now that I've gotten over the fact that Ben Affleck will not be changing our child's diapers I can at least (gasp, choke) be (sniff, sniff) happy that he is changing his own daughter's (with actress Jennifer Garner) pants.

Affleck, who made headlines two years ago when he split from Jennifer Lopez, is now making news for his transformation from party boy to hands-on dad to 1-year-old Violet.

"I've never been very judicious about my own behavior or choices until they had an impact on people other than me," Affleck, recently told USA Today.

Affleck goes on to say that he wants his daughter to be proud of her last name... and proud of her dad. He also reveals that he is dedicated to keeping his child out of the limelight.

"She didn't make that choice. And I don't want her to have to pay for the parents' sins. I try to protect her privacy. I'll end up in the magazines, and that's life, and I can live with it, but I try to shield my daughter," Affleck said.

Coincidently, Affleck's partner in crime, partner in movie making and (prior to both tying the knot) partner in life, Matt Damon is speaking out about his own crash course in fatherhood.

Damon and wife Luciana welcomed daughter Isabella six months ago, but the actor still recently told reporters that he still has a hard time describing what it's like to be a dad.

"It defies description, actually. I don't really know how to talk about it because I don't really know - I feel like I got made a member of a club that I didn't know existed."

In fact, in a rare moment of candidness Damon told reporters that he was never really fond of children and never expected that he would be a father.

"Other people were always showing me baby pictures or trying to hand me the baby, and I was like, 'Get that thing away from me. I don't want to touch your kid. Give me a break.' But I'm totally into it now," Damon said.

The actor said his favorite activity with his daughter is making her laugh. "You do this thing where you can either give her (a raspberry) on the stomach or if you sort of act like you're going to munch her underarm, and she laughs like a little machine gun. And it's like I could do it forever."

Damon's co-star in the new movie "The Good Shepherd," Angelina Jolie is also speaking out about life as a mother of three.

"I'd like to add many more children and many more obstacles and many more things to my life," the award-winning actress recently told reporters.

Jolie went on to say she chooses her films with Maddox, 5, Zahara, 23 months, and Shiloh, 6 months, in mind. "I don't think that I've shot for more than seven weeks on a movie in two years," she said. "I need to make sure that I have time with my kids."

She also says she makes every effort to give her children a normal life. For example, she says she carefully plans holidays to ensure her family's privacy, though she admits doing so is not without its challenges.

"I think that the only time that it is hard is when the kids want to go somewhere and want to see something. I've had so many people offer to take my children to Disneyland or places that I can't take them. And they don't understand how upsetting that is."

Jolie said this year her family spent Halloween in India and Thanksgiving in Vietnam. For Halloween she said she had candy and costumes sent from the states so her children could dress up.

"They're fun. They're just a joy. It's a joy of life that exists nowhere else," Jolie said of her kids.

She sure has come a long way since her days with Billy Bob.

Related Articles:

The Power of Fatherhood

Matt Damon's New Mission

Brad and Angelina's Vietnamese Thanksgiving

Brad Pitt's Headline Grabbing Birthday Present

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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